Next week they are going to put us on a ship. The exercise involves sinking the ship while we are on it. As hull techs we are assigned the task of keeping the ship afloat. We will be using numerous techniques, such as wooden shoring, pipe casts, a heavy hammer, saws, wire and an assortment of other tools. Brice, and Barry are the commanders in charge. They elect to stay up top where it should stay dry. Brice having enlisted before Barry made him the ranking officer. He picked the crew that he wanted to stay top side with him and Barry, I wasn’t one of them and neither were my friends. Jerry volunteered to go below.
The below deck team inspects the damage. They do the measurements and relay them to the team top side. The top side team cuts the wood, be it beams or thick panels. They send it below deck. Also they send below deck wraps for ruptured pipes. The team in the thick of the damage; below deck shore up the holes in the bulkhead (walls) or tighten a cast wrap to plug a leak in a blown pressure pipe. This is a review of next week’s classes. We spent the afternoon going over simulated scenarios and learned how to be carpenters. Later.
The six of us have tickets to see Neal Young at the Fillmore West to night. Jerry also has tickets he wants to tag along. We usually rent a two bedroom at the Fairmont Hotel. We take turns sleeping on the floor. Its sixty bucks a night for the room, twenty per man for the weekend. It’s pricy but the rooms are worth it. We told Jerry that it would be tight if he came along. Jerry solved the problem he rented a suite. We all get our own bed.
Once again we passed our weekly test. We get to move on to the next week’s adventure. I can’t image the navy topping the last week’s adventure. I told the guys during one of our long discussions about the navy. At some point the incompetence must stop. After all, this institution is almost two hundred years old. They must get something right. Time to get the bus, and a suite at the hotel, cool. Later.
February 25, 1973, Sunday
This concert was better than the last one. I left the gang and found a seat on the second floor balcony. I was to the left of the stage. I was looking straight down on Neal Young, great concert. We spent the rest of the weekend looking for some pot, to take back to the base. We never did find any. I knew where we could score some hash on the base. We just returned from the bay where we burned most of the hash. I need some sleep. Later.
February 26, 1973, Monday
Wow! And I mean Wow! We walk over to this huge warehouse. This thing could hold a Destroyer. It almost did. Inside the warehouse was a quarter of a Destroyer. It had only two decks. It sat in a large pool of water.
We crossed the gang plank to the deck of the ship. To a man we were impressed they had this ship, gun turrets and all inside a warehouse, let alone floating in water.
They laid out the scenario. The ship gets attacked and we need to keep it from sinking. In the mean time they wanted us to relax. We wait for the signal that alerts us to begin the exercise. In the real world we would not be warned that an attack was about to happen. They left us alone. We would float or die it was up to us. We waited, we smoked cigarettes and talked.
Out of nowhere we could hear loudly, the roar of jet airplanes in the distance. They got louder as they got closer. The air raid siren sounded. We all lowered our heads and looked up. The ceiling of the warehouse was all that we could see. Blam! Bang! Blam! Kaboom! The sounds of bomb after bomb exploded around us. We ducked. We heard the clanking of loud bells followed by a man on the intercom, “Battle stations! Battle stations!” Clang! Clang! Clang! That was too much we started to laugh.
The air raid got louder. We heard someone yelling over the intercom. “All hands on deck! Damage control! Damage control! It was like a surreal move. We laughed harder it was infectious. We were all laughing the entire class, even the petty officers.
They stopped the sounds and the exercise. They came storming down to the deck. They read us the riot act. They threatened to flunk out the whole class. We can all become boatswain’s mates, they threatened. We settled down they started over. We were ready this time, some of us (me) had the grins again but we carried on.
After the invisible bombs dropped, the ship started to sink. The lower deck team was deployed. I ran below deck to the damage. The chiefs controlled the operation from a separate balcony overlooking us. They can make holes in the wall by remote control. They can make the pipes burst by remote control. They can make them big or small. The whole operation is remote control, for them. Not for us.
