From: Michael Bell <mike_und_kathie@outlook.com>
Sent: Monday, March 17, 2025 7:24 PM
To: mikebell <mikebell@netins.net>
Subject: Aboadfrd gteh Support Cruiser
About the Support Cruiser
In 1975, a Special Unit, that is an experimental unit, the first of the Dodge City class of nuclear powered Support Cruisers rolled off the ways. It was sponsored by the wife of Kansas Senator Robert Dole. The purpose of the boat was (officially) to provide gunfire support to surface units and shore bombardment (the ship had a pair of "five inch fifty fours) as the cannon were called. She was also loaded with anti-submarine sensors and weapons. The ship had a suite of medium range or IRBM missiles to support anti-ship operations. This Support Cruiser could store ship fuel sufficient that she could support several destroyers for short periods of time. This ship maintained a surgical hospital worthy of an aircraft carrier.
The designers of this ship remembered the days when British explorers lowered miles of cable in hopes of finding the bottom depth. The support Cruiser had spaces for removable, specialized, equipment. One experiment was to create a deep water climatology of the ocean. Simply put, the ship would lower a sensor laden cable with pressure, temperature, salinity and light levels. This cable was 10,000 feet long and while it would not reach the medium let alone the deep ocean, it would cover water depths the foreign submarines could operate in. (Sometimes, the Intelligence People regarded US Navy Submarines as enemies.). But there was a major problem: the cable limited the ship's speed to 15 miles an hour.
How could the Support Cruiser trail a 10,000 foot sensor cable when it had to loiter across the ocean at 15 miles an hour (or less).
The Soviets would notice.
There were various reasons given for the birth of this Dodge City Class of Support Cruisers and never once was the real reason mentioned.
The true reason was "The Kindly Old Gentleman" (the infamous Hyman George Rickover his self) wanted a proof of concept of a highly advanced nuclear reactor.
The existing US Navy nuclear powered Cruisers were rated at 30 knots and the more honest reports gave them top speeds of 35+ knots. "The Kindly Old Gentleman" wanted a Cruiser rated at 40+ knots.
His reactor and propulsion teams gave him his 40+ knots. There were reports of a 400 ft speedboat going by, on the plane, at 45 miles an hour. Mother Navy denied this could be a US ship.
ADM George Rickover smiled (but in private).
The ship was named for a man who had served in the US Navy for decades before "going south": Raffel Semmes!
===
In 1975, Commander Eugene ("Gene") Louis Kellner III was offered command of an experimental nuclear powered Cruiser. Kellner was both delighted and horrified.
Delighted because Command of a Nuke was a step up from the rather ancient Cruiser had commanded.
Horrified because he would have to survive a meeting with ADM Rickover. The odd thing is Rickover conducted a peaceful greeting meeting and there was no apparent downside. The actual downside was the three Master Chiefs who sat behind Rickover giving Kellner the worst cold blooded stares he had ever experienced.
Finally, he was sent out of the room. Rickover looked at his three "Fates" and said "well"?
The three "Fates" conferred and the eldest said "He handled this meeting quite well, mon Capitan, he should do well. (This man had been calling Rickover "mon Capitan" since WW2 and was incorrigible.)
Commander Kellner was called back in.
"We have decided you are suitable for Command of an as yet unnamed nuclear Cruiser. You will have to attend and graduate from my Nuclear Power School. Do so, and both Command and a Masters in Nuclear will be yours. Do you accept?"
"Sir, Yes Sir!"
"Good! My three Fates will give you the required paperwork. If you wish to sell your house in San Diego, that can be arranged. If you wish to rent it out, excellent renters can be found. You need not worry about your finances."
"Thank you, Admiral,"
"Dismissed." Admiral Rickover was busy with his paperwork before Commander Kellner was out the door.
"I am Master Chief Rener," one of the three Narns introduced himself. "We have the paperwork arranged and will be your supporting Personal Support Detachment. Are you accepting these orders, sir?'
"Yes, Sir, Master Chief, I am."
"Excellent sir; one of the bonus of taking this assignment is you will be meritoriously promoted to Captain. The worst element Navy in this damned so called 'Peace Period' is the artificial hold up in Senior Officer Promotions. We have ways to get around this, sir."
The rest of that day was getting his paperwork in order. The orders promoting him to Captain came in around 3 pm. No one had expected the Senate to work so fast.
