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This is not me but it was the job I had while in the Navy. I must have signaled in thousands of Harriers and Helos on that ship. This guy worked at Fly 4 which was about mid-ship. I worked up on the front of the ship. Had a rooky on the back spot once that let his guys tighten the chains on the helo before it was shut down and I made the 200 yard sprint to pop the chains loose in like 15 seconds. 30 seconds and the helo would have started to shake itself apart with the chains tight!

1672149035351.png
 
This is my ship long ago. We were deployed with a nato battle group at the time, sort of sad to see those towers. I don’t remember much about the helicopters, sometimes had two. We didn’t carry one full time and then crews/helos changed, never got to know any of those guys. We were designed to hunt subs so they were asw related. A few times crews were from other nato countries.

We were once assigned to assist the coast guard with drug interdiction in the Caribbean and gulf. All sorts of interesting gear on some of the flights. Those fast cigar boats provided a never ending supply of targets to test equipment. Of course we had to stop sometime… liberty ports were great in the islands! Destroyers can stop at some of the very small ports, off the beaten path, few tourists.

Sort of funny, those drug boats might run from a uscg cutter. They don't run from destroyers, they always stopped.

Briscoe.jpg
 
That's not a "fast frigate?" I thought destroyers only had one mast... 😒

Edit: I looked up the number and it said 'Spruance-class destroyer'---I reckon I'm behind the times on vessel ID, lol. :rolleyes:
 
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Wingnut said:
That's not a "fast frigate?" I thought destroyers only had one mast... 😒

Edit: I looked up the number and it said 'Spruance-class destroyer'---I reckon I'm behind the times on vessel ID, lol. :rolleyes:
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Spruance's were designed from the keel up to hunt russian subs. That's what we did, if at sea we were hunting. We were so quiet we could sneak up on our subs too. We also had surface to air and anti-ship weapon systems which I was trained on.

The Spruance class ships had the same hull as the Ticonderoga class guided missile cruisers. We were a couple hundred feet longer than Perry class frigates. A much bigger ship, the Perry's looked small when tied up along side a Spruance.
 
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zoomzoom said:
Was there a standing order of "no farting when in hunt mode"? :)

I was in a Marine helicopter squadron. We drove Huey and Cobra attack helicopters. We were about the nosiest think around and that's just the rotors turning. Farting was allowed. ;)
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I thought farting and belching were required for Marines. 🤣
I'm pretty sure it was required to make Chief Petty Officer along with at least one DWI.
That was back in the old days not the new Navy.
 
In 1962, A Convair B-58 Hustler aka the "Delta Queen" smashed a few aeronautical world records by flying from Los Angeles to New York, then back in 4 hours 41 min 14.98 seconds, with the fastest transcontinental crossing between LA and NYC in 2 hours 58.71 seconds at an average blistering speed of 1,214.65 mph.

All that, and she's pretty too!


Convair B-58 Hustler.jpeg
 
The following 5 photos are from the Naval History Command

Title: "Murderers' Row"

Description: Photo #: 80-G-294131 Murderers' Row Third Fleet aircraft carriers at anchor in Ulithi Atoll, 8 December 1944, during a break from operations in the Philippines area. The carriers are (from front to back): USS Wasp (CV-18), USS Yorktown (CV-10), USS Hornet (CV-12), USS Hancock (CV-19) and USS Ticonderoga (CV-14). Wasp, Yorktown and Ticonderoga are all painted in camouflage Measure 33, Design 10a. Photographed from a USS Ticonderoga plane. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.
Catalog #: 80-G-29413

80-G-294131.jpeg
 
Northwestern end of Betio Island, Tarawa, 22 November 1943, with Beach Red 1 at left and Green Beach in center and right. Several LVTs and a Japanese landing craft are on the beach. Several coast-defense guns are also visible (NH-95704). Photographed from a USS CHENANGO (CVE-28) plane.

NH 95704.jpeg
 
@Wingnut 's wooden ship made me think of rough seas. A navy ladder is about 70degrees, very steep. To go down in rough seas we timed the waves. When the ship plowed into a big wave it’d rise in elevation. Exp, 20Ft in about 2 seconds. We’d grab the ladder hand rails and slide. In a blink we’d be one deck lower in the ship. The lower deck rose to us...

Had to lean your head back and to the side or you’d get the imprint of steel decks/pipes in your forehead. 2 or 3 times a year someone would show up for chow with a bandaged head, usually during rough seas, 🤣 get teased unmercifully. We were on a destroyer, a lot rougher ride than a carrier. 12ft seas were noticeable, add 40 degrees of roll and walking gets interesting.

Any of yall do any ladder sliding? This pic was labeled Nimitz. Not as steep as those on a destroyer, still dangerous in rough seas though.

Nimitz_ladder.jpg
 
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Peanut said:
@Wingnut 's wooden ship made me think of rough seas. A navy ladder is about 70degrees, very steep. To go down in rough seas we timed the waves. When the ship plowed into a big wave it’d rise in elevation. Exp, 20Ft in about 2 seconds. We’d grab the ladder hand rails and slide. In a blink we’d be one deck lower in the ship. The lower deck rose to us...

Had to lean your head back and to the side or you’d get the imprint of steel decks/pipes in your forehead. 2 or 3 times a year someone would show up for chow with a bandaged head, usually during rough seas, 🤣 get teased unmercifully. We were on a destroyer, a lot rougher ride than a carrier. 12ft seas were noticeable, add 40 degrees of roll and walking gets interesting.

Any of yall do any ladder sliding? This pic was labeled Nimitz. Not as steep as those on a destroyer, still dangerous in rough seas though.

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I slid down ladders as well. Particularly for security alerts. It was fun.

Ben
 
Ladder slider here, mostly aboard working craft. When we were kids living overseas and riding the occasional ferry, river boat, hydrofoil, etc., my pop the retired submarine commander would always give us a safety briefing before we embarked: "One hand for the ship, one hand for yourself!" A good general rule of thumb for moving around aboard a ship at sea... and especially true if you're carrying something in your hands and can't slide down ladders. He'd also admonish us for running on deck, even aboard larger craft... he'd tell us to "move smartly" or "look sharp about it" but NOT run. :cool:
 
When I was a kid, my seven older brothers & I all made model airplanes: plastic, balsa wood, you name it. We also built ships and tanks, lol. That's what kids in a military family did... and after so many months or years of shelf life and playtime use, those models would get shot with BB and pellet guns, torched with flammable materials, blown to smithereens with firecrackers, etc. And boy, was it ever more fun than this video game BS I see kids doing nowadays. Meh, different generation... maybe they'd hate building models, lol. Moi, I get tired of those video games, I tried 'em before but they just aren't my cuppa tea. Plus the carpal tunnel factor with those controllers is a real thing, lol. I also have an inherent dislike for video games which glorify or reward crime... 'Grand Theft Auto' comes to mind. Ah, what do I know? I'm turning into an old fogey... or is that fogie? Maybe that word can be found in Noah Webster's book... 😒

One thing's for certain: this cold beer (my first) tastes pretty darned good on a Sunday afternoon! Cheers! 🍺
 
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