NAVY
I was in the U. S. Navy for two years from June 1953 to June 1955. When I went to Princeton the Korean war was underway and there was the possibility of a military draft. I chose to enter the NROTC (Naval Reserve Officers Training) program at Princeton. This meant I would take a course in naval science each year in college. If there was no national emergency, my military obligations would be over at graduation. If a national emergency was declared, I would serve two years in the U. S. Naval Reserve. As it turned out, a national emergency was declared, and I served two years as an Ensign, and later a Lieutenant Junior Grade. I chose small combatant ships, Atlantic. and was assigned to the USS Tabberer DE 418. The Tabberer was a Butler class destroyer escort, a class of ship designed for convoy duty in World War II. It was about 300 feet long, carried two 5" guns for surface engagement, one forward and one aft, and several quadruple 40 mm antiaircraft guns. The hull was built of a rather poor grade of steel. The engines were sufficiently powerful to make a speed of 20 knots, a little faster than the speed of the current submarines. So this vessel was designed to hunt submarines, which it could barely do. There was good sonar gear on board in a compartment in the right rear side of the wheelhouse.
During college in conjunction with my course in Naval Science I attended a Navy drill program each Wednesday afternoon. All the NROTC students assembled on the freshman football field and practised marching. For reasons unknown I was appointed captain of the color guard. The color guard was a four man unit, a rifleman at each end, two men in the middle, one carrying the United State flag (me), and one carrying the Navy Ensign. I appointed three of my roommates to the color guard.
During the summer of my Junior year I spent a month as a midshipman on the USS Pittsburg, a cruiser. We performed various maneuvers in the Atlantic east of Norfolk.
On graduation I reported to Newport Rhode Island Naval Base and boarded the Tabberer as First Lieutenant (in charge of the deck force) and Anti Submarine Warfare Officer (in charge of sonarmen and anti submarine operations in general). For the following two years we cruised between our home port of Newport to the naval base at Key West Florida. We participated in various maneuvers off Newport and in the Gulf Stream off Key West, mostly practising attack on submarines.
My two years in the Navy did not further my education. However, there was comradship and experiences that I shall never forget. Some were funny, some serious. I now have an ample supply of stories.
Officer of the Deck
Three new ensigns had reported to the Tabberer in Newport. We had done a few maneuvers off Newport, and were steaming south to Key West. The Officer of the Deck is always on the bridge, and commands the ship, giving engine orders and helm orders to make the couse desired, plus any orders to avoid shipping or other contingencies. Usually, nothing of concern happens. Course changes are made way in advance to avoid any other ships in the area. These circumstances are good for training new officers. I happened to "have the deck as we steamed south from Miami. There was a quite a bit of coastal shipping in this area. I gave all the necessary course changes in good time. Captain Cahill, sitting in his chair overlooking the bridge, was quite pleased. The channel in to Key West harbor starts at a sea buoy at the edge of the gulf stream, follows several long reaches through shallow coastal waters, and turns 90 degrees into the harbor, at which point the piers are directly ahead. I timed all the helm orders perfectly. The trick is to give the order just far enough ahead so that after turning the ship lines up in the center of the next section of channel. The timing depends on the speed of the ship, the amount of the turn, and the helm order (full rudder, standard rudder, etc.). I did this all very well. The Captain set the special sea detail. I expected to be relieved. But, to my consternation, the Captain asked me if I would like to make the landing. I was totally unprepared for this. But I had watched him land the ship many times, and thought I understood the process pretty well. I accepted.
