Brinkley Bass (DD 887) - Naval Cruise Book

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REP Blacknessg total and impenetrable inky blackness lies before you as you SWiI1g the heavy watertight door open and bal- ance momentarily in closing it behind you while the main deck rolls beneath your feet, The metal fittings on your bulky lifejacket scrape the rungs of the ladder as you grope upwards to the DASH deck. On the bridge, the special sea and re- fueling detail receives the manned and ready reports of the stations involved in the night refueling. A score of eyes strain to see the dull red lights of the oiler which lumbers ahead across the dark waters of the Tonkin Gulf. In CIC, weary Radarmen plot the oiler's course and speed, and those of the other ships in the area, and monitor the radio nets which blare forth cryptic messages at irregular intervals.

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On the bridge, in the director, in CIC, the missions had some variation. In the gun mounts they were always the same. T One round, slow salvo fire, load! The powderman seized the long brass cylinder from the scuttle and set it in the tray with a motion that months of practice had made as mechanical as the gun he served The projectilesmen's foot slammed a treadle to the deck plates and his beefy arms swung the heavy round in ahead of the powder with a solid metallic thud. He hit the ram- mer operating lever and the spade thrust the round into the darkness beyond the yawning breech. Loaded! The word was passed, the order given, then the inevitable buzz of the salvo signal prompted an involuntary tenseness in the mount. The gun fired and the housing hurtled to the rear, the empty cartridge case shot back trailing hot gases and slammed into the shell chute. The familiar hiss of the gas ejection air fell on momentarily deafened ears. One round expended, bore clear, no casualties! Outside on the main deck, spent brass rolled and clattered in the darkness. So it went. Some times there was rapid salvo, or continu- ous fire. Occasionally there were moments of excitement, a misfire, a hangfire, setting fuzes by hand to feed the hungry guns, but everything was taken in stride. The ship's routine went on, thanks to a large body of unsung heroes, the cooks, the bakers, the ship's servicemen, and the engineers. Some men served double duty, as did the IC men who stood Watch on their own gear and operated the fire controlfstable element as well. On the bridge and in CIC, the officers and men of the port and starboard shore bombardment teams received target information from the spotters on the beach, plotted the targets, conned the ship in tofiring position, set up the com puter solution with the fire control technicians in plot, and directed the fire which destroyed numerous bunkers, struc- tures, logistics points, bridges and sampans. Whether firing from anchor or underway, firing was an all hands evolution. The seamen and gunnersmates in the mounts were relying upon the fire control technicians to put guns on target, who in turn relied upon the gunnery liason officer and his plotters, who in turn relied upon the 'naviga- tor the OOD the helmsman, and soon. FI'0II1 the flfemen , d' t ,h in the oven like after fire room to the mess stan ing wa c u cook who worked long into the night, the 111II1eS demanded everyone to do his duty and do it well. There were these h were not continuously involved in the firing, but who w o , stood ready at their posts for the moment when the 11VeS of their shipmates might well depend on 13116111- Their over-riding effort Was for the ship, the all-PFeV-eding spirit was, can do .

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