This room was made into a ships sleeping quarters. It was filled with bunk beds and lockers. This was by design. The inner workings of the ship are the housings for all the expensive equipment that comes with the ship. This is the safest place on the ship. The ships sleeping quarters are on the outer perimeter of the ship, sitting next to the hull and the cold ocean. This is the least safe spot on the ship. This is where the ship gets hit first, this is where most of the sailors sleep. Except the officers, they have quarters on the upper decks.
By the time we got down below the water was a few inches high. We split up in teams. A small two foot long crack was on one wall, it wasn’t very wide. We measured the crack and the size of the board and the length of the brace we would need to make a good shoring.
Meanwhile an overhead pipe burst. A second below team measured the breach in the pipe. Using radios with one frequency, we called up the numbers as we tried to wrap pillows around the pipes. We needed to lessen the flow of the water in tell the patch material was sent to us. We used our bodies to push a mattress against the bulk head. It helped a little, enough to give us time. The purpose is to extend the life of the ship, to keep it afloat in till repairs can be made. We will use any available means.
We were told to expect a ten to fifteen minute delay between sending up the order and receiving it. Forty minutes had past, one more wall had burst. The first burst had widened from a steady spurt to a full blown geyser. Two other pipes had burst. They added water at a steady stream. The bottom mattresses of the bunk beds were submerged in water. It was getting difficult to walk through the rising water, it was up to my butt. We sent up our second order and waited.
The first order finally came down. The thick panel board was now two small, the crack grew. That’s ok it will help a little we can try it. The shoring timber was more than a foot to short, we can’t use it. The wrap cast for the burst pipe was too large it just redirected the water. By the time we realized that none of this stuff will do us any good, they widened the second bulkhead. The water came gushing in, it rose to my chest quickly. We moved some lockers in the way to try and block the flow at one wall. We got a call on the radio. They asked if we could repeat the second order. They had some confusion top side, “Over.” The water was at my chin when they turned it off, and stopped the exercise.
We were called to topside. Like drowned rats we climbed up the stairs. Water was dripping freely from our bodies. We stood around a speechless master chief. He was silent as the ship was slowly rising out of the water. The water below was draining back into the pool of water that the ship sits in. When the ship was righted to ground level he glared out at us. “You Died. And if I’m aboard this ship I died! I don’t like dying!” We all could tell and he knew himself he was so pissed that he needed to keep control, he was shaking. He pulled himself together and said, “We’ll continue this tomorrow! Now get the fuck out of my sight, get off my ship you disgust me. Class dismissed!” I walked as fast as I could out of that warehouse. I wasn’t going to give him a chance to change his mind. The rest of the class was on my heels. What a day. Later.
February, 27, 1973, Tuesday
We spent most of the afternoon licking our wounds after the ass chewing we got in the morning. We went over the basic of carpentry, measure twice cut once. I know our measurements were spot on. The topside fucked up. Later.
February 28, 1973, Wednesday
We get our retest on the Destroyer today. This is looking like Boot Camp. One or two idiots can affect the masses. Brice is still the ranking class offi
cer. He picks his topside crew. It’s the same set up as last time. The lower deck team is fine with the status quo. We don’t want those dummies on our team.
The jets and the bombs came on queue. The ship was going down. What we found this time was a large gaping hole in the deck (floor). The water was coming in like a fountain. We put two lockers on top of the hole, it took five of us sitting on top to keep it down. We estimated the size of the hole and added more inches. We were going to need four long timbers to hold the thick ply wood down. The ceiling was too weak to hold shoring alone. The pressure needed to be shared with the bulkheads. Three different guys measured four times. We sent the measurements to topside, via radio.
Two pipes burst at that same moment. One was larger than the other. Two guys measured three times. We sent those measurements topside. We waited and we waited and then we waited some more. Finally the lumber came down.
