Durham (LKA 114) - Naval Cruise Book

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Dec.26g1967 U C up for the show and was sincerely disappointed when she didn't see them or the white marlin they said they would catch. The balance crew was another segment of DUB- HAlVl's crew, which, unlike the nucleus crew, was composed of mostly new people, Seaman Apprentices directly out of boot camp and six Ensigns fresh out of Officer Candidate School. Balance crew members check- ed into the Fleet Training Center, Norfolk Naval Base. There, in Building N-30, the majority of their training was received. They numbered 163 at the end of November. Under the prospective Executive Officer, Commander John l. Bradbury, the balance crew was organized into shipboard divisions and departments and carried out all administrative functions of the ship. Here were located the personnel and dispersing offices, and the infamous barracks K. Barracks K was an antiquated building that pre-dated most of the men living in it. The reading room could only be used for watching television after the sun went down due to a lighting problem. When the television was secured at 2330, everyone mustered down in the Chief lVlaster at Arms office to catch the late shows on his set. Few of us would admit to ever having called it home, but no one can forget the times which were had there. One time in particular was the incident involving the Naval Investigating Service. They had become suspicious of the use of the attic in the barracks after a several week observation through the attic window. One day, unbeknown to the command they entered the attic and placed several people in custody. The empty beer cans which were found and the psychedelic decor led to the suspicion of the use of drugs especially marijuana. A hastily conducted locker inspection revealed only some incomplete sea bags and a few questionable photo- graphs As a result of the incident though several persons were placed on report and things became so l l l . Dec.26,l967 . AND SHE? A. I gp d0f75 My G01 7211? gitfrlwvp 9 U7 Boo WHAT I H2300 T fALl1f'QG, ,, WA Q li 3 an 6 ll x 21, we-ii-'T ,Q TELEPll0lJEi 1292 V l l ' If f . 4 ' r ,sv 1 4 f ff, WZ! X f 1 f 1, 4 lx, A - ,gym-A f O w ' 1 if R I F I 1 M X 4 3, f wk H 'il te ., L. 7' l' fl' 'JW it

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-.. X mnnmnslgnn.-M ' T n November of 1968 the towering crosstrees were 'the only identifiable objects on DURHAM as she rested pierside with her sister-ship, CHARLESTON ILKA-1131 in the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company Shipyards. Everywhere trees were- thin- ning in the anticipation of the winter months, but in the shipyard one couldn't tell if it were late fall or early spring. The clanging bells of yard cranes drowned the season's sounds and factory smells. concealed the incense of burning leaves. I Shipyard workers scurried across DURHAM s decks like bees, carrying their tools into her superstructure, honeycombing her levels with compartments. Welding Where it all began rods and coke cans cluttered the corners. Wiring dangled from the overheads waiting to be connected. Metal shavings collected on the decks under miles of estranged scaffolding. The sailors who wandered about DURHAM then, with their green shipyard passes, were members of the nucleus crew, which numbered approximately 76 by the end of November. IC1 George Meiser is reputed to have been the first person to have reported to the DURHAM in early July, 1968. It was rumored in November that the ship would be commissioned in January. The two month interim lengthened into almost a year of shore duty for George and into an expanded training program for the Precommissioning Detail. Crew members being received for DURHAM were routed to Newport News and Norfolk Naval Base. The nucleus crew resided in Newport News and were under the supervision of DURHAM's prospective Commanding Officer, Captain John D. Stensrud. They were the technicians and overseers of the work being accom- plished by the shipyard. They served as instructors, also, for the balance crew and put a considerable amount of time into the writing of the necessary departmental organizational manuals and guides. The offices for the nucleus crew were located on the third floor of a small red brick building at the end of 33rd Street, just outside the shipyard. Not far from there many of the crew rented their apartments on Dresdin Drive. lt was a comfortable time for most of them, receiving per diem they had to find ways of spending and breaking at 1000 and trotting over to the Triangle or Capital restaurants for lunch. Everyone probably remembers Retha at the Triangle and Skinny Faye and Fat Faye fNumber one and number two Fayel at the Capital. They did a lot of partying. Mike Watchinski and John Carlton hosted one practically every weekend in their Aug. 7, 1967 apartment. When asked about those parties one day, John answered in a daze, as if the question had taken him all the way back to Newport News, All the women a man could ever want in his whole life . . . oh, me. Mike Watchinski and Jim Atkins had their weddings in Newport News. information on Mike's wedding has been recently declassified for publication. Those who attended may remember how he carried his wife over the threshold. There wasn't any tradition involved . .. she just drank a little too much at the reception and had to be helped across. BM2 Stan Harris can attest that the jails in Newport News are deathly cold. He had occasion to spend a night in one on a roll of toilet paper when the police picked him up in a diner for being intoxicated. Stan had seen them come in and started out. He casually lighted a cigarette and flicked it into his mouth, only the wrong end went in and the police quietly led Stan away. He never received a balloon or blood test, and certainly tried to contest his confinement, but he had burned his tongue so badly that it was painful for him to talk intelligibly. Looking back on Newport News seems ancient to most. To some, though, the interim has just been so many yesterdays. lt's ancient when you think of BT2 John Greene or Carl Moe Mohowitsch. lt's yesterday when you're down in the hole joking with Rocky fHarold Roussel, Jr.l and Stack fAIlan Sztuczko.l N9WDOrt News was when WO1 Dave Morton had just 6 125cc Honda, and was falling off it just as often. lt was when Stack happened to see LCDR John Woods in the back of the Book Store down the street from the Excel, the one that usually had the sign on the door, Closed-in court. lt was when Stack and Dave Morton took an fishing trip to Lake Maury, which was to have been filmed by the television series, Sports Spectacular . . . or so Stack told BT1 Ersul Sowers' wife. She stayed

