When USS WH Standley (CG-32) moored at Naval Base Charleston, South Carolina, in the summer of 1975, there was a different thread of excitement running through the crew, in addition to the usual thrill of being back in home port. We had received a challenge from the other Belknap-class cruiser in town to a “cruiser Olympics.” It was rare for both ships to be home at the same time, so some sort of celebration was in order.
This week, The Freewheeling Freelancer concludes his bicycle journey around the Iberian Peninsula. As usual, the articles there will alternate with the stories here, so you can travel with me across time and space each week.
Next week, a sea story about my only bicycle road race.
Thanks,
JT.
One of our first ports-of-call in the spring of 1975 was Toulon on the French Riviera between Marseilles and Cannes. USS William H. Standley (CG-32), a guided missile cruiser homeported in Charleston SC, was on deployment to the US Sixth Fleet (“Med Cruise”) with her new Assistant Operations Officer, Lieutenant. J.T. Hine. Toulon was the French Navy’s big base on the Mediterranean; the other was Brest, on the Atlantic. Continue reading
This week, The Freewheeling Freelancer continues the bicycle journey around the Iberian Peninsula. As usual, the articles there will alternate with the stories here, so you can travel with me across time and space each week.
Next week, a sea story about the French Riviera.
Thanks,
JT.
Dark. Absolutely dark. Deep inside USS Little Rock (CLG-4), the lights were all red, so that the night watch could accommodate their eyes. It had been more than four hours since I had seen white light, and I had gone out on deck early to let my night vision become as sharp as possible. It also helped that I knew the location of every knee-knocker and trip hazard by feel and by heart.
I reported to the bridge at 23:35 and sought out the Officer of the Deck (OOD). As Jerry gave me the run-down on the latest details, my bridge team was doing the same: lookouts, quartermasters, helmsmen, messengers, and status board keepers. The Captain was coming and going between Combat Information Center (CIC or “Combat”) and the bridge. He was always aware of where we were and what we were doing, but he knew that his OOD was driving the ship.
