Daily life on shipboard was routine, broken only by General Quarters alarms signifying German submarine presence below, as I wrote in my blog ASSIGNMENT.
The radio room personnel were on a four hour duty, followed by an eight hour off schedule. That meant we could "hit the sack," unless assigned extra duty jobs. Often we were quizzed by our chief petty officer regarding the technical aspects of radio equipment and its operation.
However, when in port and the radio silenced, we radiomen joined the deck crew in housecleaning, including shining the brass, which was everywhere. No matter how hard we rubbed, the chief bosun was never satisfied. Relief came in the form of shore liberty, which gave us an opportunity to eat restaurant food and drink beer. Interestingly enough, whenever we first had liberty, we didn't head for a glass of beer, but for glasses of COLD MILK. The beer came later.
On our first return trip to Norfolk, it happened to be at Thanksgiving time. The captain invited guests to join him for a turkey dinner aboard ship. Unfortunately, the crew ate all of the turkey, and the guests had to be fed otherwise. The captain WAS SO MAD that he had the quarantine flag flown and liberty was cancelled for two days. THE JERK!
More, later
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Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
TRAVELOUGE
Once our ship assignment was made, the ship's movement and locations were top secret. That made writing home somewhat creative because each letter was read by our communications officer. If there was even a hint as to our whereabouts, it was deleted by the officer before mailing.
The first time we passed Gibraltar, going into the Mediterranean Sea, I wrote to Ruth and asked her to check our Prudential insurance book because on its cover was a picture of the Rock. Somehow, it passed the censor and Ruth knew where I was. Clever, huh?
When we were in the Med, the convoy protection went to British ships and we headed for the Port of Oran, in Algeria. There we would have about five days for re-stocking, and some liberty before heading north to Norfolk. The return trip was much quicker because the merchants were empty, except for those carrying German prisoners.
I didn't like Oran. It was a dirty city, full of dirty people, with prostitution the main business. The most interesting sight to me was to see naval ships belonging to the Free French, scuttled in the harbor to avoid their capture by the Germans.
Norfolk was always a welcome sight, even though its residents posted signs on their lawns, reading DOGS AND SAILORS KEEP OFF THE GRASS!
More, later.
The first time we passed Gibraltar, going into the Mediterranean Sea, I wrote to Ruth and asked her to check our Prudential insurance book because on its cover was a picture of the Rock. Somehow, it passed the censor and Ruth knew where I was. Clever, huh?
When we were in the Med, the convoy protection went to British ships and we headed for the Port of Oran, in Algeria. There we would have about five days for re-stocking, and some liberty before heading north to Norfolk. The return trip was much quicker because the merchants were empty, except for those carrying German prisoners.
I didn't like Oran. It was a dirty city, full of dirty people, with prostitution the main business. The most interesting sight to me was to see naval ships belonging to the Free French, scuttled in the harbor to avoid their capture by the Germans.
Norfolk was always a welcome sight, even though its residents posted signs on their lawns, reading DOGS AND SAILORS KEEP OFF THE GRASS!
More, later.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
ASSIGNMENT
It wasn't until we arrived in our home port (see previous blog), that we learned of our assignment - that of convoy duty, protecting merchant ships heading for Europe, from attack by German submarines. The importance of this didn't begin to "sink in" until we began seeing 100 plus merchant ships forming in Norfolk harbor for the crossing.
The time of departure came and it wasn't until we were well underway that I realized, "hey, there is nothing around us but water, I hope we make it."
The most unusual thing happening to me while adjusting to being at sea, was odd periods of sickness. I say odd, because every time the ship left port I had to lose the latest meal I had eaten. After that, no matter how rough the waters became, I had no sickness problems. In fact, I loved the rough seas - so much so that when off duty in the radio shack, I would be on deck looking at the water and at the merchant ships.
My General Quarters (GQ) station was the emergency radio room, below deck and aft. If the alarm sounded (meaning sonar picking up submarine sounds), I would grab my life preserver and head for my station. If we were attacked and hit, it was my responsibility to transmit that information to the fleet commodore. I never really thought about the precariousness of my position, although I later realized that if we had been hit, I would not have made it out of there alive.
More, later.
The time of departure came and it wasn't until we were well underway that I realized, "hey, there is nothing around us but water, I hope we make it."
The most unusual thing happening to me while adjusting to being at sea, was odd periods of sickness. I say odd, because every time the ship left port I had to lose the latest meal I had eaten. After that, no matter how rough the waters became, I had no sickness problems. In fact, I loved the rough seas - so much so that when off duty in the radio shack, I would be on deck looking at the water and at the merchant ships.
My General Quarters (GQ) station was the emergency radio room, below deck and aft. If the alarm sounded (meaning sonar picking up submarine sounds), I would grab my life preserver and head for my station. If we were attacked and hit, it was my responsibility to transmit that information to the fleet commodore. I never really thought about the precariousness of my position, although I later realized that if we had been hit, I would not have made it out of there alive.
More, later.
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
ON THE MOVE
The week we were to leave Hatteras Island (see blog BOOT CAMP), an explosion at sea indicated German submarine activity. Sure enough, three days later dead bodies began to hit the beach.
This was my first encounter with death outside of family funerals. The bodies, wearing life jackets, were frozen stiff and covered with sand - a gruesome sight.
From Hatteras I was transferred to radio school at Atlantic City, New Jersey. What a break! Now, I'll be able to get home. Not a chance. My only visit, albeit a memorable one, was a weekend visit to see Ruth and our baby daughter, who was born on March 12, 1943. Wow!
After six weeks of radio training, I graduated as a Radioman Third Class (RM3C), and was sent to the Coast Guard station in Brooklyn, New York, where a ship's crew was forming. Three weeks later we entrained to New Orleans, Louisiana, where the newly-built ship was waiting for us. After some dockside training, the ship headed for its shakedown cruise (testing in every area), in the Gulf of Mexico. It was a VERY STORMY THREE DAYS, which meant that I spent most of my time on deck, sleeping under gun mounts, because every time I tried to go below to eat, the smell of the food made me "about face."
The crew and the ship passed the tests and we headed north for Norfolk, Virginia, which was to be our home port.
More, later.
This was my first encounter with death outside of family funerals. The bodies, wearing life jackets, were frozen stiff and covered with sand - a gruesome sight.
From Hatteras I was transferred to radio school at Atlantic City, New Jersey. What a break! Now, I'll be able to get home. Not a chance. My only visit, albeit a memorable one, was a weekend visit to see Ruth and our baby daughter, who was born on March 12, 1943. Wow!
After six weeks of radio training, I graduated as a Radioman Third Class (RM3C), and was sent to the Coast Guard station in Brooklyn, New York, where a ship's crew was forming. Three weeks later we entrained to New Orleans, Louisiana, where the newly-built ship was waiting for us. After some dockside training, the ship headed for its shakedown cruise (testing in every area), in the Gulf of Mexico. It was a VERY STORMY THREE DAYS, which meant that I spent most of my time on deck, sleeping under gun mounts, because every time I tried to go below to eat, the smell of the food made me "about face."
The crew and the ship passed the tests and we headed north for Norfolk, Virginia, which was to be our home port.
More, later.
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