CAPTAIN Kellner returned to San Diego, where he was the Senior Officer on the Type Commander Inspector Staff (for Cruisers and Destroyers). The promotion went well, the party was very nice, they rented out their house to a junior Chief Petty Officer who could only afford part of the rent payments. Somehow, money was magically appearing in the monthly payments. The Chief, a Personalman, got the feeling he was suddenly "golden".
He was.
CAPTAIN Kellner and his family moved to a rented house in Mountain Home, Idaho, where he attended Nuclear Power School. There were a number of Military, former Military and retired Police in their housing project. They made excellent neighbors...
When CAPTAIN Kellner graduated with his Masters in Nuclear Power, his neighbors gave him a very nice party. His thesis was concerned with how neutrons could transform theoretically wonderful stainless steel into dangerous materials. His real results were how neutrons could transform possibly inferior metals into metal ideal for nuclear reactors.
The "Kindly Old Gentleman" (ADMIRAL Rickover) smiled openly for days after he was briefed on this thesis results. He had gotten material sciences research results that would greatly benefit his nuclear programme and all it took was an early promotion for a deserving officer and arranging for this deserving officer to get a Command he deserved!
===
The knowledge that Mother Navy had awarded him command of the USS RAFFEL SEMMES pleased him immensely. Eugene Louis Kellner had been born and raised in Alabama and Reffel Semmes had been a boyhood hero of his....
===
CAPTAIN and Mrs. Kellner , upon returning to San Diego, moved their family into a hotel and waited for the renters, a Coast Guard couple, to move out. A cleaning firm they had not known about cleaned their house, made repairs and replaced items they were never told about. Their house was immaculate.
The tine was fast approaching for the event that terrified CAPTAIAN Kellner: the official tour of his ship, the meetings with his XO and Command Master and finally, meeting his officers.
It went much better than he had feared. His years away from an at sea command had haunted him. His XO had smiled and said "I know you've gotten a bit rusty Skipper but not to worry! The Operations Officer, the Command Master Chief and I will get you up to speed. However, Sir, I suspect you haven't dropped in ship handling ability."
"Thank you. Our Command Master Chief, is he the one they call 'the Rabbi'."
"Yes, Sir, he is. His real name is John Andrew Semmes. He was an Evangelical Christian before there was such a thing in our 'modern' world. He had problems with an overworked Preacher and felt excluded from the religious life on his ship. His Chief was a Rabbi and convinced John he could be a Christian and Jewish; he dated the granddaughter of yet another Rabbi and when they got married, this small group worked out his religious affiliations and so BT3 Seemes became BT2 and later a Rabbi. He doesn't push his beliefs."
"I take it 'the Rabbi' has more than 20 years' experience in Engineering?"
"Yes, he does. There have been times when the Chief Engineer has been off the ship and the Main Propulsion Assistant is acting Chief. One time, both were off ship and the remaining officers came to the XO and recommended that 'the Rabbi' should be acting Chief Engineer. He did this calmly and the Engineering Junior Officers told his orders without quibbling. By the way, 'the Rabbi' graduated from Rickover's nuke school in 1960 and taught there in the later 1960s. "
There was a polite knock on the door, then the door opened and 'the Rabbi' walked in.
He glanced around and smiled at the XO and made a little hand gesture with both hands.
"That gesture means 'moving right along', shall we?" The XO stated in a dry voice.
"Really, sir?" The Master Chief replied in an amused tone.
"Captain, may I present the Command Master Chief (CM/C), Boiler Tender Master Chief John Andrew Seemes. Master Chief, may I present our new Captain Eugene Louis Kellner."
"A pleasure to meet you, Captain Kellner. I have heard good things about you."
"My Yeoman brought in coffee the way you like it and coffee cake buttered up the way you like it Master Chief. You do know that much butter is bad for you?"
"Yes, sir, I do. Did I mention that smoking cigars (he called them sea gars`) is what gave General Grant throat cancer. Throat cancer is a very bad thing to have, XO. Has the Surgeon looked down your throat lately?"
The new Captain cleared his throat but said nothing.
'Moving right along then, there are a number of items to brief you on Captain..." and the briefing began with both Executive Officer and Command Master Chief taking turns speaking. Finally, the Captain asked in a slightly perplexed voice 'are there any older messages that I should know about?"
