Memories Popeye's Sea Stories

[bdpopeye]

As I mentioned earlier in this thread I rated the Hancock as my 4th most favorite ship..Only because the food sucked big time and the ship had severe engineering problems. If a ship today had the engineering problems Hanna had back in the mid 70s she would not get underway today let alone deploy.

But if I rated ships and excluded food and that ships ability to get underway and be on time meeting commitments Hanna would be #2.. I can't. What good is a ship that is a crap shoot 50% of the time performance wise?

The JFK ,America & Nimitz were all very similar in design. Epically the 03 level and second deck..Nimitz messdeck was nearly amidship was the only big difference on the second deck. You could take a sailor from each one of those ships and transplant them and in a few days they would have no trouble getting about on those gigantic warships.

Midway was different. But not at all like the Hanna..

Aaahhh but put that same sailor on the Hanna..And he would need a map. On those ships above the messdecks, wardroom, personal offices many division offices are on the second deck..Not on the Hancock..Squadron ready rooms were on the second deck. Mess deck, offices etc were on the third deck. That's right. The third deck..I can't remember where the Wardroom was???... The Hancock below decks was a maze.

One interesting thing about the Hanna was that it had an escalator that went from the hangar deck to the island. It had a switch to send it up or down...We use to jerk with guys something fierce on that thing. Epically zeros(Officers).."Sorry sir did not see you there!"..

One of the best things for me on the Hancock was that I did not have to eat that nasty chow as long as I was on the flight deck. We could order box lunches in flight deck control. Ya' always got two sandwiches, juice, milk, couple pieces of fruit, carrots and celery sticks and some sort of desert. That carried me through the whole day. In port Popeye was always on liberty in the Philippines and just ate at the Sampaguita Club or up in Cubi Pt at the Virgina Room...How the heck do I remember all this stuff?? Dunno..I just do.. aarrvv..

 

[bdpopeye]

It's amazing how things refreshed in my memory as I read these stories.

We called her Fightin' Hanna.. she was the Queen of the sea!

Capt. Fred "Field Day" Fellows was the skipper of the Hanna when I was on board. When he took over the ship it was dirty. About 6 weeks later it was clean ..not perfect but clean. After a couple of in port periods in Subic Bay once we deployed it was immaculate. Clean as any ship I ever served on. Why?..Field Day & "Sweepers". We had field day and zone inspection just before entering port. On the Hanna there were only three grades for zone inspection...

1) OUTSTANDING
2) Satisfactory
3) Unsatisfactory i.e. "Unsat"

As zone inspections were being held the grades were announced on the 1mc..so everyone could know the score..

Believe me you did not want your division to get anything graded "unsat"... Zone inspections were held as we were pulling into port. If your division got all OUTSTANDING'S on your spaces your division got max liberty in port. Weapons department & all her divisions always got outstanding on every space.

Now if your division got an Unsatisfactory on any space. You had to wait for the CDO to re-inspect your whole division at about 1700 or there about. And you'd better pass. Don't remember any divisions failing the second go around.

Capt Fellows was a tough but fair skipper. And he stood up for his men. I'll post a story about that at another time..

Oh I mentioned sweepers. On the Hanna sweepers was a serious business...The call on the 1mc..

"Sweepers sweepers man your brooms! Give the ship a good clean sweep down fore and aft! Sweep down all upper and lower deck ladders and passageways. Now sweepers!"

You'd better believe shipmates were manning the brooms.. Back in da' day..on the Fightin' Hanna..

 

[bdpopeye]

Some time ago some one sent me a private message asking me how much faster a CV with four cats could launch aircraft than a CV with two. The answer is cannot. Not in my experience..

His statement;

With a large number of aircraft spotted on deck at any given time either the bows or the angle will be crowded so it helps to have at least two cats available. I imagine deck routines on the Midway's and the Essex's must have been a little more awkward due to the need to clear the bows for launching as they only had the two cats forward.

My answer I always use with this question..

