Macomb (DD 458 DMS 23) - Naval Cruise Book

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not to be found. Then one day the search came to an abrupt end-in the Waves' barracks. There in the middle of the room on a table stood our rugged, tough, salty sea dog, his coat glistening from washing and brushing, bedecked in a rib- bon and smelling of some exotic perfume. Need- less to say, he was immediately rescued from this horrible fate. Shortly after this incident, his belligerent naval disposition almost proved his undoing, when he came out second best in an argument with a truck. He emerged from the hospital eight days later, good as new. but a much wiser dog. The ship's welfare fund was some hundred dollars poorer, but everyone considered it money well spent. Meek has taken part in several engagements. notably the invasion of Southern lfranee. the sinking of a tit-rinan sulnnarine. and the fllilll 1 . - 'st lnaseots awa t.zuupzugn. lle was one ul tht fn to enter 'tokyo liay. We are sad lu relate that Nlek s penehant for wine. women. and sulltl was at last his nndoin i ll . F, lor he failed lu make the ship when we left lilllllllllil on the wax home. .incl ilu- ship sailed without him. Nu doubt he is eompletelx happy now amid fiulnlt-s dusky bt-Iles and flowing bowls. for he was a true sailor in this respeet llut the Nlueomb is a lonesome ship lol' lu . . 5 ubsenee. and it is with real regret that we sax goodbye to Xlek. a real sea do-r Q 1-.- 1 -A -ze ,X .ZCLQX Eg ASP? mffff , A014 llllll '- . 3'-f W :ig 1 is lt- -2:31 X kv l?1'F2:'. ' 21, 5 Qfigg-ft 'I ,. , x, ug, 03,57 fff ' ' K ctw If ,. fig.. Q ' 0 ff, ' sk, X i kikw , X 1 1 kj 62 MEKL9 HEAD MEMORABLE PERSONALITIES Due to the brevity of this publication, and to the hazy memories of the few old Macgmbites left aboard to publish it, a great many charge. ters who tigured prominently in the Macomlfs history are barely mentioned. So in passing we would like to recall some of those who left an indelible impression on our minds. For instance, who could forget Big John taliag Knobby, alias Bones, alias Buttonsit Walsh, that marathon eonversationalist and future mayor of Rochester .... Or Sweeney. that Cargantuan quartermaster. better known as Wllhe Hairy Apef' who never put anything together the way it came apart if he could help it. Old timers will remember Babb. CTM. the Macomlfs Zazu Pitts. who wet-nursed his tin fish for several years before weaning them lo all-oliol .... And. of course. there was always Chief un- mentionable head' Melott. Cl-IM. whose round- robin debates with Alois 112 years a seamant favis. the man who always brought home the baeon. and llncle Adam lsubas. the seourge ol the seamen. kept the chielis quarters in a eon- stant simmer ol excitement. Perhaps no odder eonglomeration of person- alities ever existed than the C S It gang. coul- posed of Walter Berkowitch, the ex-hairdresser from Brooklyn, Pop Austin lsee Austiifs leap to lamet. Paddle-foot Young, and Moron Saltersfs-never a dull moment in those days! Uur Asiatic contingent included Chief 'alittle Foo Angel. who ran Mr. Brock a close second in lots of thingsg Leonard Carside, author of that famous excuse of being overleave, HM! sister got me drunkwg Whang-poo, who paid the rent at Izzy Ort's. Then there was David lFoo-Foot Tflfileff lirooklynis gift to Cafe Society .... Bertram tHallucinationst Lord left us ga-SP' ing many a time by sighting periscopes behind every piece of seaweed. We had two Williams-Willie the coxswain, better known as the Embezzler-at-Large, and it 45 uf ,

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consisted of almost anything he could find lying around the ship in addition to what the men gave him. On the foc'sle, when the men were scrub- bing bulkheads with salt water soap, Mek was gf the definite opinion that this soap was for the express purpose of assisting his digestion. and he gobbled it up at every opportunity. r astronomical s lurffes consisted of Ot e g P ca grease, burnt matches, gum, tinfoil, and orange peels. On these the Arab thrived and grew. As he grew, Mek acquired habits as salty as the sea on which he sailed. He had his morning coffee with the first division tblond with one sugart. His rate was still AS., assigned to the first division, but he was learning fast. One duty. for which a man was appointed each night. was to hold Mek during the movies. If the movie was a good one, he would remain perfectly still. If it was a stinker, however, he would show his disapproval by yanking the electric cord from the movie machine. He had excellent taste, loo. Like all seamen, Nlek had to start at the bot- tom aml work up. He reached the rate of cox- swain, but not easily was this rate gained. More thau once he had to start all over again. as. for instance, when one day he took his duty too seriously and did it all over the quarterdeck. This was a big mistake. as he was told later by proper authority. lint later on he committed an even bigger mistake in the captain's cabin. .lus- tice must be appeascd. so Melt was called up before the mast and found guiltx of the above charges. lle was given a deck court. and as Liberty hound Mek U result N U5 llrllktwl ln xiii Unfp again. In addition he was In lose one month's liberty. flowex er. the charge being a minor one. the cap- tain decided lu let him go with a warning. lint in Saipan he again pushed his luck. Hating exerx day liberty there. he would go ashore with the recreation party. time one hilarious time. and return to the ship for the same thing the next dai. Xlhile in Saipan. and while the bccr lasted. cu-ix man rated lttai cans of beer on his liberty dai. .Xltei sntltt' experience with Nh-lt. the crew came lu the conclusion that two t'ZlIlS ttt'It' lou Itlllt'll ful' lltis Ht'tl-tltlltltl tlug. began lu get in the habit ul getting drunk and tlltsslttg the boat. flue dai. as eierxone was about to return lu the ship. Xlek. was nowhere to be found. After luulxltltl about for some time. it was decided that lit' wottltl ln' lttttgltl it les'-ull. so llta' luiztl 2-lluvctl ull. without him. lime par-sed. and. figuring he had learned his lesson. a boat was sent back to the beach for him. Sure enough. there he was on the tloclx and glad enough to return to the ship. Xlek. as a member uf the erew. had his own lxapolx lift-jm'lu't. dog lags. and iflclilificalioll card. which ul course he must have to get out nf ani Navy yard. One experience with the women our tough sea dog will never forget. It happened while the Nlightv Mac was tied up in Charleston. S. C. The pup was missing for several days. A search was made high and low' for him, but he was 61

