US Naval life at sea, PIRAZ duty, Shore Patrol, sea stories of the USS Chicago CG-11 in WESTPAC, with some attention to the USS Long Beach, 1972-1974
Hard Feelings: the USS Chicago CG-11 battles the USS Long Beach CGN-9 Read More »
Replenishing supplies was always a big chore for the U.S.S. Chicago CG-11, or any other navy ship. There were several ways to do this. It could be done in port, either by using cranes or just by using simple manpower. Or it could be done at sea from a resupply ship. The Chicago could come
This was a problem for which we did a lot of drills. The purpose was to prevent an individual or a small group of people from coming aboard to sabotage the ship and its mission. As we practiced it, the intrusion could could be a single individual or a protest with hundreds of people. When
Repel Boarders Drill Read More »
The U.S.S.Chicago CG-11 had a ship’s vehicle, an old gray van. It was wrapped in a gray Navy canvas and was lashed to the side of the ship when we were at sea. The van provided the land transportation for the general needs of the ship when we were in port. Taking the ship’s vehicle
Driving from the Long Beach Naval Shipyard to the LAX Airport Read More »
On one of my duty days in 1975 when the U.S.S. Chicago CG-11 was in port at North Island in San Diego Bay, I was assigned the task of escorting a prisoner from the ship’s brig (jail) to a larger brig run by the Marines at the San Diego Shipyard. I knew several days beforehand
Escorting a Prisoner to the Brig Read More »
When I finally got my second class rating, it opened me up to many more responsible duties than I had previously been qualified to do. For example, as a Second Class Petty Officer, I could be a guard in the ship’s brig, the small jail for miscreants on the U.S.S. Chicago CG-11. One day my
Guarding the Ship’s Brig Read More »
On the U.S.S. Chicago, there was a ship’s whaleboat, a small motorboat that was pointed at both ends (we carried several on the ship) which ran regularly between the Broadway Pier and our ship when we were in port in San Diego. We went down an “accommodation ladder,” which was a narrow flight of portable
Accommodation ladder (and whaleboat) watch Read More »
On one memorable occasion, one of my friends in the ON Division missed the first step on the ship’s accommodation ladder as he moved from the whaleboat to the Chicago on a particularly rough day, with a storm brewing. He ended up floundering in the water. In the rough waves, the whaleboat was sometimes high
WESTPAC TALES: When the U.S. Navy Mined Haiphong Harbor (Operation Pocket Money) by DS2 William Gary Pickens First, let me explain how I happened to be involved in this military action…. After I enlisted in the Navy (as an alternative to being drafted into the Army) during the Vietnam War, I was sent to Boot
When the U.S. Navy Mined Haiphong Harbor (Operation Pocket Money) Read More »
WESTPAC TALES: One night in the wee dark hours of the morning sometime in the spring of 1972, when I was a brand new sailor, with a month or so of shipboard experience on the U.S.S. Chicago CG-11 under my belt, I was awakened by a call to GQ (General Quarters, or battle stations). I
My first (ghostly) adventure on the U.S.S. Chicago Read More »