We sent measurements that specified two timbers the same length and two other timbers cut a different length. The four that we got were all different lengths. They sent us four different cuts, instead of the two we needed. We couldn’t make it work. We laid another locker on top of the two already on the hole.
The team that was wrapping the burst pipes was also dead in the water, so to speak. Both wraps were wrong sizes again, neither would fit. The ship sank deeper into the cold water. The water rose quicker and then we were dead. They turned it off when it was at my chin. The taller guys were fine, the shorter guys were hanging on to the bunk beds. Up the stairs we went.
We may have been drenching wet but we were steaming mad. I was looking for Brice as soon as I reached top side. “What the fuck are you stupid?” I said. I was ten feet in front of him and closing. He was causally lighting a cigarette. “Don’t you talk to me like that, Licata!” He answered. I was about two feet away. “Talk to you? I’ll knock your fucking head off” He was tall and lanky. I would have him for lunch. Barry stepped in front of me. “Licata, don’t do it. I can’t let you,” he said calmly. I stopped.
The rest of the bottom level guys didn’t stop, they were cussing at the topsiders loudly. The topsiders were yelling back. We were blaming each other. The whole class was at odds. Except Barry, he made his way off to the side, waiting for the chiefs to break us up. They did.
We died together as a class, they didn’t care whose fault it was. We needed to fix it as a class. We are going to get a re retest, on Friday. Fail this one, and it’s hello boatswain’s mate school. Funny thing there is no boatswain’s mate school. They assign you to a ship. Don’t need a school to learn how to clean, scrap paint and pull rope.
They weren’t about to let us leave this time. We were ordered below, to clean up the mess. I kept my distance from Brice. I can hear his buddies telling him stuff like, I’m afraid, I’m all talk, I was luckily Barry stopped me. I can hear it but I’m blowing it off.
We dumped the soggy mattress. We replaced them with some of the thousands the navy has in storage.
Its late we are still steaming about Brice. We haven’t had any pot in days the hash has long been gone. Later.
March 1, 1973, Thursday
I was preparing for our next ass kicking this morning, it never came. They warned us that Friday is our last chance. Sink the ship and school is over. That’s all they said. They are behind teaching us and need to move on. We will be learning the proper way to decontaminate a ship, next week. If we make it to next week.
When a ship is out in the ocean many things can happen, besides being hit by a bomb or torpedo. The ship can be rendered dead by contamination. A biological component such as nerve gas can do the trick. We have it. Let’s assume they have it. That’s what the chiefs told us. Chemicals are also on the table. Mustard gas is high on the list to kill a ship. Then there is the big one, the nuclear bomb. It doesn’t have to hit us it just needs to be within ten miles to turn us into dust and melted metal. It can spread harmful radioactive fallout rendering any ship contaminated for hundreds of miles.
It’s our job to suit up in special gear. Get to the deck of the ship and detect the particular hazard. Once we established the hazard and how much of the ship it covers, we get the right material to fight it. We have two materials. A special foam and sea water sprayed from high pressure hoses. This cuts down on the guess work. One way fights all hazards. They make us think they have other ways, but they don’t. They told us for practice we’ll use foam or sea water. Later.
I sometimes talk to Barry after class. He lives on the floor below me. We were walking back to the dorms today. We did this from time to time he just started reading the bible. Someone always has read the bible to him in church where he grew up. It’s different when you read it for yourself. He was full of questions for me. He also thinks that I am a student of the bible. I’m not but I have read it many times. I have had many opportunities to discuss it with theologians, and Jesuit priests. And I have never shied away from an opinion or a rousing discussion.
I asked him if there is any way he could be in charge of the class next week instead of Brice. He said he wished he could. He is out ranked and that’s the way of the navy. We talked bible the rest of the way. Later.
March 2, 1973, Friday.