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Williams, signalman extraordinary, of it was said that he was brought into the world by a nose specialist. Thgre are many others-Bobby Broggiotti, since graduated to brass, who was a smooth op- erator on the beach or on the ship. We wonder if Claude lBalls't Marshall, ever found his cattle, or if Berry, the Superyeoman. ever ceased to believe that a pun was the highest form of humor. Plank-owners will remember Faust, CMM, who was a constant winner at that certain game. and Willie North, the lVIacomb's gift to the brew- eries, who could and would drink the mostest of the bestest. This list would not be complete without the name of Morris Cephus Speed, who spoke a language all his own. Who doesnit remember the time this carpenteris mate, in company with Farnham, Nl lfc, made a name for themselves as the taxicab pirates of Brooklyn. No more colorful character exists than the one and only Vilho Skarp, golfer, debater. and hater of women. llow about George V. tfor victoryt Bayer. thc man who would rather be right than chief? 'lihcre were many among our ollit-ers who lt-ft a lasting impression on us. Mr. Brom-k. our way- ward chief engineer and executive ollieer. made famous in this book: Mr. O'Brien. a swell guyg .lo tgive the bum a hundred hours extry dutyl Behan. our exec.: Mr. tfoodlessl O'Dell, whose IUOUO WHS Let them eat taken: SHUI Karnof- Sky. of the oiled tongue. liuli Kegerreis of the unfailing sense uf humor and ready wit. and a host of others. 'lillf' original torpedo gang contained a bunch of lUlUS--Nlilgfootii jultllsult. Pupil ihlarra, Muscles Xlorrow twhen the projectors refused to work he heaved the ashrans on-r himselft. Needle Craw ford. the lou-r: a great hunch of guy s. Hack llauynski It-lt his mark aboard tht- Nlacomb. chit-tty because he had a short circuit between his brain and his list. and while we url' ll th sUl'l 1'l of llI't'l'tIIlll'lilIllt'Il. tluttil ful'- get Pinky Nlilligan. tht- lt'lltlt'l't'Sl t-hit-t a-wr to serie' aboard tht- Xlar. and llalph lh'at'on lJtNt'Il. Nlltl slLlI'la'4l lllnsl t'uttU'I'silliutlS Nlllt. Nuts if you'll stand by lot' nn- and Laugh- ing limi' Ht'IlIlt'S. a good man lu tt-ll a joke' to. ,Ns our nn-morn-s fra-slwn. nann-s and laces 1-onn' crowding into our minds-. hut nlll' space' is limited. and we must 1-lose with tht- assnramw- that this is only a small portion of tht- many colorful cliarae-te-rs who st-ru-tl on tht- Nlighty Mac. PORTS 0 I IIA I,l, Bath, Maine Boston, Massachusetts Newport. Rhode Island Portland. Maine Port of Spain. Trinidad Argentia, Newfoundland Halifax, Nova Scotia Crenork, Scotland Scapa Flow, Orkney lslands Reykyavik. Iceland Brooklyn, New York Norfolk, Virginia Hamilton, Bermuda Portsmouth, Virginia Casa Blanca, French Morocco Christobal, Panama Guantanamo Bay, Cuba Akureyri, Iceland Quonset, Rhode Island Rockland. Nlaine Fayal. Azores Freetow n. Sierra l.:-one Dakar. French West .lf Nlelville. Rhode lsland Oran. Algeria Nlers El Kabir. Algeria Gibraltar Bizerte. Tunisia Algiers. Algeria .-Xrzu. Algeria Naples, Italy Salerno, Italy Palermo, Sicily tfastellemare. ltaly Xlalta Taranto, Italy St. Tropez, France ljgltvin, l inf-lvit Toulon. l'ifElllt'!' liar-ville. l'if3llt'f' rim tfharle--ton, South llarolina San l,lf',t1ll.liiHllllPl'fll3 Seattle. Washington Port ,Xngf-lf--, mia-lllngllvtt P+-arl Harbor. llawaii liniwf-tok. Mar-hall Island- tTlithi.f1arolinf-Islands Ke-rama Re-tto. Rynkyn Island- Hagnshi Bay. Ukinana Saipan. Nlarianas lslanfls llncknf-r Bay. Okinawa Tnkyn Bay. llonshn. Japan Sasvbo. Kynshi. .lapan Yakn Shima. Ryukyu lelahflff Tsnshima. Ryukyu lslands 63