A Veteran's Journey

Trivia Questions (Answers @ end)

1. Who said, “A mind is like a parachute. It doesn’t work if it is not open.”?
2. In what movie did we hear, “Hey, hey! What’s this I see? I thought this was a party. LET’S DANCE!”?
3. In what song (and who sang it) did we hear the following?
   When I was a young boy
   Said put away those young boy ways
   Now that I’m gettin’ older, so much older
   I long for those young boy days

---

---

Happy New Year from Gainesville, Florida!

Earlier this year, I wrote a blog about General Quarters and the simple fact that every sailor who ever served aboard a US Navy ship had experienced going to General Quarters.

Most of the time, the GQ alarms are drills: ways to practice your skills, your GQ stations, and what to do—you know—in case there really is an emergency.

I would imagine, in most cases, GQs deal with events on your own ship. Since I worked on the flight deck of USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63) as an aircraft Crash firefighter, events such as an aircraft crash, a main engine room flooding, or a man overboard might bring about a GQ alarm.

But imagine this…

… an aircraft carrier (more than three football fields long) cruising about 15 knots alongside another ship (only two football fields) within a hundred or so feet apart, and passing fuel & cargo from the supply ship to the carrier via multiple high wires, pulleys and fuel lines.

Then… imagine the other ship, an Ocean Escort, edging closer and closer to your ship—whether it’s the carrier moving off course or the OE, in this situation… it don’t matter!

That’s when you’re likely to hear over the ship’s 1MC: “Emergency Breakaway, Emergency Breakaway. This is NOT a Drill!”

Teenagers… Invincible

When I was a teenager and before I was old enough to buy beer (like that never stopped me), there were those Friday nights where a few of us would just drive around Gainesville: “cruising the streets,” so to speak. Me in my ’54 Willy’s Jeep and other friends in their more elaborate ’56 Chevy’s, ’69 GTOs, and ’71 Plymouth Roadrunners.

You know what I’m talking about—the “real” muscle cars of yesteryear.

Several of my friends were high school seniors, eighteen years old, and old enough to buy beer. At that time (1972), the “legal” drinking age in Florida was 18. Although I was also a senior, I was only 17.

Now imagine driving down the main city drag, side-by-side, and my friend sticks his arm out holding a nice cold Schlitz. What’s a fella to do? Drive alongside him, grab the beer, and start drinking, of course.

Am I the only one who ever did that? Be honest…

Underway Replenishment

An UNREP is not that much different… except the ship is much larger than my Jeep, the two ships are traveling faster than we were, and there are far more people on the ship than in our cars.

Only a few slight differences, but it’s still the same principle as passing beer back and forth.

Today’s nuclear-powered aircraft carriers can remain at sea for more than 20 years without replenishing fuel. They do, however, need to replenish supplies. After all, the galley makes about 17,000 meals every day for 5,500+ sailors—that is a lot of food.

Kitty Hawk was not nuclear powered and also needed to be refueled every week or so. All the aircraft in the air wing also take a lot of fuel. It was quite a spectacle to watch Kitty Hawk approach an Ocean Escort ship about a hundred feet off the starboard side, cruising with us about fifteen knots.

Connected Replenishment

The alongside connected replenishment, also known as CONREP, is a standard method of transferring fuel, ammunition, and bulk goods between ships when at sea.

The supplying ship (usually an Ocean Escort) holds a steady course and speed, generally between 12 and 16 knots. The carrier then comes alongside at a distance of approximately 30 yards.

A Boatswain’s Mate shoots a shot line between ships used to pull across a phone and distance line, which is marked every 20 feet by a flag. Once across, these visual markers make it much easier to determine the distance between the two ships, as opposed to guestimates.

This initial line also establishes the communications between the two bridges via sound-powered phones.

The supply ship is in command of the replenishment operation, providing all lines and equipment needed for the transfer. Additionally, the supply ship directs all commands.