The XO looked at the CM/C and said "he probably knows of your 'COMMANDING OFFICER AND MASTER CHIEF EYES ONLY' message. Why don't you tell him?"
"Captain Kellner, I will approach this initially as a sea story, with your permission?"
His CO nodded.
"Once upon a time, call it 1957, there was a destroyer which had some serious problems. The CO hid his anger, the XO was Light Commander who was treated with respect despite being the first black XO, the XO's Senior Chief really ran this ship in certain ways. The Weapons Department had a Yeoman First who was quite the writer and editor. This fellow had a son, a five year old son, who called the XO "Uncle XO" when he saw the XO. There were some serious problems which remain; there was a serious crime committed and some of us -ah- some of those folks from that ship WILL NEVER FORGET AND NEVER FORGIVE them that hurt a family member. But this, Capt. Kellner is just a story, a sea story told over coffee."
CAPT Kellner knew he had heard a true story couched as a myth. He decided to respond in kind.
"So, Master Chief, what became of these people. I assume that folks in stories can age?"
"Indeed they can, my Captain, indeed they can. The Light Commander has become the Vice Admiral commanding 7th fleet, the boy who called his Father's XO "Uncle XO"" is now a junior grade lieutenant and "Uncle XO's" Flag Lieutenant under instruction, the Yeoman first class, is the Flag Lieutenant's Father. There was one person of interest to me. A young Boiler Tender third, who was quite the religious young man, quite the obnoxious young man, got turned sideways with the ship's minister. An old Chief, the Boiler Tender Chief, got this lad straighten, his shipmates reminded him the division was his family and enabled him to heal."
The Master Chief sighed.
"Then, the lad got fully involved in his division. You know how small a destroyer is? Somehow, he was able to keep track of where the chaplain was and managed to avoid him. It helped he had friends..." The Command Master Chief smiled gently.
"And were you a BT3 back then Master Chief?"
"Why, I do believe I was, Captain."
"So, to continue with your sea story, how did this BT3 become a Rabbi and what was his future from 1957?"
'It took him about a decade to accomplish what was needed for him to become a Rabbi. He courted a lovely Jewish girl and married. That was the happiest time of his life and both the Jewish woman and her newly Jewish husband are quite happy. He cross trained to quality as a Machinist Mate, which was easy. After all Boiler Tenders and Machinist Mates go to the same training. The 'Kindly Old Gentleman' was looking for a senior enlisted to teach future enlisted students."
The Master Chief smiled a crooked smile.
"I rather liked Admiral Rickover and was the highest ranked student in the history of his programme. Some of the harder elements of your training were my doing, Captain. By the way, I loved your thesis!"
There was dead silence, as his two officers were not sure what to make of this.
"In reply to Junior's message, we have an Engineman second who could serve well on this 'USS ELBERT C LEE". I will have to talk with this Lieutenant Michael Henry Anderson-Pierre to see if I feel comfortable about letting one of my lads to go to such an unusual command."
"If we don't agree to send this sailor, Master Chief?"
"Then, XO, he will stay on SEMMES and I will propose a second candidate. However, my intuition tells me this young man is the proper selection."
"What was his name, again?" The XO could appear quite naive when he wanted. The Master Chief had seen such acts for decades.
"We both know, Sir, that I did not tell you his name. I listen very carefully to you, XO, and even more carefully to my Commanding Officer.."
"Perhaps it is time for 'the Rabbi' to leave the room and for the Master Chief to come to the fore?"
"A lovely question, Captain and the Rabbi is out of the room, allowing the Master Chief to speak. The man I refer to is Engineman Second Class William Thomas Nichols."
"He was one of three on my mental list," the XO said.
"Really?"
"No, I just wanted to get a reaction for you."
"Yes, sir, was there any happy news?"
"I received an EYES ONLY message earlier today. The CO of the America thinks he has a candidate for both the Lawyer and the Quartermaster. He said he wants to wait until Michael arrives on AMERICA. Your 'Junior' is enroute to Guam from Hawaii and I have hopes he will bring a Radioman and Electronics Tech home with him."
"That could fill in our entire card, Captain," the XO commented.
All three smiled.
"On that happy note, how prepared are we for getting underweigh for Honolulu as scheduled?"
"The Division Officers and Department Heads have gone through their checklist multiple times and say they are ready to go," the XO said.
