Having your ship sunk is probably the worst thing that can happen at sea. The next worst things are being in a collision and running aground. I’ve experienced both of those. Here is how one of the incidents occurred. USS Nantahala was in here home port of Newport, Rhode Island. She had been undergoing some … More A Strange Way to Run Aground
The Elokomin wasn’t the happiest of ships. At one time I thought that because of the Vietnam War the best officers were sent to the Pacific fleet and the Atlantic had to make do with what was left. Discipline wasn’t exactly one of the areas where the crew of the Elokomin stood out. Fortunately, my … More Decommissioning
cked the rendezvous locationThe US Navy used to have a stadard career pattern plan for officers. Aviation officers needed a shipboard tour of duty between flight squadron assignments in order to understand how the surface navy worked and qualify as a ship driver. When they reached higher rank and were considered still available for advancement … More Driving under the Influence
ships are organized around functional duties of the crew. Some are seamen and handle mooring lines and anchors. Others deal with propulsion, food, navigation, and so on. The Navy groups these functions into departments. The senior officer in each is the department head. When I was administrative assistant to the executive officer I … More Acting Department Head
I am an observant Jew. I never concealed it. We always kept a Kosher home. But it is not possible to follow all the rules of keeping Kosher on board an American warship. Even so, I did always avoid eating items that are specifically forbidden in the Old Testament. That’s how the following story came … More Keeping Kosher at sea (well, sort of)
One central idea that ran through my entire collection was that each model represented a specific ship. I tried to make every model appear as the original ship by painting them in the actual camouflage patterns they carried and modifying their armament, and sometimes other equipment, to match what was actually fitted at the time … More My models – Barnegat class small seaplane tenders
The salute is an centuries old custom that is rendered, and returned, as a form of greeting. The regulation salute is rendered by an enlisted sailor to any officer when they meet. The participants are normally in uniform, and in the Navy, a salute is only given while wearing a hat. To keep from wasting … More A Much Appreciated Salute
Wetherhorn 