After our testing this mornings. We walked to the warehouse that housed the quarter of the Destroyer. It’s so ironic. The destroyer is going to destroy us. I don’t want to be a boatswain’s mate, none of us do. Barry decided to join us below. He would be the officer in charge below deck.
They didn’t waste any time. The sounds started when we started to cross the gang plank. We smartly hurried to our positions. The floor was dry when we got below. Slowly two pipes sprung leaks. Barry was on it he got the measurements. He sent them up by radio. A small hole in the deck appeared. We could use the stationary bunks to shore it down. He measured twice, he sent the message up. He radioed to Brice, “Get the first order down now!”
We waited, a bulkhead burst. He told me to measure it. He called Brice, he told him if he doesn’t get his lumber now he will personally come up to get it. We thought that would get things going, it didn’t. I sent the triple checked measurements up. The water was at my butt. Barry started up the stair ladder. The lumber was on its way down, he had to back up. He followed the lumber, there were no pipe wraps. The lumber was too short. Barry had us wedge a locker into the gap. He had to pound the hell out of the locker with a fifty-pound hammer. He made it fit. The wraps arrived. One didn’t fit the other was lacking some key pieces, it was worthless.
The water was chest high. Barry was heading back up top. Too late the hole on the deck enlarged. The water rose to the top of my head in a flash. Most of us bopped through the water to the stairs. I don’t even care now. I it’s over.
The chiefs told us how sorry they were for us but we can’t help it if we are stupid. After the ship was level and water emptied out, we went down to do our final clean up.
Brice was having trouble taking down the wedged locker. He was beating on it. His swings were out of control. He narrowly missed a few of the guys. He had no concern, “Stay out of my way if you don’t want to get hurt,” he kept saying. He was cussing us out under his breath. Brice blamed us for the failure. He couldn’t say it too loudly, he didn’t want to piss Barry off.
He finally beat the wedged locker loose. The beam holding it down crashed down on two sailors. They were pulling a mattress off a rack. It hit them both in the back. Brice said nothing. I could see it hurt them. “Brice what the fuck! Aren’t you going to apologize?” I asked. He was on the other side of a bunk from me. The wet mattress on the top bunk was between him and me. “I told you before Licata you don’t want to fuck with me I will hurt you.”
I had already pulled myself up to the top mattress. I was flipping myself over the mattress towards Brice, legs first. I said, “That sounds like a challenge to me.” As I slid off the mattress to Brice’s head. I wrapped my legs around his neck as my body left the mattress. We both went to the floor. He on his back,
his head tightly between my thighs. After we crashed to the deck, I said, “I love a challenge. How about you, Brice?”
He was trapped. I was just getting ready to pummel his head with both my fists. Once again Barry stopped me he yanked me away from Brice. The force almost tore Brice’s head off. Barry pushed me to the stairs.
“Don’t push your luck,” he said to me. He had a hard grip on my arm. He turned to the class. “The below deck team is dismissed for the day. The top deck team is staying to clean the mess they created” He looked over to Brice. “You have a problem with that?” Brice looked away. On the top deck the chiefs told us to report to class as usual on Monday. They’ll give us their decision then. It’s weekend time I hope we find some pot. Later.
March 4, 1973 Sunday
We never did find any pot, we did find some grass. We hung around downtown Market Street most of Friday night. All the dirtbags insisted that we give them the money first. They will go get the pot and bring it right back Okie had the money this time out, he was fine with it. I won’t let him do it. I kept telling these dirtbags, take one of us with you. “No, I can’t do that.” They say, “I can’t take a short haired with me to this guy’s house, man. He would freak out man.” So we hung out waiting.
A dealer that we talked to earlier came back. He said he had a bag on him. He said he would only sell to that guy, and only in the alley. He was referring to Okie. I said no way, man. “Me and Okie will go with you up the alley.” He said no. I said, “Forget it.” Okie said to the dirtbag, “Come on, man, let him come with us.” The dirtbag gave in.
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