This all seems possible on paper but it just does not work that way. I was on CVA-19 and CVA-41. Also CVA-67 & 66. And the mighty Nimitz.. A person would think that "well our ship has four cats and that little old Hancock has only two ergo can out launch them". Nope. Does not work that way. In my experience CVA-19 & 41 could launch aircraft faster than any of those other ships with 4 cats. Why? Superior flight deck crew in the case of the Hancock and a simple case of the A-4's being so reliable. If an A-4 was on the cat it was going off the bow. Period. And A-4's being smaller were easier to handle.

On the Midway the case was a superior flight deck crew as on the Hancock. . The Midway's flight deck was unique. It was as large as a CVA-59 class but had only two cats. When you respot with only two bow cats on a deck that big no need to worry about blocking the angle. The respot is much faster. Just leave room for the helo.

There are all sorts of factors that occur when you have 4 cats. For one thing usually only three of the four cats will be in operation. Depends on the number of aircraft being launched.

Say an aircraft breaks down on the port bow cat. You have to re-spot it somewhere. And believe you me when you do you will disrupt those waist cats. If that happens with two bow cats you just turn the aircraft around and spot it on the angle or elsewhere without much disruption of the launch.

During "Desert Storm" in 1991 the Midway , with only two cats, launched more stories than the other 5 USN CV(N) on station. I.E. Kennedy, America ,Ranger, T. Roosevelt & Saratoga.

 

[DMsquadron]

Please keep these coming!!!
Absolutely loving them!!

 

[bdpopeye]

Please keep these coming!!!
Absolutely loving them!!

Thank you!

For more Sea Stories go to this thread;
Operation Frequent Wind 29 April 1975

Chow varies from ship to ship...

All the ships I was on had eggs to order. Even the Hancock. Sometimes if they'd served frozen eggs..that's right. they came in a big block. They were always scrambled. Only in boot camp did I ever see the dreaded powdered eggs.

I remember during Desert Storm. Marines were always flying out to the Nimitz and other carriers to use our facilities for aircraft intermediate level maintenance that they were not set up for. They always remarked how good the chow was on the Nimitz. and it was.

==========================================================

Strange stuff happens at sea...For instance..getting lost in a fog..Oh yea.. back in Nov. or Dec '73 the Midway got lost in a very thick fog for three days off the northern Japanese coast of Hokkaido.

Actually we weren't lost.. the fog was so thick we could not see a thing. I swear on the flight deck you could not see more than 100 feet in any direction. Now someone is thinking..Why not just navigate with the radar?

1) Ya' still need to see where you are going and objects in your path.

2)This was after the US had pulled most of it's forces out of Vietnam. The USN probably did not want to risk the embarrassment of a collision with a heavy anti-military sentiment back stateside.

Humm..Stateside. that of course means the USA. But a different term some of used was "The World". Because nothing is like the USA when you are so separated from our country..nothing.

R & B artist Curtis Mayfield wrote a tune called "Back to the World" after visiting troops in Vietnam circa 1972..

 

[bdpopeye]

I remember especially on the America when the snipes would emerge from the hole after we'd been to sea about two months..Them shipmates just did not look right. They were pale..even the brothas!

The snipes on the Hanna had it really tough in those WWII fire rooms. Man it was blazin' hot down there. Poor old Hanna kept breakin' down..they'd kept fixin' her. Once off of Subic we had just launched the first or second launch of the morning and I was calling in my launch report over the 5jg2(weapons dept sound powered phones) and suddenly everything went black. Hanna had lost all power! We were lifeless in the water. After about 20 minutes the auxillary power plant was fired up and we did have a little power. I guess some sort of engineering catastrophic failure had occurred and the snipes on Hanna could not repair it. The aircraft that had been launched were sent to the beach in NAS Cubi Pt.

