Remembering Life Aboard Ship

PO2 Mark Saffell — Thu, 22 Oct 2015 13:08:33 -0400

OK this question is for the sailors of RP. I believe the Old Salts will best remember what life aboard ship was like. Do you all remember the feeling of returning to the ship after liberty? The sounds of the ship, the feel. The REAL Ship Bell on the half hours. The real bowsens pipe. C Note and the feeling of the ship moving. Do you all miss that?

Response by 1stSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 22 at 2015 1:11 PM

1stSgt Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 22 Oct 2015 13:11:08 -0400

PO2 Mark Saffell , every amphib ship I have been on still does bells and the bowsen still blows his pipe. When was the time you deployed?

Response by MCPO Roger Collins made Oct 22 at 2015 1:17 PM

MCPO Roger Collins — Thu, 22 Oct 2015 13:17:40 -0400

Actually, what I remember was a little bit different, but many of the same fond memories were the same. Along with how we worked our butts off due to tempo of operations and short budgets. I speak from a submariner's viewpoint. From what I read, it is much different in today's Navy, both surface and sub-surface, more the shame.

Response by SN Greg Wright made Oct 22 at 2015 1:17 PM

SN Greg Wright — Thu, 22 Oct 2015 13:17:47 -0400

PO2 Mark Saffell I miss the tradition a lot -- the bells, whistles, the camaraderie. I don't really miss the ship feels/movements because I'm a Merchant Marine now and still get plenty of it! I definitely would if I wasn't, though.

Interestingly enough, I can still tell time by the bells, as it happens lol!

Response by SCPO David Lockwood made Oct 22 at 2015 1:20 PM

SCPO David Lockwood — Thu, 22 Oct 2015 13:20:15 -0400

It sucked!

Response by LCDR Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 22 at 2015 1:26 PM

LCDR Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 22 Oct 2015 13:26:02 -0400

Life on-board got easier as time went on, as an E-1 total suckage, E-4 through E-6 significant improvement in having one less idiot to work for department. E-7 living and working conditions significantly improved. O-1E+ additional improvement in quality of life. O-4 only had two bosses, the COS and the Admiral, two offices one on each side of Corpus Christi bay. Life was real good.

Response by PO2 Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 22 at 2015 1:52 PM

PO2 Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 22 Oct 2015 13:52:26 -0400

I can't say I've ever experienced any of that, but Lord knows I want to.

Response by PO1 Glenn Boucher made Oct 22 at 2015 2:30 PM

PO1 Glenn Boucher — Thu, 22 Oct 2015 14:30:39 -0400

For me it was the best time in the Navy, shore duty sucked and mainly that was because I worked for horrible people on shore duty.
Even though on ship I worked longer hours and had less sleep it was much better. You get used to all the background noise and smells.

Response by PO2 William Smith made Oct 22 at 2015 3:50 PM

PO2 William Smith — Thu, 22 Oct 2015 15:50:22 -0400

I fondly remember returning "home" after liberty call and leave.

Response by LCDR Rabbah Rona Matlow made Oct 22 at 2015 3:51 PM

LCDR Rabbah Rona Matlow — Thu, 22 Oct 2015 15:51:55 -0400

Being OOD underway at night was indescribable, when the sky was clear, you could see zillions of stars, and the bio luminescence of the waves... The excitement of new liberty ports, only exceeded by the excitement of homecoming...

Response by CDR Terry Boles made Oct 22 at 2015 5:21 PM

CDR Terry Boles — Thu, 22 Oct 2015 17:21:19 -0400

Funny timing, we just had our 3rd Navy reunion of my old OI division aboard the Biddle. We were talking about these very same things as you can imagine. It brought back many a fond memory and laugh, not so much the miserable times to get to the good times....funny how time works that way. We ran into two other ships reunions as well, and I am sure they had a similar experience.

The nights at sea were incredible with the stars above, Cooks sea, mess deck smells, endless coffee, using seat belts to keep from being thrown out of your seat in CIC, puke bags, GQ, flight ops, the smell of diesel, LPO beating our racks with dogging wrenches, port calls, ...yeah, brings back lots of memories and lots of smiles now!

