#19 My Dad and John on the Pensacola




Navy Story #19

My Dad and John on the Pensacola

Last time, I told you of an incident that occurred in September of 1975, when my ship's Captain arranged for a "dependents" tour on the USS Pensacola. This week I'm going to tell you more about the trip itself, when my dad and John got to take a short ride on my ship. It was fun for me, and apparently kinda fun for them, too!

Just in case you need the links again to get to them, here are some pictures that I took of the landing craft bringing Daddy and John to the ship:



Shortly after they arrived, Daddy and John were able to join me in the officers' wardroom for dinner. It was on this occasion, I think, that Daddy made the observation that the stewards (crewmen who were assigned to the officers' spaces to make and serve meals, take laundry to the laundry spaces and bring it back, keep the decks clean, etc.) were a bit irritated with how long I take to eat. They were free to go someplace else on the ship and relax after the officers were all done eating. They normally had to wait a bit for me to finish. It's better for my digestion, so I never let their "hovering" over the table bother me! I still eat slowly! I figure we might as well enjoy the good food that the Lord has given us!

Anyway, that night I had the midwatch (midnight to 4:00 a.m.) on the bridge, as the ship made her way northward toward our homeport. I recall that it was a particularly dark night, which probably means that there was no moon. John came up to the bridge early in the watch, I think, and "watched" me do my thing as the Junior Officer of the Deck, although it was so dark that he couldn't see much! I was used to the dark, and I knew where everything was on the bridge, but I think John had some difficulty getting around!

But it was neat, while John was on the bridge, for me to point out to him how things worked, and I think we were even close enough to the shore for me to point out the "loom" from some lighthouses on shore. The "loom" is the slight glow from beyond the horizon that you can see because the light gets scattered a bit by the air. What it really means is that you can see the loom from a light (like a lighthouse, for instance) from a long distance away, before you can actually see the light itself.

There's not a whole lot more to tell! John got tired (and probably bored) pretty quickly, and went below to sleep! (I think Daddy had enough sense to go to bed a long time before my midwatch.) But I continued to feel proud that both Daddy and John had agreed to join me for a brief time on my ship. I still feel proud that I was able to directly serve my country for a few years, by helping to keep one our Navy ships afloat and ready!