It is to my understanding that the CO , Capt. Fred "Field Day" Fellows, was given the choice being towed back to Subic for repairs. Or have some of those Filipino shipyard workers from Subic Bay get to the ship underway so we could get to Hong Kong on time..The Co chose the latter. After the Hanna lost all power it was no showers for two days.. It was hard to get a drink of water except on the mess decks. We could basically just mill about smartly for two days. But guess what?..There was enough water by the time we got to Hong Kong to have Field day. They kinda fixed the Hanna to get to Hong Kong. I remember by the time we got to Hong Kong I was really hungry for some real food.. The first thing I ate was some fish and chips.. Later that first day I ate the best steak I ever ate in my life.. We spent 5 or 6 days there. Then limped back to Subic for a lengthy in port period for repairs.

 

[bdpopeye]

I sometime get questions about my service with the USN .so.. I hope this answers all. Feel free to ask questions..

I served with the USN from August 1971 until August 1991. I joined the USN in Cincinnati Ohio on 25 August 1971. I went to Boot camp at Great Lakes IL(Chicago). I retired from the US Navy on 31 August 1991 at NAS (Naval Air Station) Miramar.

After training boot camp I was sent for further training to NATTC(Naval Air Training Technical Command) Jacksonville and Memphis/Millington TN.

I served during my first enlistment on the following ships;
USS John F Kennedy(03.'72 to 08.-'73) home port Norfolk VA
USS Midway(08.'73 to 08.'74) home port Yokosuka Japan
USS Hancock(08.'74to 08.'75) Home port Alameda CA

I was then station at NAS Cubi PT in the Republic of the Philippines.(08.75 to 10.'77)

Next I was with three squadrons at NAS North Island in San Diego;
HSL-31(10 '77 to 11'80)..SH-2 "Seasprite" Helos
VS-33(01.81 to 11.'82)..S-3A "Viking" ASW aircraft
HC-11(03.83 to 04.'85)...CH-46 "Greyhound" Helos

While with VS-33 in 1981 we were deployed on the USS America with CVW-11 from mid January to November of that year..in the Atlantic, Mediterranean and Indian Ocean.

I changed my rate and went to NAS Lakehurst NJ from 12.'82 to 03.'83 to become a Aircrew survival equipment man aka "Parachute Rigger".

After HC-11 I was stationed at NAF(Naval Air Facility) Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean.(July 85-July 86)

From Aug. 1986- Aug. 1991 I was with NAS Miramar AIMD(Aircraft Intermediate Maintenance Department) San Diego CA. During my last year at Miramar I was assigned to AIMD SEAOPDET(Sea Operational Detachment) and was deployed on the USS Nimitz(CVN 68) from January 1991 to July 1991 to the Pacific, Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf.

In total I made seven major deployments on 5 different carriers. Plus many, many short junkets.

Any gaps you see in my commands are because of leave and attending various schools.

I was an enlisted man. I spent 11 years as an Aviation Ordnanceman and 9 years as an Aircrew survival equipment man.

As stated above I retired on 31 August 1991 at NAS Miramar in San Diego CA. Upon retirement I received a lifetime pension. The US military has paid me faithfully since August 1971. I've never been denied any benefit do me or access to any US military base.

I'm happy that I served.

 

[bdpopeye]

When I retired from the USN in August 1991 I received this letter..edited for privacy.

DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY
NAVAL- AIR STATION MIRAMAR
SAN DIEGO, CA 92145-5000

30 AUG 1991

Aircraft Intermediate Maintenance Department
Naval Air Station Miramar
San Diego, CA 92145-5000

Dear Petty Officer Hxxx

As your long and distinguished career draws to a close, I wish to take this
opportunity to formally recognize the tremendous contributions you have made
in the defense of your country. Those of us in the Navy who are frequently
called away from our families and loved ones in the course of a military
career make a very special sacrifice in the interest of freedom. It is with
those thoughts in mind that I commend you on behalf of your countrymen for
twenty years of faithful, steadfast, and loyal service in the United States
Navy.

Your military career began on 25 August 1971 when you enlisted in the United
States Navy at Cincinnati, Ohio.

