By John E. Carey
November 1, 2006
I graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 1976. Actually I missed my graduation because I had been Commissioned an Ensign, USN, that morning! My Army brother and I were already on liberty!
After Navy Missile Officer School and a few other courses I was on my way to sea!
My first ship was USS GOLDSBOROUGH (DDG 20) in Pearl Harbor, HI. I arrived just before New Year’s. We had STANDARD ARM Missiles in 1976/7. ARM means antiradiation missile.
The aiming tool for this new weapon was the Target Acquisition Council 105 (TAC-105). TAC-105 detected and classified radar signals. If they were enemy: WOOSH. “Birds Away!”
The Master Control Set for my An/SPS-39 long-range 3-D Radar hadn’t worked for years when I got there and there was no Casualty Report. We got it fixed.
We fired 40+ missiles during Operational evaluation of this warfare capability, the STANDARD ARM. But before you knew it Harpoon missiles and Tomahawks pushed the STANDARD ARM out of the inventory.
Pearl Harbor was pretty laid back. On Wednesdays all the officers went to the Officers Club for lunch. Sexy women modeled clothes in a kind of fashion show to encourage the guys to buy stuff for their wives. But I swear I saw a lap dance during one of those lunches.
And not every procedure in the Navy was fully functional in Pearl. One time I had a missile that needed to go back to the weapons station but nobody wanted to take the ship over there on a difficult sea detail for just one missile. So I barrowed a boat, covered the missile with a tarp, borrowed a crane to put the package into the boat, and motored over to the weapons station.
The weapons guys were bemused. Things like this happened in Pearl at the time.
One ship famously fired a pattern of Hedgehog anti-submarine weapons on to the pier. Another accidentally fired a torpedo into the sandwich shop on the pier. OOPS!
I do remember that every weekend a destroyer like ours was sent outside the Harbor as a kind of guard or sentinel. There were still pock-marks in the walls of buildings from December 7, 1941.
We got sent on this “Mouth of the Harbor Patrol” on Super Bowl weekend 1977 and we spent the time slightly maneuvering the ship so we’d keep the TV signal. “Left a little. Ok. Steady as you go. Now right a little. How’s the picture. Better?”
Comical.
I invited my parents out for a visit and they came by 747. My Dad had told me on the phone that neither of them had been in an airplane since the Pan Am flying boat in 1946. My Dad was stationed in Peru.
When they emerged from the 747 in Hawaii my Dad said, “They’ve made a few improvements.”
We had a wonderful time together but my Dad freaked out when he saw Japanese tourists at the USS ARIZONA.
We spent six month on deployment including visits to Singapore, Bangkok (we drove up the river, the last US Navy ship to do it I think), Taiwan (Anti-Submarine Warfare Exercise called SHARKHUNT). I was on the Chinese ship RCS Kwei Yang (A WWII Flether Class; Ex-Twinning) for about a week. We ate dog.
After that I was addicted to Asian women. But not dog.
And the liberty in the Philippines was like the Wild West.
After Christmas in Subic we went to Hong Kong for New Years. I was the Catholic Lay Leader, the ship being too small for a full time Chaplain. The Chief of Navy Chaplains,m a catholic priest, came to visit. In the C.O.’s Stateroom he asked me if the sailors were liking Hong Kong. I blurted out the truth, “Heck no, Father. They all have fu___g girlfriends in Subic!”
The Captain Gave me “The Death Glare.”
Crossing the Equator, or “The Line” as it is called, my Boss Stuart made me “The Royal Flasher.” Every one had assigned roles: many demeaning. I relighed my assignment! I fixed up a three foot penis under a raincoat and flashed the Commodore as he read his message traffic in the morning. They are still looking for some of those messages!
I flashed everybody to the merriment of the sailors. I even climbed as high as I could into the radars and flashed an approaching helicopter. The startled pilot dipped the helo as he pointed at me and the Captain decided I was getting too disruptive.
Good thing there is confession and absolution in the Catholic Church or I’d be going to hell for sure. Right now it might be a toss up!