Response by PO1 Cliff Heath made Oct 22 at 2015 6:07 PM

PO1 Cliff Heath — Thu, 22 Oct 2015 18:07:30 -0400

OH MAN MARK YOU CALLED IT ABSOLUTELY THE BEST YEARS OF MY LIFE THE SAD PART FOR ME IS THAT NOW IT SEEMS THAT MY LIFE IS OVER EVEN THOUGH I AM STILL BREATHING EVEN SEEING PICTURES CAUSES ME PAIN THAT I KNOW I CAN NEVER FIX

Response by PO2 Peter Klein made Oct 22 at 2015 10:51 PM

PO2 Peter Klein — Thu, 22 Oct 2015 22:51:34 -0400

Liked the team atmosphere and steaming thru typhoons (no connection). Tuned out the ship's bell. As an IC man I liked having equipment to service/repair in just about every compartment on the ship, except the boiler rooms. Too hot!

Response by CAPT Kevin B. made Oct 23 at 2015 1:38 AM

CAPT Kevin B. — Fri, 23 Oct 2015 01:38:46 -0400

Don't forget the smells. Nothing like everyone wearing the recycled laundry water uniforms that no amount of Old Spice could improve. Other unique smells include the salt water scuppers, electrical everything, blowers where all the weed smokers hung out, old deck mats, mimeographs, powdered egg afterburner gas in a small compartment.... and the list goes on.

Response by CDR Michael Goldschmidt made Oct 23 at 2015 8:53 AM

CDR Michael Goldschmidt — Fri, 23 Oct 2015 08:53:47 -0400

To this day, I can't sleep if it's too quiet.

Response by CPO Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 23 at 2015 9:04 AM

CPO Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 23 Oct 2015 09:04:04 -0400

I miss the simplicity of it, set routines, and that feel of stumbling back across the brow from the sandbox to be swayed to drunken sleep.

Response by PO3 Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 25 at 2015 1:05 PM

PO3 Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 25 Oct 2015 13:05:09 -0400

The night sky when you were out in the middle of the ocean "all alone".
The way dolphins would create a phosphorescent glow add they swam along side the ship at night.
Trying to navigate your way across the ship in 30-40' waves caused by a storm.
Yeah, I miss that!

Response by PO2 Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 27 at 2015 3:30 PM

PO2 Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 27 Oct 2015 15:30:47 -0400

Once the call of the sea gets into your blood, you will never loose it. You will feel the pull of the ocean for the rest of your days. Shipboard life plays a role in that. The sights, sounds, smells, and the camaraderie that all sailors have cannot be equaled in the civilian world. Every day I think about what life was like on the ship, I remember the good and the bad and I still miss it. I was once asked how bad I missed it and I responded, "like breathing." There is nothing quite like being on a ship out on the open ocean, and it can never be explained to someone who has never seen the green flash at sunset or the crest of the sun at sunrise. I miss the feeling of the ship rolling with the waves, the smell of the mess decks during meal times, the electro-mechanical smell that permeates throughout the ship. I miss it like breathing.

Response by PO1 Cliff Heath made Oct 28 at 2015 11:17 AM

PO1 Cliff Heath — Wed, 28 Oct 2015 11:17:13 -0400

OH YEAH BIG-E DID ALL OF THAT

Response by CPO David Sullivan made Nov 5 at 2015 3:07 PM

CPO David Sullivan — Thu, 05 Nov 2015 15:07:27 -0500

Yup. I don't remember coming back from the beach... The smell of Bunker oil? Yup... The Bridge on the Helm ? Yup... The smell of Chow? Yup... Being Busy all the time? Yup... A Tin Can Sailor Forever...

Response by PO3 Richard Cole made Nov 5 at 2015 3:14 PM

PO3 Richard Cole — Thu, 05 Nov 2015 15:14:37 -0500

I was an HT on the Yosemite and I worked in the sheetmetal shop. Underway we couldn't use or machines so we basically just did floor cleaning and goofing off a lot. I came on the ship in Rota Spain and we came back to Florida in a hurricane. I was sick for 2 days.

Response by PO1 Mike Noelle made Nov 5 at 2015 8:17 PM

PO1 Mike Noelle — Thu, 05 Nov 2015 20:17:39 -0500

I remember laying in my rack asleep and waking up when the engineering plants would go down. The taste of JP5 in the coffee, after someone turned the wrong set of valves. Yea those were the days.