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lVlar 14 1968 tight that personnel wearing moustaches had to have them registered When the balance crew filled out there were about 250 men Because of the close living conditions in the barracks the crew became well acquainted with one another Familiar names to most in those early days may have been SN lVllke lVloon lVlullens SN Gary Gooby Treatch EIVI3 Larry Herbie Herbert RD3 Arne Hut Huhtala BIVI3 Ken lVloose Levander BlVl3 Chuck Penner ElVl3 Jim Fluff Flynn RD2 Dan Olongapoe Long CYN3 Bob Antone BlVl3 Bob Weller SIVI2 Bill Harris and BlVl2 Bill Higg Higgins to name several. There are some who might still remember how many times RD3 Tom Clemmets got short sheeted, or how many times FA Paul Carrol was written up, or how many times BlVl3 Glen Babula raced his car around the dipsty dumpster before the base police flagged him down The rest might remember the night FTG3 Alan Gruver made his debut at the Aerodrome, though the Shore Patrol were probably closer to the truth in calling it a bust out One night SN Will Cagle decided to spit shine his shoes in the barracks. He lighted a can of paste wax polish, but let it burn too long and couldn't put the fire out. Grabbing one of the old foam-type fire extin- guishers off the wall, he opened it up on the spreading fire. The fire was quickly put out, but the extinguisher couldn't be, until it completely emptied itself of its contents. To just about everyone on the south side of the Chesapeake Bay Tunnel Bridge, Tidewater Area was a household word heard on every news broadcast and used at least once in every third sentence. After several months the crew became more familiar with certain clubs in this area, which were occassioned more often than others. Those of us with wheels and money made it into Virginia Beach, The World's Largest Resort Area. Here were the Peppermint Beach Club, Rogues Gallery the Golden Garter, art shops, sandal makers, and miles of open beaches. Those of us with wheels and money but less incentive, crowded the Jolly Roger on Wesf Ocean View Money but no wheels Louie s by Gate Two No wheels and little money The Aerodrome or the Tradewinds Still there were many of the guys who took in a show or went bowling ln town good cider and fresh talent could be had at the Folk Ghetto Further north on Tidewater Drive lVlama s for pizza and Ledo s for ShrDrc2x?vntown Norfolk as a bustling center of social activity left a bit to be desired lt had its hospital its Negro ghetto used furniture stores and pawn shops Its importance and popularity though seemed to rest in its location To the south and west Norfolk was bordered by a legendary and much frequented branch of the James River A bridge to the south took one into Portsmouth where DURHAIVI held her fitting out period North and east roads branched out to the Norfolk Naval Base Newport News Chesapeake Bay Little Creek Amphibious Base Lynnhaven lnlet Fort Story and Virginia Beach lVlany enjoyed Norfolk simply because it was a coastal city lts late autumns could be enjoyed almost through December though it was usually too cold in those late months for more than just a stroll along the beaches When the wind blew at all it was almost a full gale The trees along Ocean View Blvd all had their contorted limbs bent permanently inland by the late season coastal storms By January when the crew had returned from their Christmas leave period it was apparent that the DUR HAlVl would not be ready for delivery in February and maybe not even by lVlarch The Precommlssionlng Detail in view of the number of people who had already reported and the length of time before DURHAIVI would be ready for them launched a broad flexible training program which still accounts for the majority of training the present crew has received Over seventy people were sent TAD lTemporary Additional Dutyl to the USS RANKIN lLKA-1031 USS WRIGHT lCC-21 refrigerated stores ship REGAL destroyer RICKETTS and the USS DEWEY lDLG-141. The RAN KIN left for the Caribbean when there was still snow on the ground in Norfolk while the DEWEY made a Mediterranean cruise The offices in building N-30 slowly emptied as officers, likewise, began filling various school quotas Some of the schools were close enough that the ritualistic nooner cribbage games held in room 222, second deck, building N-30, did not have to be entirely interrupted Of the more regular players lBob Rodriguez, Eric Werner, Bob lVlcGrath, Claude Freaner, Tom lVlartin, and Randy Smithl enough usually showed up with their brown bag lunches to create the normal noise level. The two week Nuclear, Biological, Chemical Warfare school, to which Bob lVlcGrath was sent, put a hurt on his attendance at the games for a couple days. After a brief value judgment, though, he stopped going to school in order to get back to the cribbage circle. No one thought much of it, least of all Bob, until one morning that same week, his two day instructor happened to see him sitting in on a hand. When the crew finally moved on board April 29, 1969, in Portsmouth, people were still being sent to schools, some as far away as San Francisco, California. Between February 1, 1969 and April 25, 1969, over 10,889 man days of training had been held. One man would have had to go to school for almost two full years in order to accomplish the amount of training the balance crew received in less than three months. ln that period, each man graduated from an average of over six different schools. QOCXJ were graduates of shipboard grlemfighting, and 79'X, graduated from Damage Control c oo.