Re: Who will tell me a story?

On Mon, 19 Jun 2023 15:56:25 -0600, a cat <[email protected]> wrote:
>On 6/19/23 3:28 PM, D.J. wrote:
>> On Mon, 19 Jun 2023 09:37:55 -0600, a cat <[email protected]> wrote:
>>> I'd like to hear one!
>>>
>>> You can choose the topic, but if you can't think of anything, here's a
>>> suggestion:
>>>
>>> What's the most scared you've ever been?
>> 
>> Most scared. Hmm...
>> 
>> I was in the US Navy, late 1960s to early 1970s. We were coming back
>> from the Mediterranean Sea.
>> 
>> We had about 3 hours warning. some of the radio and radar gear was
>> down, we weren't too concerned as we were about it, in a month or so
>> later we got back to home port, to the ship yard for equipment fixes
>> and probably a few upgrades. Vacuum tube/valve stuff, nary a
>> transistor to be seen.
>> 
>> Just as we got near Bermuda, the Executive Officer spoke on the PA
>> system and told all of us.
>> 
>> "At this time we believe we will stay afloat. We are heading away from
>> the hurricane. That is all."
>> 
>> Some of the guys fought over life jackets. The inflatables were inside
>> the ship. The kapok ones were stored outside, as they smell very badly
>> when wet. The inflatables weren't enough for the entire crew.
>> 
>> 50 foot waves. The main deck of the ship is about 25 feet above the
>> waterline. Main deck, outdoors, is mostly under water.
>> 
>> I tied myself to my bunk. We could all hear the howling wind. The ship
>> rocked back and forth, moved sideways.
>> 
>> The movie, The Perfect Storm, I saw part of it on tv, showed a more
>> accurate picture of what we went through than previous movies.
>> 
>> I was getting more and more tired. So, I went to sleep. One of the
>> guys got angry, shouted at me.
>> 
>> I explained that if the ship was okay tomorrow, I still had to work,
>> so I'm sleeping, they could do what they wanted.
>> 
>> We eventually got way from the storm. The waves had taken paint off
>> the hull of the ship. The entire outside of the ship was coated with
>> dried on salt.
>> 
>> I asked the signalman, flags and Morse code via spotlight guy, up on
>> the signal bridge what it was like. He told me, at 52 feet above the
>> water line, he could see the tops of the waves go by at his eye level.
>> 
>> Two guys were injured, both cracked ribs. One broken collar bone. They
>> had untied themselves from their bunks to go to the restroom, just as
>> a wave hit the stern of the ship. Launched them across their berthing
>> space. Crunch.
>> 
>> We all survived, no one washed overboard. But we almost capsized...
>> more than once that night. The hurricane ? You may have heard of it.
>> Camille.
>
>Wow. That is a harrowing story. Thank you for sharing.
>
>Did you know about the storm before hand or was the executive officer's 
>announcement the first you heard of it? That would be pretty terrifying 
>if you were just going about your day, the ship *sinking* not even a 
>concern, and then you hear that...

We knew there was a storm, but when we zigged to get away from it, it
zagged and caufght us. We had just a few hours notice.

When he made the announcement, we had been bouncing around for several
hours.

-- 
Jim