After completing basic training at Recruit Training Command, Great Lakes, Illinois, you attended Aviation Fundamentals"P" School, Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Florida, and Aviation Mechanical Fundamentals "P" School, Naval Air Station Memphis, Tennessee. You went on to serve admirably on board USS JOHN F. KENNEDY (CV 67); USS MIDWAY (CV 41); USS HANCOCK (CVA 19); Naval Air Station, Cubi Point, Republic of the Philippines; Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron, Light 31; and Air Anti-Submarine Squadrons 33 and 41. Your quest for excellence and challenging assignments inspired you
to change your rate to Aviation Life Support Systems Technician (PR) while
serving on board USS AMERICA (CV 66). You later served at Helicopter Combat
Support Squadron 11; Naval Air Facility, Diego Garcia; Aircraft Intermediate
Maintenance Department (AIMD), Naval Air Station Miramar, San Diego,
California; and Sea Operational Detachment, Naval Air Station Miramar embarked aboard USS Nimitz (CVN 68).

In recognition of your outstanding career in the Naval Service, you were
authorized to wear the following individual and unit awards: Navy Unit
Commendation Medal; Meritorious Unit Commendation Medal; Navy Battle "E";
Ribbon (two awards); Navy Good Conduct Medal (five awards); Navy Expeditionary
Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (two awards); Vietnam Service Medal; South
West Asia Service Medal with Device; Humanitarian Service Medal (two awards);
Sea Service Deployment Ribbon (three awards); and Navy and Marine Corps
Overseas Ribbon.

On the occasion of your retirement, I extend to you the grateful appreciation
of this command for your many years of loyal service to the United States Navy
and our nation. On behalf of the many officers, enlisted personnel, and
civilian employees who have served with you, I wish you happiness and
continued success in your future endeavors.

Sincerely,
D.W. Bouck
Commander, U.S. Navy
Commanding Officer
Acting

 

[bdpopeye]

Capt Fellows was a tough but fair skipper. And he stood up for his men. I'll post a story about that at another time..

Yes He did....

After Operation Frequent Wind the Vietnamese evacuees were processed stateside from the US bases in the Republic of the Philippines & Guam.

In Subic the evacuees were quartered on Grande Island. An actual island at the mouth of Subic Bay. It was originally set up as a recreation facility for service personnel .

Well all ships in port had to send working parties out to Grande Island to assist with clean up, food service and what ever other task the person in charge would think up. Well what was going on is that EVERYDAY for the first week or so the evacuees were on Grande Island Hanna's sailors were assigned to the poop detail..aahhh I went one time..horrible!..we used another term..use your imagination. What we had to do was shovel and burn human feces...oh yes no foolin'.. They had these big long trenches covered with a tent.. and well you get the picture. ..Enywho Capt Fellows got wind that the Hanna sailors were the only sailors assigned to shoveling and burning ..poop. So one day as the Alapha Working party was mustering in the hangar bay on to take an LCM out to Grande Island Capt Fellows in his dress whites told the men to stand fast. Some how he got a hold of the officer in charge on Grande and told him that Hanna sailors would not be shoveling poop today or any other day Hanna was inport in Subic. Capt Fellows then dismissed the men in Alapha working party. Capt. Fellows was then summoned to the COs office in Naval Station Subic Bay for a conference over this matter. Capt. Fellows won out an Hanna's sailors no longer assigned to the poop detail.

No foolin'..back in da' real Navy!

 

[bdpopeye]

I do not like green eggs and ham.. I do not like them Sam I am. I don't like them in a boat. I don't like them in a moat. I don't like green eggs and ham. I don't like them Sam I am.

All the ships I was on had eggs to order. Even the Hancock. Sometimes if they'd served frozen eggs..that's right. they came in a big block. They were always scrambled. Only in boot camp did I ever see the dreaded powdered eggs.

I remember during Desert Storm. Marines were always flying out to the Nimitz and other carriers to use our facilities for aircraft intermediate level maintenance that they were not set up for. They always remarked how good the chow was on the Nimitz.