Our speed in the channel was five knots, which seems very slow in open water. We entered the harbor, beginng to pass pierheads on the right. Our assigned birth was port side to at the end of the pier. I knew the direction of the piers. I gave the order to "come to XXX, with standard rudder". The ship slowly began to turn, bow approaching the pier. It looked like we would come along side the pier perfectly. I was very pleased. We passed the pierline. Then a horrible realization struck me. We were steaming at five knots. That means, not only was the ship moving at five knots, but the engines were still driving it forward. I gave the order "all stop". I knew you cannot reverse the turbines quickly; a lot of valves need to be closed, the direction of steam reversed, and valves re-opened. We passed the pierhead. Five knots in open water seems slow. Five knots along a concrete pier seems amazingly fast. I gave the order "all back one third". Nothing at all had happened yet. Dock hands were running down the pier. I gave the order "all back two thirds". Still, nothing had realy happened in the engine room. The pier ended in a solid concrete wall, approaching with amazing speed. I gave the order "all back full". This order is given only in extreme situations. I think the engine room detected panic in my voice. Our seamen threw our lines out. The dock hands grabbed them, running and shouting. All of a sudden the engine room finished the process of reversing the turbines, and threw the full load of steam in reverse. Spray shot up from the thrashing propellers and the stern of the ship shook. The pier wall loomed. The dock hands ran. The ship slowed. It stopped. We had another twenty feet before hitting. I gave the order "all stop". The Captain had watched all this silently. There was nothing he could do. I tried to be calm. He stepped from chair, looked at me, and said "That is the finest landing I have ever seen. Do not ever ever do that again!".
Submarine Attack
The Tabberer was not a large ship, but it was very well armed. We carried two 5" guns for surface engagement, four quad 40's for air defense, depth charges for submarine attack, and two torpedo tubes. We had a little of everything. All of these weopons needed to be exercised. As our primary purpose was convoy duty, our most frequent exercise was submarine attack, followed by air attack, followed by surface gunnery. I do not recall ever firing a torpedo.
Submarine attack was by depth charges. When birthed at Newport practiced with submarines from New London. At Key West the submarines were birthed in adjascent slits. Practices were frequently with other ships from our squadron.
The essentials of a depth charge attack were simple. When the submarine is located, set a course to pass slightly ahead of it, so the depth charges will have time to sink and explode at the depth of the submarine. In practice, a lot of variables entered in. We had excellent sonar tracking gear; so did the submarine. If tracking were perfect, we would know the course, speed and depth of the submarine, also our own course and speed. We knew the sinking rate of the depth charges. All of this information could be analysed, by hand or by computer, and our course and speed adjusted for earliest delivery. However, the submarine knew everything we knew. In particular, he knew when the depth charge pattern had been fired, he had a period to maneuver at will while the depth charges sank toward the sub. Further, if we were attacking from the stern, or even from the beam, our sonar contact would be blanked out by the noise of our own propellers. That gave him even more time to maneuver. He knew all this; we knew he knew all this; he knew we knew he knew all this. He had a number of possible evasive maneuvers. He could turn to port, he could turn to starboard (which we could not hear); he could speed up, he could slow down (which we could hear). He could simply stop his engines and sink down or float up depending on the air in his tanks (which we could not hear). He release a huge bubble of air simulating turbulence at the propellers and make us think he was changing speed. Of course, if we had active sonar (pinging) as opposed to passive sonar (listening only), we would be able to track him, but it take time to determine his new course and speed. So it became a game. If he made his move too soon, we might figure out his maneuver and adjust; if he made his move too late, he increased his chances of being hit. In a single ship attack, the submarine had a very good chance of getting away.
Therefore we tried to attack in teams of three. Three ships would track the submarine steaming on a circle of a thousandd yard radius. It is unlikely they would all lose contact. The three combat information centers would track the submarine separately and coordinate this information. Periodically (in a very specific order) one of the ships would peel off the circle and make a depth charge run. The other two ships would continue tracking. In this way the battle could be continued with little chance of the ships totally losing contact (although the sub could stop its engines, sink to the bottom, and pretend to be a reef.)
In war a run is judged successful if any wreckage or oil comes to the surface. In a practice attack the ship throws die over the fantail, then continues on its course for the amount of time it will take the depth charges to sink to the target depth, and then tells the submarine on the underwater telephone "mark center", whereupon the submarinse sends up a bubble of air. If the bubble comes up in or close to the die, the run is assumed a success. Actually, the submarine could have been very deep, and the depth charges exploded far above without damage. One could check for this by comparing the time between the "mark center" and the appearance of bubble with the time necessary for bubbles to rise a distance equal the depth setting specified for the depth charges. As depth settings are usually varied throughout the pattern, this is seldom done.