Response by SCPO Edward Westerdahl made Nov 6 at 2015 10:45 AM

SCPO Edward Westerdahl — Fri, 06 Nov 2015 10:45:46 -0500

My first ship was an Oiler - USS Platte AO-25, played BMSN for 7 days. Highlined to the Ranger, then Heloed to the Coral Sea. Slept under the rounddown for a while. First night I woke up every time we recovered aircraft, second night slept all night. Heavy 2 Det A - we got to Yokuska, Japan and Hong Kong, and a lot of time in Olongapo City in the PI.
Did a Med cruise on the Independence. Got to Monaco, Istanbul, Several ports in Italy and Greece, and Mallorca. Loved it all - ran the night shift of Heavy 10 on A3Ds.
Afteer 4 years shore duty in Rota, I was part of Balance Crew 2 on board Nimitz, originally CVAN-68. That's where I got to move to the Goat Locker, and had excellent chow and bunking.
My LAST cruise was on board USS Blakely FF-1072 in VC6 Det Bravo as Maintenance Chief of a crew of 9 guys running MQM-74 aerial target drones. Haiti, Aruba, Cartagena Columbia, throu the Ditch and thgen became a Shellback in the Pacific. We spent a LONG time in Chile, and then through the Straights of Magellan to Uruguay and Brazil.
Yes, I talk about life aboard ship to my Wife and family. We go on cruises to the Carribean, and our next one is Australia and New Zealand - but without the Bells, Bugling for mail, General Quarters drills, and the 1MC announcements, they are just a nice time.
I loved my time at sea, did not like in-port time in Naples three Christmases in a row, and would do it all again in a heartbeat if I could. Yes, the call of the sea on board a man of war is beautiful. I guess that's why the Skipper loves his job as the supreme being on HIS ship.

Response by CPT Dean Strong made Nov 6 at 2015 1:16 PM

CPT Dean Strong — Fri, 06 Nov 2015 13:16:02 -0500

EW2 - USS Lawrence (DDG-4) - Go to a museum ship sometime. The same smells of salt, fuel, and possibly vomit linger. A lot of memories come back when you smell that smell. Only a sailor would understand it.

Response by SCPO Anthony Wingers made Nov 7 at 2015 11:15 AM

SCPO Anthony Wingers — Sat, 07 Nov 2015 11:15:47 -0500

Sailed on cans and amphibs and repair ships for 18 years. Hated refueling in a hurricane, did not like getting racked out for rearming, refueling etc. Loved the sleigh ride of a good storm. Then I went into subs. No sleep, constant drills, qualification process that could turn your hair grey overnight, days of boredom and sleep loss, interspersed with moments of horror. I would not take a million for the experience, and would not pay two cents to do that again(submarines). I will say though there is an element of pride in doing the impossible on a daily basis, with almost nothing, and knowing that every qualified man in the crew has your back, as you have theirs. As any boat sailor would tell you, I can describe it for you, but you have to live it. The best way I can explain that is that reporting to my Fast Attack Submarine as a Chief was very much like reporting on board my first tin can back in the sixties as a non designated seaman apprentice, and I got about as much respect, until I was qualified in all respects. You do not get to enjoy the stars at night, or smoking on the fantail. The storms are muted, although in the Northern Pacific in winter, you
can be down 400 feet and the boat is rocking like you were on the surface. If you go to 150 feet, which would be a standard cruising depth, you will be sucked to the surface by the next big wave to come along. The fairwater planes will bang on the wave tops and let everyone within a couple hundred miles know where you are, and that you are incredibly stupid. That sort of thing could get you dead. Despite heaters in the vents, you could hang meat in the bomb room, as it is always cold. Add an 18 hour day, with about 2 hours of uninterrupted sleep if you get lucky, and it sucks. Now pull into the P.I. and roast. Happy days!

Response by PO1 Brian Austin made Nov 13 at 2015 7:19 PM

PO1 Brian Austin — Fri, 13 Nov 2015 19:19:48 -0500

I always slept good while underway, probably the 20 hr days had something to do with it. I loved the travel aspect and liberty calls even "Beer on the Pier". Being out on the fantail looking at the wide open ocean was very relaxing for me. I would do that when i felt myself getting too pissed off about things. The ocean can be very mesmerizing.

Don't really miss the FNA smell in berthing though!

My wife always complained i smelled like "the ship".

Overall, i don't really miss it.