 

[bdpopeye]

Hey when I was on the USS Hancock CVA-19 I had a friend named HXXXXX. We called him Hairy-dog because he had a gigantic afro when he dared to take off his hat..Hairy-dog was one of those guys that was always sent TAD (Temporary Duty assignment). Mess decks, vent cleaning, laundry..you name it he did it.

Well ole Hairy-dog was TAD to side cleaners while we were in a RAV (restricted availability)in Almeda. He was on this little barge with his bosun mate buddies manning the air needle gun. He was chipping away when he hit a spot and BIG chunk-o-ship fell out. About 6"x10" inches. You could see in to a berthing compartment.

The Navy sent someone from NAVSHIPS to take pics and examine the hole. They x-rayed the ship, in random fashion, from the hangar deck to the water line to determine the extent of the corrosion(rust). Fightin' Hanna was deemed unworthy for continued service or preservation in the reserve fleet.

This is how it as determined that CVA-19 would be sold for scrap. Oh yeah they sent us on another cruise despite the severe corrosion.

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I've made one arrested landing..granted in a C-1 Trader (COD). I was an ordananceman assigned to VS-33 aboard the America. We had to fly into RR to get a couple of practice torpedoes for our S-3s. We flew into Roosevelt Rods PR via HM-15 CH-53 Sea Dragon..It was a noisy ride. I don't remember much about the base except the single people hated it. . I know if you were not stationed their you could not go on liberty..So we never got off base. We did some drinking at the EM club. Which was a shambles . It was an old Quonset hut. It was long , narrow and noisey...I do remember many of the trash cans on base were full of rum bottles. I guess drinkin' was a big pass time down there...Well I was there about two days . We loaded the torpedoes in one of our S-3s and flew back to CV-66 via a C-1 COD. That meant arrested landing..Nice. Oh yea..the pilot was a female Naval Aviator and she missed the wire the first time around. What a thrill!

 

[bdpopeye]

Boot camp story. The USN & USMC call basic training boot camp..ask me why...

Those of you thinking of joining the military because you think it will be all fun and games are sadly mistaken. Remember this you >>> can't quit because you "Don't like it".. You gotta stick it out...Otherwise you'll have a tough road to hoe..8 years worth..4 on active duty and 4 as a reserve.

Tired of school? Then stay away from the military. Boot camp/basic training is about half class room.. And oh yea..there are test..which reminds me..

I remember our first written test in boot camp. Not about what was on the test but what happened in the class room. The instructor an old Black CPO I'll call Billy Badass..And he was.. He was a salty old dude with about 24+ years on active duty. He was a B'son mate Chief. Dang near a God..

Before the test he said there would be no breaks for anything during the test and raise your hand to ask a question and it had better be important. During the test this kid raised his hand to ask;

"Sir, May I have a drink of water?"
"Whatcha you say boy?"
"Sir, May I have a drink of water?"
"You real thirsty boy?"
"Sir yes Sir!"
"Well boy swallow some spit!" "Then drop and give me fifty four count!"(Push-ups)!
Next he says, with evil in his eyes .."Eny you maggots and worms got any more dumb ass questions??
Our reply in unison. "SIR NO SIR!!"

No foolin'!!
*********************************************************************************

When I was in the Nimitz I was LPO(Leading Petty Officer) of AIMD night Check..They called me "Sea Pappy" Why? Because I was so salty I hadda have a boot camper walking behind me sweeping up the salt..aarrvv..

Sailors have many knicknames

When I was on the Kennedy my division called me Lightning..Don't ask why..