In war a multi-ship attack on a submarine frequently goes on for a long time. A depth charge must explode quite close to a submarine to rupture the hull, around 20 feet, less to cause enough damage to force a surfacing. Some submarines survived hundreds of depth charges during an attack lasting several days.
Air Defense
Although the Tabberer was designed primarily to defend convoys against submarine attack, the ship also had four quad 40mm guns for defense against air attack. The Tabberer periodically exercised these guns, firing live ammunition at a sleeve dragged from an airplane. The plane typically flew across the ship at a moderate altitude dragging the sleeve on a long cable. The guns were not allowed to open fire until the plane had passed over the ship, assuring the safety of the plane.
Early versions of the quad 40 were controlled manually with a joy stick. This required a lot of skill, not only to hit the target, but to avoid jerking the gun mount so fast that the gunners fell off. Later versions of the quad 40 were controlled by the MK63 gun fire control system. This was a clever radar fire control system involving two separate radars. The primary radar would register a return from anything in a fairly large circle. The secondary radar also showed a return from anything in a circle, but this circle was inside the larger circle of the primary radar. If the gun was on target, returns would be received from both radars. If the gun began to drift off target and the returns from the secondary radar would cease. The circle of return for the secondary radar was made to "roll around" inside the circle of the primary radar, so even though the gun was drifting off target, the secondary radar would show a return in certain positions. Analysing this data, the control system could see how to make the proper correction.
We were very proud of this system. The time came for a live practice with a plane and sleeve. The pilot flew a few practise runs, indicating we were not to open fire until the plane was over the ship and he signalled. The gunners tracked the sleeve in manual. The time came to test the MK63 system. The plane approached, the pilot signalled, the MK63 system was already tracking the sleeve and destroyed it on the very first shot. The MK63 system then saw the cable, and began shooting pieces off the end, twenty or so feet at a time. The pilot yelled on the radio, then dove on the ship, realizing the tracking system would follow right up the cable until it hit the plane. The plane zoomed just over the ship; the barrels of the quads snapped toward vertical and hit the elevation stops. The plane was saved. It was an impressive demonstration, but there were a lot of scared people around.
Surface Gunnery
Many submarines carried a five inch gun forward of the conning tower. For this reason destroyer escorts carried two five inch guns, one forward and one aft. Practice with these guns was also done with a plane and a large sleeve or banner. The commander of our squadron of six destroyer escorts decided to make one of these practices a competition. Each ship would be given a chance to fire on several runs of the sleeve. The sleeve would then be dropped, picked up by the ship, and the holes in the sleeve (if any) would be counted.
When the sleeve was released from the plane it fell into the water and half sank. The ship steamed up to it and retrieved it with a grappeling hook. We wanted to win this exercise, and were not happy to let the outcome rest entirely with the gunners mates.
A clever young lad on the deck force suggested sharpening the flukes on the grappelling hook. Our turn came. The guns shot at three runs. We were not sure whether we hit the sleeve at all. Our ship approached the sleeve. Our lad went to the bow of the ship and lowered the grappling hook. One could see a series of sharp jerks. The sleeve emerged from the water in tatters. There was no doubt we had won this competition!
Torpedoes
The Taberrer carried two torpedo tubes. Torpedo tubes were typically mounted on a swivel. The tubes were aimed and the torpedoes were ejected by compressed air. I do not remember The Tabberer ever exercising her torpedo tubes, but I do remember a rather funny incident during an exercise off Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Usually, the destroyer escorts practised depth charge runs on the submarine. In this series of exercises, the submarines were going to practice firing torpedoes against the destroyer escorts. The submarines de-activated their torpedoes and set the depth at 30 feet. The destroyer escorts drew about 13 feet, so the torpedoes should pass safely beneath the ships. The torpedoes were driven by twin opposing screws which sent up a stream of bubbles indicating their path. The bubbles took some time to reach the surface, by which time the ship had passed on. Knowing the depth setting of the torpedo, speed with which the bubbles rose, the speed of the ship, and the distance the first bubbles appeared astern, one could determine whether or not the torpedo would have hit the ship or not. For several days none of the destroyer escorts would admit to being hit. The submarine captains became increasibgly suspicious. Conversations at the officers club in the evenings became testy. Then one day one of the submarines made a mistake. Somehow they set the torpedo depth at only three feet, essentially on the surface. The torpedo, even with no explosive, is a heavy object traveling at high speed. It punctured the hull of the target ship, and stuck there, nose in the engine room, propellers protruding outside. That evening in the officers club the apologies from the submarine captain were profuse. However, I think, a slight smile could be detected, in the corner of the captain's mouth. Henceforth the ship captains admitted to a reasonable number of hits.