"I've visited with all the Leading Chiefs and Department Chiefs and told them to make sure their people - especially their problem children - are ready to leave. I did have to tell one Chief that Hono is a civilized country and he need not go out desperately buying books. They are very likely to have his favourite books 'out in the islands'. I did tell the Chaplain's Assistant - our very own 'Librarian' - the limits of the new books he can buy for his personal library - oops- for the ship's library, Sir."
"What is his fixation, now, Master Chief," the XO asked?
"Well, XO, it was Poul Anderson, Robert Heinlein, Frank Herbert, Francis Busby and H. Beam Piper. People have gotten to him about Civil War History and he wants to buy General Grant's autobiography, John Mosby's book, General Lee's autobiography and "Hardtack and Coffee" by John D. Billings. Actually, a couple of the cooks are interested in some the cooking described in Billig's book, sirs, and I suspect this cook wants to have his people try their hands." The Master Chief sighed.
"What would be on his menu," the CO asked.
"This cook wants to fry bacon, boil sliced potatoes in the bacon fat, boil rice and serve hardtack to be soaked in large cups of coffee. I had to remind him, that anyone eating this would have to drink a lot of orange juice and eat some of those little onions for fear of scurvy."
"Could this 'menu' lead to scurvy?" The Captain was curious.
"No, sir, all it does is give this cook the chance to cook those onions and he loves to drink excessive amounts of orange juice."
"Is there anything else, Master Chief?"
" Actually, there is sir. I have read your thesis and some parts more than once. Some of my nuke Machinist Mates and a - God help us - a nuke ET (Electronics Technician) had questions I was unable to answer. Think of this as a thesis defense in front of a polite audience, Sir. "
The Master Chief left, soon to be going about his Master Chief duties, and the Captain turned to his XO and said "was he serious".
" I'm afraid so, Skipper. Mother Navy sent him to the University of Maryland where he got his BS in mechanical engineering, with a minor in Comparative Religious Studies. After he graduated from 'The Kindly Old Gentleman's' School for Nuke Sailors, he sent him to Naval Postgrad School for a one year Nuclear Engineering Masters. Of course, it requires a meritorious promotion to Chief but what he wants he gets... "
Both just sighed.
The XO's Yeoman knocked and walked in and handed a message form to the XO. The XO read it quickly and spoke:
"This message reads well, Skipper."
The message was "EYES ONLY" and addressed to COMSEVENFLT (Commander 7th Fleet), Captain of USS AMERICA and USS ENGLAND (verify this!). It stated that a strong candidate for the Engineman Position on USS ELBERT C LEE was found and gave the sailor's name. The second paragraph strongly recommended this William <middle name> Nichols be accepted.
'Why don't we meet this EN2 Nichols before I send this message?"
The XO simply smiled and held the door. The Master Chief was waiting for them in the XO's outer office.
"We're going to the Chief Engineer's office", the XO said to the Command Master Chief. The Command Master Chief fell in with them.
They went to the Chief Engineer's Office.
"Chief," the XO said, "we have a project that needs a middle level Engineman. the duty will be on an experimental command, actually a modified YP (Yard patrol Craft). This craft will need a skilled Engineman. Since the staff is a Lieutenant in Command, a Senior Chief as his XO and a projected crew of 6. We need someone who can live in a small family and yet retain military discipline."
"Nichols is waiting outside; shall I send for him".
The XO nodded and the Chief Engineer bellowed through his open office door "send him in".
Engineman Second Class William <mn> Nichols walked in, stood at attention and seemed very out of place.
"I assume you have heard of this special project, Petty Officer Nichols?"
" Yes, Sir. The Chief Engineer and the Rabbi told me. I like the idea, XO. "
"Small number of folks. Seems more a family than division, Sir. It could be fun. Having high grade diesels sounds like fun Sir. I like it Sirs."
"Chief," the XO asked whilst looking at the Chief Engineer.
"if Nichols leaves SEEMES I lose a sailor. If I say no and Petty Officer Nichols stays, I probably lose a sailor when his attitude crashes So, XO, Captain, I prefer to send a good and happy sailor to a command he can be happy at."
"Then, unless any one objects,' the Captain said, ' pack your sea bags Bill. You can probably expect a transfer. On that note, I have a message to send."
Behind them, the Chief Engineer and Command Master Chief were busy calming down the suddenly confused young sailor.