Sailors have nicknames..many
Monk
Bozo
Tricky Dick
Big Daddy
Tijuana Ted
Mack
Sparky
Boats
Cat Steam (Coolest nickname ever because his last name was McClean)
Swoop master
Khroneclone
Willie O
Mess Crank
Crank
Chrome Dome
The Boss..(I could not stand that dude..)
Ricky Recruit
Boot
Saunders..(the mans name was Sanders but everyone called him saunders after Sgt Saunders on Combat)
Harry Dog
Buck (the Drunk)
Alkey
Lipps
Anal Heck
Zorba (She did not know it)
Rags
Moon
Ruff Russ
Double Ugly
Buffer face
Hook Head
Steamboat Willie
..and many, many more...

 

[bdpopeye]

On USS America (CV 66) while at anchor in St Thomas US Virgin Island in February 1981 VS-33 launched one S-3A from a waist cat (don't know which one) while at anchor. I know because I saw it with my own eyes. I was assigned to VS-33. And S-3A had a lot of wing span with a lot of lift.

It was aircraft 700..the bird was stripped down. No avionics except NAV & COMM..so she did not weigh that much. Her mission was to fly to Rosey Roads PR pick up some mail and cargo that needed to go to the the FID(First IN Defense) i.e Forrestal and Then fly back to the America with our mail. Just as we got underway the America was overflown by two F-4 Phantoms from the mighty FID!!! See we were having the old war games against the FID.. So they got the jump on us. Buzzing Miss "A" like that..they should have been ashamed of themselves...Showing off with those old smokey Phantoms.. why we had Tomcats....VF-114 & VF-213.

Fear not.. While aircraft 700 was aboard the FID her aircrew stole something from VS-30 ready room that was beneficial to the up coming war games. Special radio frequency & other info for use during the wargames. Guess what? VS-33 was able to score hits on the "Orange" forces with that info.. However the America was "sunk" during the wargames by a Canuck(Canadian) missile hit or torpedo..imagine that?!.

 

[bdpopeye]

Aircraft have nicknames beyond the norm..

When I was in HC-11 we called the CH-46s.. Greyhounds or "da' Dog"

In VS-33 we called the S-3s "Hoovers" because of the vacuum sound of the engines when they turned up.

In HSL-31 the S/H-F2 Sea Sprite was called the "Hooky Two". I don't know why.

A-4 Sky Hawks were long know as "Scooters"

Tomcats you ask??.."Turkeys"..because the way their exhaust flexed..just like a Turkey.

And the A-7 Coarsair II.."People Eater" and "SLUF" Short Little Ugly F**ker".

No foolin'!

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My second oldest son served from 1998 to 2007 on active duty. Pretty sure he got out because of his then fiance, now wife, wanted him to.

He's very smart..in fact he was offered nuclear power. I talked him out of being a nuke .. I told him simply when I was on the Nimitz when we were going on liberty the Reactor Dept. was mustering in the Hangar deck for an inspection & had only port and starboard liberty while we had 3 section liberty... And, they as well they should, had constant drills in port and at sea. And....the school was in South Carolina..And..so on and so forth..He opted for advanced electronics and became an STG with multiple NECs..Before he went to the reserves he was an master instructor at the ASW schools in San Diego.

Very honestly I would not want to be a nuke. Even if I had the brains for it. From what I saw on CVN-68 being a Nuke looks like you get a double helping of the usual BS..

 

[bdpopeye]

When I was aboard the USS Hancock CVA-19 in late '74 we were in port as usual at NAS Alameda CA having a m RAV.Restricted Availability..Yard work in other words a minor re-fit .

Enywhoo we had the yard birds from Hunters Point in San Francisco on the ship. They worked for AAA shipyard. These guys were a mess. And our new skipper Captain Fred "Feild Day" Fellows did not like them. They were messy, unprofessional and lazy..One day Capt. Fellows was observing some of those yardbirds working on the flight deck from the bridge in the island. Welding or something. He noticed one of the yard workers smoking a cigarette on the flight deck. He went down there and and told the yard workers to stop smoking on the flight deck. The yard bird promptly threw his cigarette butt on the flight deck. CO Fellows told him to pick it up and get off his ship. He did not and cussed the skipper out as he left the ship.