Collision
The Tabberer frequently conducted exercises off Newport with a submarine from New London. The waters off Newport tended to be murkey and sonar returns difficult to interpret due to schools of fish. On one occasion a submarine was unable to track the Tabberer, and put up his periscope to make visual contact. This was very unfortunate. All he could see was the letters 418 on the bow of the Tabberer. Collision was immediate.
The periscope of a submarine is a steel column extending from the bottom of the submarine up through the conning tower. It is very strong. When the Tabberer hit the conning tower it bent the column and rolled the submarine on its side. This impact punched a hole in a fuel tank. The submarine tried to roll back to vertical. This time the periscope opened a gash in the forward fire room. The sub rolled again, tried to right itsel, punching a hole in the forward engine room. On the next role it opened a gash in the after fireroom. Finally it cleared. The submarine surfaced and set course for New London. The Tabberer began to take on water and sink. The leak in the fuel tank was not important. The forward fire room and engine room began to flood and were shut down. Water was pouring into the after fire room. Cooling water for the boilers is normally taken directly from the ocean through huge pumps. The intake for these pumps was diverted to take the water from the bilges. Water pouring in through the gash in the hull poured into the bilges and was immediately pumped out. The forward engine room and fire room were now completely flooded. The bulhead between the after fire room and forward engine room began to buckle. It was braced with damage control timbers. Additional damage control pumps were started to control the water in the after fireroom.
All of this work was quickly and efficiently carried out. The crew had been trained for exactly this kind of emergency in preparation for battle. It was as though we had taken a torpedo in the forward engine room. However, the Tabberer was rolling gently in the ocean waves, dead, except for a few systems running on emergency power from gasoline generators.
The first thing to do was try and get the after engine room going. The flooding in the after fire room was under control. However, the feed water cross connect valves had not been closed. The feed water must be absolutely pure. If any salt gets in the feed water, particles of water will form in the steam. When these particles of water enter the turbine they will break the turbine blades and demolish the engine. These valves are closed during war time, but frequently left open in time of peace for resaons of efficiency.
We were dead in the water.
We wallowed about in the ocean swells all night. A tug appeared in the morning.
Storm
The Tabberer was enroute from Key West to Newport, several hundred miles off the Carolinas. A major storm developed. The Tabberer had an open bridge just behind the wheelhouse with a binnacle stand on either side. Normally, standing watch on the bridge is quite pleasant. Views of ocean swells rolling by. The TBS is usually set to a Havanna frequency for latin music.
I had the midwatch that night. It was not pleasant. One could not stand on the pitching deck without hanging hard onto something. Two steel doors opened into the wheelhouse, normally open and hooked back against the wheelhouse bulkhead. I found that if I hooked my elbows over the top of the door, I could essentially hang from the door, and let my feet swing. Suddenly the door released. The hook, poorly made from a bent brass rod, gave way. I was hurtling backward toward the starboard binnacle. Beyond that was the water. I spun toward the binnacle. I have made a lot of tackles in my years of football, but the best tackle I ever made was on the steel column of that binnacle. I recovered and stepped into the wheelhouse for a moment, in shock and pain.
In the morning the inclinometer read 50 degrees, the maximum recorded roll that night. The ship would be in danger of capsizing at 52 degrees. The steel stays that support the mast have a ceramic insulator part way up so the mast will not act as a lightning rod. The insulator had been crushed.
We had been in danger of losing our mast.
A Structural Test
Every two years the Tabberer was scheduled for a month in the Boston Naval Shipyard for general maintenance and installation of new equipment. The regulations for this overhaul specify that prior to arrival the Tabberer shall perform a structural test. The purpose is to test the hull integrity; to determine if any welds were weakening or other defects appearing in the hull.