The message was sent Immediate precedence, with the notation requiring a response with the time of receipt of the message. With both the XO and Command Master Chief looking at the Radio Room Clerk, that young and intimated sailor could only say, "we'll will have this out as fast as we can Sir."
The message form was run through an Optical Character Reader, the message then presented on a computer screen and the Section Supervisor as two other radiomen proof read the message.
It was perfect.
The Section Supervisor said to both the XO and Command Master Chief: "Sir, the message went out and we will all you when the receipt comes back".
From 12 to 15 minutes later, all the receipts were back on the ship and at 17 minutes, the XO and CM/c were informed.
A day later, a message came in that a radioman (woman actually) and an Electronics Technician had been found. Their command vouched for them and the Commander, Naval Forces Marianas had spoken to both and approved them,
A message and personal phone call from the Commander Seventh Fleet to the Chief of Enlisted Detailers (the officer who controlled transfers) resulted in transfer orders for both being cut that day. There was no real hurry, however, as they would remain at their current duty stations until the rest of the senior personnel arrived on Guam.
===
In meanwhile, LT Anderson-Pierre was gritting his teeth and standing his refresher watches on USS ENGLAND.
HMCS Scott was back in Honolulu initial helping his wife prepare for a mid-year move. Their children whined, botched and drove their parents nearly to distraction. Peace returned when the parents agreed to wait for the summer before moving.
Staff Sergeant <Name> continued on his errands.
===
Two days later, transfer orders sending Engineman 2nd Class Nichols to COMSEVENFLT (Commander Seventh Fleet) were received.
A message came from VADM Foote informing CAPT Kellner that he was losing his sailor (EN2 Nichols). He had also ordered a COD (Carrier Onboard Delivery) craft would take both EN2 Nichols and BTCM <name> to the USS AMERICA. There, the Master Chief would evaluate the future crew of the USS ELBERT C LEE . the Vice Admiral intended to be aboard during the same period..
"Why is he going to be aboard?" EN2 asked.
"He wants to see an old friend," the XO said. When the Vice Admiral was the Lieutenant Commander and XO of the <ship name>, the Master Chief was one of his Boiler Tender 3rd Classes. He wants to connect with his past."
---
The entire Engineering Department attended Bill Nichol's farewell 973 on-ship party. He got a nice ship's plaque with the dates of his service. They had a cake made by the ship's Baker (who had taken Junior College classes in refined baking) and he was spared the agony of public speaking.
His Leading Petty Officer even carried Nichols' seabag to the ship's van.
Master Chief Seemes was already in the van.
--
They went from the GARVIN to Naval Air Station North Island (sometimes called NAS San Diego) and were allowed to proceed to a waiting room. There, they waited several minutes until a Petty Officer Second Class, wearing a flight suit with PO2 collar insignia, arrived and conferred with the reception desk people. He walked over.
"Good afternoon, Master Chief Seemes, Petty Officer Nichols. I am the Load Master on our Grumman C tack two. (Tack was Navy talk for "dash".) The desk clerk has verified your identities and orders out to the Big A. The Navigator told me we're fixing to leave at 1400 so both y'all have about an hour to eat some snacks, drink some coffee and use the head. Be sure you use the head! For folks not used to flying in the upper vomit sphere, you don't want too much on your stomach. I can give you Dramamine and the clerks told me they have 'freshly made coffee cake' and 'nice coffee' in the lounge. We have your bags on a cart and after I deliver you to the clerks - the oh so kind clerks - I will haul your goods out."
He paused.
"Any questions, gentlemen?"
There were none.
"Then please examine the cart and verify that all of your luggage is there!"
Both Master Chief and Second Class examined their luggage, looked at the form they'd filled out listing their item, and said "everything is here".
"Excellent," and the Load Master took them to the Clerks, who nodded at him. He went to the cart and hauled it out the main door.
"Here is the Dramamine and if you can take it, please take some. We have coffee cake and butter for it and good coffee. Contrary to what that grumpy Load Master may have suggested, the COD will not be leaving without you!"
"Why does that Load Master seem annoyed with quote the clerks unquote," Nichols asked?
"He was snubbed and treated rudely by clerks when he was an Airman Deuce (an E2 sailor) and isn't much on forgiving. Enjoy your coffee, Dramamine and coffee cake while I check the paperwork. Oh, and grumpy said to use the head. Please do so!"
