Aryeh Wetherhorn is a graduate of the University of Michigan. He served as a Naval Reserve officer in the Vietnam War, earning a Naval Achievement Medal for his performance of duty in USS Okinawa. His biography appears in the Marquis edition of “Who’s Who in the World” in 1998, 2002, and 2003 editions. He has written several full length articles on naval history that appeared in the Polish magazine “Okrety Wojenne” (Warships).
When I was transferred to a new ship, The USS Elokomin, she was just finishing a tour of duty with the Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean. I flew from Norfolk, VA to Athens/Piraeus. After passing through Greek immigration control I checked when the ship was due to leave. I had an extra 3 days. I … More Do the Authorities Think I’m still in Greece?
I was fascinated by the use of colored patterns in the First World War to confuse U-boats about the course and speed of the painted ship. I’ve painted many models in my collection in those patterns. Here are three British minesweeping sloops with their actual patterns. The patterns are different for each side of the … More RN WWI Camouflage on my models – part 1
In an earlier post I told about losing power, briefly, while leaving San Diego. This story occurred several thousand miles further West, and was just as unpleasant, if not worse. The ship, USS Okinawa, was a helicopter carrier. We carried most of a Marine battalion and delivered them ashore to do ‘Marine things’. While they … More Powerless
It all started when Hamas in Gaza had a demonstration exercise for some of their VIPs. A couple of them fired in the direction of an Israeli infantry unit near the separation fence. A nearby Israeli tank took out the snipers. At that point it was 9:2 in Israels favor. Hamas couldn’t let that go … More We’re Having a Small War (Again)
Danang is located in a bay that is open on one end. The other three sides are land. We had entered the bay and anchored. Now it was time to leave. In most cases that’s a fairly simple evolution; you just pick up the anchor and head out to sea. Well, not this time. The … More Leaving Danang – not so easy.
This is a continuation of items previously published.
When I made these, about 30 years ago, there were no commercially available models of these ships. The models are made from wood, wire and pins. Some of the boats and other detais are commercial parts or items salvaged from other models. I chose the ships they represent especially in order to have an example … More Some more scratch built models – USN WWII – part 1
When the Okinawa returned to North Island I wanted to see Madeline, my fiancee. In those days there was no bridge yet. Travel from North Island was by ferry boat. One of the other officers was in the duty section and had to stay on the ship. He also had a car at North Island. … More Stick Shift for the first time.
In 1968 USS Okinawa was designated as the prime recovery ship for Apollo 6. She was, at the time, the smallest ship to have that role. Apollo 6, in case you didn’t know, was the last unmanned test of the Saturn rocket and Apollo capsule combination. It was plagued by minor problems, but still regarded … More Apollo space capsule recovery
Wetherhorn 