The regulations specify this test shall be performed by setting off a close pattern of depth charges, and further specifies the mimimum speed for the ship, timing for the depth charge pattern, and depth settings for the charges, namely five knots, five seconds, and thirty feet. I could not see any reason not to use these minimum settings. After all, this was to be a structural test. It did not concern me that we were way out in the Atlantic.
I wrote out my recommendations as ASW officer and took them to the Captain. He read them. He read them again. He looked at me. Then he slowly said "Mr. Wilson, you are trying to sink this ship!". He specified twelve knots, five seconds, sixty feet.
The day of the test came. The gunners mates were manning all the depth charge stations. The pattern would be set at five second intervals. This meant a depth charge off the stern racks, five seconds, a depth charge off each side and the stern racks, five seconds, a depth charge of each side and the stern racks, five seconds, a depth charge oof each side and the stern racks, five seconds, a final depth charge off the stern racks. This formed a diamond shaped pattern considered optimal.
At this point is necessary to understand the stern racks. They were essentially a ramp. The depth charge when released rolled down the ramp, off the fantail, into the water. However, there were a lot of metal rails and fittings; rails above and on the side so the depth charges could not get off the ramp, pawls so they could not roll back up the ramp, release mechanism at the start. All this steel was exposed on the fantail and tended to rust. To prevent rust, the gunners mates coated the racks with paint, coat after coat after coat.
The first depth charge rolled off the stern. Two side charges went off, but the second depth charge off the stern jammed. Which meant the third charge off the stern jammed. The gunners mate threw down their phones and tried to kick the three charges off the racks. The fifth charge rolled down and jammed. Finally all four charges went off the racks at once. The pattern began to explode. At first all went well. However, at the end, all four charges exploded simultaneously! The stern of the ship rose into the air. When it plunged back into the ocean we were 45 degrees off course. The the yeomen from the ships office came running; the file cabinets were all over the place. Fortunately, there was no serious damage.
I felt I had performed a proper structural test.
Petty Officer Hill
Hill was a first class petty officer and one of the oldest members of the crew. He had a stocky build and cheerful smile. Every body respected him for his knowledge and years of service. Hill drank a lot, but he was never drunk.
At Key West every week was much the same. We practised submarine attacks all week in the gulf stream. Weekends we either spent in the town of Key West, or steamed across the gulf stream to Havanna. Key west did not offer a large variety of entertainment. There were a lot of bars, one much the same as the others, one dance joint with the same girls week after week, and the Sands restaurant with a beach and pleasant patio where the officers used to hang out. Havanna was very different. Everyone looked forward to a weekend in Havanna. We tied up at the United Fruit pier right in the down town area. Two thirds of the crew would be on liberty at any one time. They were free to wander back and forth between the ship and city as they wished. They city offered entertainment of every conceivable kind. Many of the bars would try to sell the sailors liquor to take back to the ship. This was of course illegal. They would offer to disguise a bottle by wrapping it in a shoe box. Everyone knew this. One evening Pat Reddick was officer of the deck. It was his duty to stand at the gangway pistol on his hip and monitor all those boarding the ship.
The early evening passed with no events. Then Pat saw Hill coming down the pier. He was not walking well, wandering from side to side on the pier. He made his way to the gangway, managed to get to the top, and said "Permission to come aboard, Sir!". Hill had a shoe box under his arm. Pat said "Hill, what is in that box?" Hill said "a pair of shoes, Sir!". There was a long silence. Then Pat said "I shall inspect that box!" Another long silence followed. Then Hill moved his arm a little and the box plunged into the harbor. Hill looked at the box forlornly and said "Well, they didn't fit anyway!".
Seaman Edwards
Edwards was a seaman on the Tabberer and a very important crew member. Edwards was not a large man, but he was stocky and very combative. As a result, he was known to the shore patrol of our squadron of six destroyer escorts as a potential problem on liberty.
We were spending the weekend in Charlotte Emilie, a popular tourist port in the Virgin Islands. Saturday evening a report came in of a fight at Sebastion's Gate, a popular restaurant. The shore patrol had picked up Edwards as an instigator, along with members of the crew of the USS Harrison, a sister ship in our squadron. It is worth noting that the shore patrol, in foreign ports, was composed of men from navy ships currently in the port. This patrol contained men from both the Tabberrer and the Harrison. It turned out there had been some property damage. Maybe Sebastion's gate had been broken. Anyway, Edwards was brought back to the ship and his liberty terminated.
