Shore Patrol – Olongapo – 1 During the time I served in the US Navy there was a major American naval base at Olongapo in Subic Bay in the Philippines. Seventh Fleet ships were regularly scheduled for visits there. It wasn’t a great place to visit. The naval base was separated from the town by … More Shore Patrol – Olongapo – 1
After completing OCS I was sent to CIC (Combat Information Center) and AIC (Air intercept control ) schools in Glynco, Georgi, One of the things I thought strange was that I had to have a yellow Fever inoculation. It was not for going overseas. It was for being stationed in Georgia. The courses lasted over … More Air Intercept Control School
My second encounter with a typhoon came a few years after the first. We were en route to Okinawa where all the amphibious forces in the US Seventh Fleet were assembling for a major exercise. It seems someone had also invited the typhoon to meet us there. Some of the ships had already arrived and … More Typhoon – 2
US Submarine camouflage trials in 1916 There was interest in warship camouflage in the US that may have been started by the experience of the US Navy in the Spanish American War. One of the first artists to make his interest public was William A Mackay. Mackay had specific ideas about ship camouflage, and they … More USN submarine camouflage experiments – 1915-6.
There are dozens of serious tropical storms in the Pacific every year. Only the worst are designated as typhoons and given names, Assigning names is a relatively new thing, dating from // In 1963 the Valley Forge was in port in Subic Bat in the Philippines. The typhoon was being tracked well to the north … More Typhoon – 1
Frederick Alexander Pawla One of the highly important, and largely forgotten, figures in the camouflage of US ships in the First World War was Frederick Alexander Pawla. Pawla was born in Scotland in 1876. He immigrated to the US and joined the US Navy when he was just 14 years old and not yet 5 … More Frederick Alexander Paula
I’ve mentioned before that my first sea duty was a great learning experience. It was also a time when I had a few accomplishments that I am still proud of. Details about those will come later, The CIC team was full, and I was a fifth wheel CIC school trained officer. That was the reason … More First Duty Assignment – 4
Today is the first of May. For socialists it’s a worker’s holiday. For people associated with aircraft (and shipping) it’s a cry for help. This last interpretation comes from the French, m’aidez. It means that someone is in a crisis, It is the way I feel after listening to Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu describe … More Mayday
A new officer often encounters situations for which his previous experiences did nothing to prepare him. I had one of those cases when I tried t get men from my division ready for the examinations for advancement in rank. The navy at that time had a system for trying to promote the best men in … More First duty Assignment 3
When I finished my intercept control course I headed for California to join my ship, the helicopter carrier USS Valley Forge. The ship was in drydock, undergoing a major refit. There wasn’t any space available in navy housing ashore, so I lived on board. It wasn’t a great experience. The whole ship was filled with … More First Duty Assignment – 2
Wetherhorn 