The two outsiders took their Dramamine, enjoyed their coffee cake and coffee and then waited outside. In the remaining time, five more sailor arrived and were processed and went to the waiting room.
===
A man in flight suit with Lieutenant insignia and Pilot's wings walked in with the load master.
"Good afternoon, gentlemen, I will be your pilot on today's flight to the 'Big A'. We've verified your worldly goods are on the flying machine and even checked the tarmac to make sure we are not leaving anything behind. Your flight crew today will be my Load Master, co-pilot and I. Our Load Master is studying to be a Navigator so we'll see how that works out. My co-pilot will be checking his figurers. Once we get to the boat, all y'all will be greeted and y'all will be taken to wherever. On the other hand, we're going to fly back home tomorrow, rest up and haul a load to another NAS."
He paused and loudly cleared his throat.
"Hit the Head once more Gentlemen. A note for the wise: if the Men's room is full, use the "Male Officer's Head". Ah, yes, William?"
"Dismissed," the Load Master bellowed.
Save for the Command Master Chief, everyone headed for the "MEN ROOM.
"Master Chief," the pilot commented, "my little speech was to encourage you to use the Officer's Head. We will be in the air several hours. I've arranged for you to have the nicest seat, even though it may not look like it."
"Thank you, young man, I shall take your advise." With that, the good Master Chief left to perform his duty. [In a manner of speaking.]
Slightly more than 15 minutes later, they were walked out to the aircraft. It looked smaller on the outside than on the inside. The Load Master had put a box on the nicest seat and directly his human cargo to seats based hon their apparent weight. Finally, the Pilot who waited outside with the Master Chief lead him in. the Load Master removed his box and the Command Master Chief took his place on the nicest seea. Several in the passengers noted the Pilot leading the MC in and recalled a Bible quote:
'The first shall be last..."
===
The Load Master stood in front of the passengers.
"Master Chief and Gentlemen, I am Load Master, Navigator under instruction and safety person. So, please pay attention. The main exit is the door you came through and we have another exit near the two heads. Don't use that. I'll say that again! Don't use the exit in the ass end of the COD. Open that door and the entire air plane will flood and you'll be too deep to make it to the surface before running out of air. if we ditch, be patient and follow the Pilot's orders. We have some inflatable rafts and life preservers. The water is too warn to kill you and the sharks are not doing their annual migrations. They are not likely to attack you.' He sighed "We hope! Enough of that happy talk! The flight will be about three hours and the pilot will thump us into the Bird Farm [aircraft carrier]. We have sufficient box lunches for all y'all to have seconds. We don't have carbonated beverages so you'll have to do with bottled water, coffee, black tea and Motts canned orange juice. That Motts is actually better than you may think; it is unusual at least. I regret you will not be able to sleep very well but look on the bright side. when you're surrounded by dozens of farting, snoring, shipmates tonight you'll fall asleep quickly."
The Load master stopped talking and waited.
"Once we lift off, and the Pilots tell me tis safe to do so, the SEAT BELT light will go off. I'll go to the coffee mess. We have plenty of box lunches. A word of warning! You may feel great now but if we hit turbulence, you won't find that meal so good. In the words of a philosopher you never met: 'But it tasted so good going down. Not so good coming back up!''.
The Load Master gave the cargo space a very careful walk around and inspection. Then, he went to a work station, put on a head set and spoke with the pilots. he advised them their passengers were belted in and he was going to monitor the voice channels. The Pilots told him "to carry on".
The takeoff was smooth, the aircraft well within the limits of their flight plan and the Load Master/Navigator followed their track. After they were "feet wet" or over the Eastern Pacific, the Load Master/Navigator fired up his high frequency transmitter and put both his transmitter and receiver on the frequency designated for him to contact the USS AMERICA,
The co-pilot came back to the Navigation Station, studied his sailor's work and said "Very nice work Willliam. I agree with your projected track. Please sent this information to the boat."
The co-pilot returned to the cockpit, having decided Navigation was in good hands. The Load Master/Navigator felt good and is passengers were impressed.
The callsign for the USS AMERICA was NUSA and his aircraft's callsign was something that daily. This was written on a sheet of paper on his clip. Using the manual he had spent 6 week learning; he began to establish comms with "NUSA".
