Hooper (DE 1026) - Naval Cruise Book

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L T Xxx it 5 -. XX. T -X X ,f ,fy We left Okinawa as if to war. Condi- tion of Readiness Three was setgbattle stations were partially manned. Torpedo tubes were trained outboard, warshots nestled in the tubes, ready to be fired. Sonar con- ducted a beam to beam search foriRussian or Chinese subs, while Hooper patroled ahead of her charges, an attack transport and an LSD. As we steamed deeper into the South China Sea, rumors began to spread. Offi- cers were seen stumbling into crypto in the middle of the night and fleet news broad- casts became sidelined by operational mes- sages. For a long period of time no mail T ref me TU'- Xou Hiffgkg - we We Qvfgfff wffev W6 K6 COIWING' 5405 AND va wfmf Eff T , '0 was receivedg and no one knew where or when we were going. Our charges safely delivered to the amphibious group, we took our station as part of Task Force 77, the strike group that had delivered the raids on North Vietnamese PT boat bases.. However it soon became apparent that further hostilities were not forthcoming, and ships were rotated in and out of Subic for upkeep and R and R. The military postal service discovered the location of the task force, somthing the U.S. papers had known all along, and mail began to arrive via COD flights and helos. ! fitfe V .Dj 'JO ,Lx

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OPERATICJNS The bridge resounded in a voice demanding and clear, Combat, what's wrong with Pri CI up here? Combat, issuing forth with a terrifying roar, Radio, dammit what h in four a 71' , ve you Sonar, not to be outdone, Comes a timely request for SODA in one. The staff, in a sinister voice full of glee, Who do you have copying common on three? All radarman in utter despair Chew on their nails and pull at their hair. Pay little attention to our babbling profane, For really, all radarman are slightly insane. ,.,W,,mWM,,WWmW, N,,, .,,,,.,,f,,.,,,,.,, 'ff' if f f .fll M T 24 5 ff 4 i f Z f gf i z ',v. , fy ' fl ,Tjyy , A ,ff J , T S f , z 1? 1 ff 'I ' 7 2 W ff f Www E 7 ,W f V., ?W : f ff 5 , iff? T' ' ff 12 P11 liz? if f ' Operations is clearly the department of chaos. Besides the chaos in CIC, there is also the chaos in radio, on the signal bridge, in the ship's office and occasionally in the chart house. The operations department is concerned primarily with communications and intelligence, but it also embraces the navigational, medical, and administrative as- pects of the ship.