Next, another shot line is sent over for other replenishment stations, allowing the fuel-transfer lines to be pulled over and to establish high-wire lines to transfer cargo.

At the completion of the cargo & fuel transfer, the teams on deck unhook and send back (or retrieve) the wire rigs. Once the lines are retrieved, the approach ship (e.g., the carrier) slowly widens the gap, steering away from the escort ship and increasing speed.

Multiple Supply Lines

Because of the relative position of the ships, it is possible for some escort ships to set up multiple transfer rigs, allowing for faster transfer or transferring multiple types of stores. We would often have two or three rigs operating at one time on the carrier. Besides fuel, we would take on ordnance, food, and other much needed supplies like the standard Navy-issue essentials: coffee & non-skid (toilet paper).

We didn’t have a neighborhood Super Wal-Mart, but this did the trick.

Ocean Escorts always replenish aircraft carriers from the starboard (right) side of the carrier. The overhanging angled flight deck doesn’t permit replenishment from the carrier’s port side. The rigs and supplies would come onboard Kitty Hawk’s hangar deck through two of the elevators lowered on the starboard side of the ship.

Resupplying More Than One Ship, Simultaneously

Additionally, many escorts can service & supply two ships simultaneously, with one on each side. I witnessed this several times during our Westpac ’75 cruise: Kitty Hawk on one side and a destroyer or cruiser on the other side. Truly a sight to behold.

CONREP is a risky operation, as two or three ships running side-by-side at matching speed must hold to precisely the same course and speed for a long period, sometimes several hours. A slight steering error by one ship could cause a collision.

For my one nautical engineering friend, a one-degree course variation traveling at a speed of 12 knots would mean about 20 feet sideways drift per minute.

Kitty Hawk Collision

Just before I arrived aboard Kitty Hawk in March 1975, during the earlier RIMPAC exercise off Hawaii, Kitty Hawk collided with the ammunition ship USS KISKA (AE-35). Not bad, but enough of a bump to damage a good part of the catwalk, and this was right outside the Crash crew quarters.

Fortunately, there were no personnel casualties.

In case of an emergency during a CONREP, crews practice emergency breakaway procedures where the ships will separate in less than optimal situations. Although this exercise saves the ships from collision, it is possible to lose stores, as the ships may not have finished the current transfer.

While I never experienced a collision (on a ship or passing beer as a high school teenager), we practiced these emergency breakaway procedures almost every time after completing the replenishment.

One More…

And then there was that time when I drove my ’54 Willys Jeep up next to a school bus full of kids, including my high school girlfriend, whom I was trying to impress. I passed her a Coke through the bus window. I’ll spare you the details about what the bus driver said as I passed by. But I’m sure she used some words I’d never heard (before I joined the Navy).  

Then there’s Hollywood… a scene from the movie, Footloose (1984) where Ariel (Lori Singer) is standing up with one leg on a car, the other on her boyfriend’s (Chuck, played by Jim Youngs) truck. Yeah, you know the scene. In case you didn’t see it, here’s a link to a 2½ minute YouTube video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3JNte39neY

Crazy scenes, I tell ya.

I never did that before. But there was a time in my younger “deer hunting” days when I’d jump from the back of one pickup truck to another. Of course, we weren’t going too fast and thank God my father didn’t see me.

Crazy teens, I tell ya.

OK—confession time is over. Happy New Year to all my friends & shipmates! May 2022 be better than 2021.

Until we meet again,
Andy

Previous posts mentioned in this blog

• #64 – General Quarters, General Quarters…
• #36 – Gone in an Instant
• #37 – Hawaii, One Word: Beautiful!
• #23 – Rough Seas – Sea of Japan

Answers

1. Frank Zappa.
2. Footloose (1984), Ren (Kevin Bacon).
3. Hurts So Good (1982), John Mellencamp; written by John Mellencamp, George Michael Green.