When he had started learning manual morse with the very short duration sound bursts used at 25 words per minute, he thought he would never learn to copy and worst, learn to send well. Now, when he sent or received, all he heard was letters. He had become a rarity: a US sailor who could communicate in Morse Code.
He had already become a Ham operator, an Amateur Extra...��
He repr0ted the COD's position and projected arrival time at the carrier. Some of the old farts thought this verged on treason.
These old men did not realize just how much sound the carrier's we 8 boilers and 8 sets of high and low pressure steam turbines put into the water. Then add in the engine sounds of the carrier battle group 's warships and oiler and various radars and communications transmitters. Plus, consider how visible it all is to satellites and air planes. Finally, junior sailors and Marines talk too much in bars, etc.
There was nothing this sailor could say that the Soviets didn't already know..
About 45 minutes before their arrival, the Load Master told the CO-pilot he's like to remind the Bird Farm about having reception committees. The co-pilot rolled his eyes and told him to do so. He called the Bird Farm and said he wanted to respectfully remind them his passengers needed the reassurance of knowing they would be greeted. They may have rolled their eyes but said "all is in order".
He then told his passengers to use the heads and take little brown bags with them. They did so...
The co-pilot came in the cabin. area and gave the "we're landing talk". There were no questions; the first time passengers were nervous. The experienced passengers were nervous...
The landing was smooth (for a landing on the rolling deck) And they were relieved. The COD was put in a spot off the airfield areas.
The reception committees were present and helped get their visitors and possessions where they needed to be...
The aircrew was half way through their "work day". The COD was refueled, the three men used the head, ate a quick hot meal in a little dining room set aside for transition air crews and they left for NAS North Island with several passengers about two hours after they landed.
===
===
NOTEs:
LT and CM/C interview EN2 Nichols and approve him.
The 3 sailors, QM1, LM1 and EN2 meet, hit it off well and both LT and Master Chief approved the three.
VADM Foote, knowing his rank was terrifying, kept his distance.
Those on the carrier are given first class seats in an airline to Guam.
Meet RM3 and ET2.
===
RS arrives on Guam. Haven't figured what will happen. Maybe test cable with data link to SOSUS station Guam?
They go out on deployment to Japan and go trawling fr.om Japan south. Have to figure plausible reason to go so slow...
What about a "...a prince need not be religious and ought not to be religious, but is is most inmportant for him to appear to be religious."
"Thought on Machiavelli"
Leo Strauss
"The Republican Party, while it is wicked and corrupt, is not an assemblage of fools, and while there may be, and doubtlessly are, many foolish and stupid men who put themselves forward as leaders, the mass of voters in all sections of this country are tolerably sensible people."
Dodge City Democrat December 23, 1883la of yachts going from Japan to Guam and then Honolulu with the USE RAFELKE SEMMES guard dogging the yachts.
whose callsign
Told the
gave the safety lecture and reminded everyone that Mother Navy would know where they were and that the wager was warm and they would not die of hypothermia should the Cod fish retrun to the water. He did remind them that sharks were possible
=============================================
FOOTNOTE/ENDNOTE: This is wishful thinking. When I served on USS FORRESTAL (CVA-59), we were told that if we wanted a ship's plaque, we had to buy it. If we wanted a little bronze plaque with our name and the dates were were on FORRESTAL, we had to buy it outselves and pay to have it put on. No, the Leading Chief (CTOC Samuel Joeseph Renner, Jr. and Division Officer LCDR Gerald Gavin did not arrange for a farewell cake My departure was me packing my peresonal goods and getting items checked off on a check list. Both Renner and Gavin did shake my hand and wish me well. My fellow sailors did not go out of their way to say "farewell". This was in Novemer 1973 and I am still pissed.
[1] My only comfort is the knowledge they very likely got the same "fuck it" style of "bye bye" when they left...
I have to rename the ship.. I shall call her the William Garvin
On second thought, the ship stays RAFFELL SEEMES and the Master Chief gets a name change to Harold Phillip (Phillip) ...I'm not doing so good in renaming my Master Chief. When I got up this morning, I thought of how many name a son "Jesse James" and decided to call him that with "JJ" as his nickname. I quibled about his last name and while watching "The Planets" realized that "Darwin" would be a fine family nsme.
And there you have it...
Benson
LIAM GARVIN)
[1] I reread this the evening of Monday 16 December 2024 and realized I did not give a shit. Too many worst events had gotten in the way.
