Re: [IRCA] way OT: Truthfulness and the seafarer (was WABV explodes)

["Steve Ratzlaff" <steveratz@xxxxxxxx>]

I see so many former US Navy folks on the list, so feel compelled to add to 
the OT fun by stating I also did 7 years in the Navy, 1966-1973, as a 
surface Sonarman, reaching E-6 rank for several years.
I too have never known any Navy person to ever stretch the truth, let alone 
tell any "sea stories" that weren't totally factual, even after a long night 
of very-moderate imbibing of refreshments. (Mixed drinks were 10 cents each 
at my various overseas liberty ports, so many years ago.)
To add to the true tales that have been mentioned, my ship was anchored off 
a port in the Med one time; most everyone who wasn't on duty was off on 
liberty but I was on board. Some swells came along and the ship gradually 
began rocking; being at anchor the engines were off and the ship had swung 
itself to lie in the trough of the swells. I went up to the bridge where 
there was an inclinometer to watch how far the ship rolled. Slowly the rolls 
built up and eventually the ship took a 55 degree roll. I could hear things 
that weren't tied down crashing to the deck all over the ship. For awhile I 
wondered if the ship would recover, but it gradually stabilized and things 
went back to normal. The machinists on duty immediately started the engines 
and turned the ship so it didn't lie in the trough of the swells. Pretty 
scary experience! I've also been through hurricanes, and even went through 
the eye of the hurricane once, where it was all perfectly calm for about a 
1/2 mile radius, with 100 foot waves outside of that. That didn't last very 
long until the storm overtook us and we were back in the thick of it once 
again.  On one cruise the ship hit a submerged, waterlogged timber that 
apparently had gotten loose from a barge we'd passed towing chained-together 
logs. That sheared some blades off the screws. We spent a month in the 
drydock in the Philippines from that incident.
Ah, lots of good memories, and I got to see a lot of the world, courtesy of 
the Navy. We spent an average of 9 months out of the year at sea out of my 5 
years on that ship. I did three Med cruises, two Western Pacific/Vietnam 
cruises and one around-the-world cruise.
Steve AA7U
NE Oregon
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Charles A Taylor" <MWDXer@xxxxxxx>
To: "Mailing list for the International Radio Club of America" 
<irca@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Sunday, February 25, 2007 7:53 AM
Subject: [IRCA] Truthfulness and the seafarer (was WABV explodes)


> Dr. Zucchini,
>
> I am a former Navy Electronics Technician. Mike Hardester is a former Navy
> Corpsman.
> You will quite agree with us when I state:
>
> "Seafarers are at the vanguard of truth. Never would a seafarer allow an
> untruth to fall
> from his lips!"
>
> Are the any (former) Navy or Coast Guard personnel out there who will 
> vouch
> for the
> statement that I have made?
>
> THREE SCORE AND THIRTEEN de Charles
>
> (Shivver me timbers and spark me gap.)
>
>
>        -----
> Charles A Taylor, WD4INP
> Greenville, North Carolina

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