The next day Edwards went to the bow of the Tabberer. He appeared to be fishing, holding a pole in his hand with a line extending down into the water. Pat Reddick came out to the gangway to visit with Jim Fitzgibbons, the officer of the deck at that time. Pat noticed that people walking down the pier to other ships had a very silly smirk on their faces. He wondered why. So he went down the gangway and walked along the pier. The reason became apparent. Edwards was not fishing. He had employed a boy to come under the bow in a small boat and tie cans of beer on his fishline. He was drinking, in full view of the other ships of our squadron. This behavior was terminated, and the violations deemed worthy of a court martial. This would take place at sea on our way back to Newport. A court martial is a very formal procedure. Their is a prosecutor (in this case me), a defense (in this case Fitzgibbons), and a judge (in this case Captain Cahill). All the proceedings are written and made a permanent part of the record. This could be very damaging, if you werer looking for higher rank. Edwards was not. The first day at sea we assembled on the foredeck to carry out the court martial precedure. Fitzgibbons and I were very serious. The Captain was very serious. The presentations took over an hour. At the end of the prosecution and defense, the Captain pronounced his verdict. One week restriction to the ship. This would appear in Edwards record as a due and thoughtful punishment. Of course, the Tabberrer was going to be at sea for the entire week, and there was no way Edwards could have left the ship anyway. Our Captain loved his men and his ship. His ways were sometimes unconventional. But no captain could have been better loved.
Captain Cahill
Captain Cahill served in the merchant marine before world war 2, when he enlisted in the Naval Reserve, rising to the rank of Lieutenant Commander during the war. He stayed in the Navy after the war. He had not attended Annapolis, and soon realized his chances of further promotion were few. He liked the naval service, and decided to serve out his time.
He was a brilliant seaman and inspiring leader. Perhaps because he was not competing for higher rank, his way of handling his men was calm and respectful. I gave the order "all back full" once in Key West harbor. I saw him give that order once, also in Key West Harbor. The ship was returning from submarine exercises. It had come up the long ship channel and was ready to make the right turn into the piers. A heavy current was flowing across the pier heads, so strong there was a reverse eddy inside the slit. This had a tendency to twist the ship as it crossed the eddy line. Captain Cahill tried the approach at low speed twice, but each time the ship became so twisted it could not go along side the pier, and had to back down. The third time Captain Cahill crossed the edddy line at ten knots with the engines stopped. As soon as the ship was inside the pier line he gave the order "all back full" and skidded to a stop.
Captain Cahill had red hair and a fair complexion. The sun bothered him badly. He had a chair welded to the bulkhead astern the quarterdeck, and read trash novels in his shorts with sun cream smeared on his face. A most un-military figure. However, he was completely aware of the maneuvers. Give a wrong order, and he would correct it immediately.
There was one thing that bothered Captain Cahill. It seems that (before my time) the Taberrer was returning from Havanna. The officer of the deck noticed unusual activity at Mt. 51 (on the foredeck). The gunners mates were swarming around the mount, cleaning, polishing, adjusting, like bees. The officer walked forward to investigate. The men had found a young lady in Havanna that wanted to emigrate to the Us. They agreed to smuggle her to Key West in return for personal services rendered. She was in the mount rendering. On arrival at Key West she was turned over to the immigration authorities.
However, during my time, a young seaman came on board the Tabberrer. He happened to be the starboard lookout on my watch. It was a beautiful evening; the slow march of the waves far at sea, bands of red sky shining through black clouds at sunset, latin music on the radio. The Captain came on the quarterdeck. After a while he started a conversation with the young seaman, then walked quickly back to his cabin. The next day the Captain ordered a full search of the ship; all living quarters, galley, engine room, magazines (secured with two locks), even the chain locker. It seems the young seaman had suggested there might be a women on the ship! How he even knew that story is not clear. But we never found any woman, though we searched every compartment and moved every piece of furniture.