The very next day Capt. Fellows was on the bridge again and saw some more yard birds smoking in the cat walk this time. But they were smoking weed as he discovered when he got down there. He had them removed from the ship and arrested. He informed AAA that they were fired from working on the Fightin' Hanna..Don't think that went over well with COMNAVAIRPAC..never the less they never did return. In less than a weeks time another group of shipyard workers took over their duties.

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I had a kid that worked with me at HSL-31 in the late 70s. I'll call BM..BM's was always talkin' about his dad who served in the USN from '40 til '60. Seems his pop was an Air Traffic Controller. In fact he was also a Federal controller who missed gettting fired by Pres Reagan in 1981 by a few months. He retired from that federal service. The man is a triple dipper! Soical Security doncha know! Not sure if he's still among the living.

Enywho BM would tell tales of the weird stuff his day ate because he grew up in the depression. In the summer of '80 his dad flew out to San Diego to see his son and tour the modern navy. One day BM invited me over to his place to have a few beers with he and his pops. BM dad made a sandwich with..white bread, onion, mayonnaise, salt and pepper and Lard. He just sliced the lard like it was a block of cheese. sprinkled a little salt an pepper on it and ate it...yuck.. He said that was his favorite lunch. Seems he grew up in the depression in Chicago and that was his chow ..many a day...He said sometimes when he was a kid if he was lucky he'd have sardines to put on his lard sandwich! Yummy!

 

[bdpopeye]

On board ship many announcements are made over the 1mc.Translation PA system. 1mc stands for First Means of communication.....

Here's a few from my memory;

Now go to your stations on the special sea and anchor detail.

All hands remain clear of the fantail while recovering aircraft.

Now muster the Charlie working party abreast deck edge elevator number four with Thomas C-S-2.

Now set material condition yoke. All divisional DCPOs lay to DC central.

The port quarter is open.

The port quarter is closed.

Sweepers , sweepers man your brooms! Give the ship a good clean sweep down fore and aft. Sweep down all upper and lower deck ladders and passageways. Take all trash to receptacles provided for on the pier. Now sweepers!

Roach Coach on approach.

Now muster all restricted men abreast deck edge elevator number one with M-A-1 Davis.

Man overboard! Man Overboard port side! Duty motor whale boat crew man the port motor whale boat. This is not a drill!

Underway..shift colors.

This is not a drill! This is not a drill!! General Quarters! General Quarters! All hands man your battle stations. Move up and forward on the starboard side of the ship . Down and aft on the port side. This is not a drill!

Kennedy expects to go along side USS Seattle at time 0800 to take on fuel and stores.

The smoking lamp is out through out the ship while taking on fuel from the USS Mississinewa.

Now mail call! Mail call! All divisional mail clerks lay to the post office to pick up mail.

The smoking lamp is out from frames 68 to 88.. 165 to 195 second deck and below while handling ammunition.

All hands stand clear of all weather decks, the flight deck and gallery decks while encountering high winds and heavy seas.

Stand by for the evening prayer.

Nimitz expects to moor at Alava pier Naval Station Subic Bay Republic of the Philippines at time zero eight hundred!

Now liberty call! Liberty commences for sections 1 and 3 to expire on board in accordance with the plan of the day.

Fire! Fire! Fire! Fire in compartment 2-00-68 the forward mess deck. Away the Flying Squad away!

From the flight deck..

All hands stand clear of the bow cats while firing no-loads.

All hands proceed to the bow for FOD walk down.

Plane captain two zero one..man your aircraft!!

All hands now standby by for the 0800 launch. Base recover course will be one-eight-zero. Get your helmets on, goggles down . Chin straps buckled. Check chocks , chains , tie downs all loose gear about the deck. Check intake, tailpipe and rotor clearances. Now standby to start all engines. Now start em' up! Start em' up!

AAArrrvvvv!

 

[bdpopeye]

In early April 1972 my first day at sea aboard the JFK I went up to Vultures Row to watch my very first flight ops. Our helo squadron HC-2 det 67 was still flying SH-2F Sea Sprites. Referred to as "Hooky Two's".. Don't know why. Well we had just got underway from Rhodes Greece. When the SAR helo lifted off the deck of CVA-67 it did not get very high then it pummeled into the Mediterranean. The first thing I heard on the IMC was. Aircraft down! Aircraft down! Port side. Duty motor whale boat crew man the Port motor whale boat!... then there was a pause..next I heard.."Man overboard, Man overboard..Port side! All hands muster on station! Well honestly this was my first day at sea and I did not know where to go!.. so I went down to the cargo office where I worked and mustered. Sure enough that was where I should have gone.

Fast forward to 1981..this story is not related...

Much is made now-a-days of long separation due to military deployments and the problems that can occur. Back in '82 after our(VS-33) '81 deployment on the America we had an Jet Mech AD3 FM that wanted to re-enlist. He was a tall quiet kid that just did his job. He had a lot of problems with his wife during and after the deployment. Bottom line is she wanted him to get out of the USN and move back to Pennsylvania ..I think. And he wanted to ship over. She hated the USN and he loved it.

Bottom line is one day she came to the squadron hangar while we were shore based at NASNI(Naval Air Station North Island San Diego CA) just to give him a ration of crap. She left in a huff. Got in her old station wagon and tried to run him over while he was standing next to the street side entrance to the hangar. She missed. She had crashed her car into the hangar. She got out in a tirad proceed to beat AD3 FM about the head and shoulders with her fist..security was summoned along with others and she was arrested. Dunno what happened to her. I'd like to say he dumped her crazy butt and shipped over..but know he stuck with her and then got out of the Navy..

 

[bdpopeye]

Hong Kong February 1974..

The second day in port the Marine Detachment(MARDET) on the Midway had a party in Popeye's bar in the Suzie Wong(Wan Chai) district. Back in those days MARDETs guarded the SAS magazines(nuclear weapons) and ran the brig on board those ships so equipped. The Midway had a Red Line Brig. Dunno what a Red Line Brig was?

A Red Line Brig was run similar but much harsher than USMC Boot Camp of the Vietnam Era. Shipmates did not wanna go there. Prisoners were often slapped and punched. They had to PT til they nearly dropped. This continued in the USN until one fine day on the USS Ranger CV-61 in 1981 while import in Subic Bay RP. Seems the brig guards had the brig rats on the flight deck PTing in the blazing PI sun. It was about 95F with the same humidity. Anyway a kid that happen to be an AOAN had some sort of seizure and died. After this incident the Marines were taken off the administration of the ship's brigs. Now shipboard brigs are run by the Security Department, overseen by the Security Officer, the Chief Master-at-Arms and the Brig Supervisor. Interesting thing is that the Navy was in training by the Marines on the Ranger to operate the brig at the time of the unfortunate death.

..Back to my story.."Popeyes Bar" had mirrors on all the ceilings & walls. Some former Brig rats got wind that the Marines were partying in Popeye's. Well they went in there and tore the Marines and that place to smithereens. They busted everything in there. The Hong Kong police arrested those involved that they could catch. The CDO or XO had to go bail them out of jail. I guess the Navy paid for the damage. No... the ship did not get kicked out of port.

Such was life in the 1974 US Navy.

 

[Bombardier]

Double Ugly

LOL I have been called that, although my mother thought I was beautiful

 

[bdpopeye]

I found the pictures below of me on line in a German site that loves the USN. navysite. These pictures are from "cruise books" Kinda a year book for a ships deployment.

On the JFK in '72 they took no crew photos. In '73 on the JFK they took group pix..I missed that same thing on the Midway. I missed it because I was on the flight deck. Oh well I did manage to find three.. they are small and I don't know how to make them any larger for display here.


Popeye aboard Fightin' Hanna 1975

Popeye 1981 aboard USS America (CV 66) with VS-33


Popeye 1991 USS Nimitz (CVN 68)