Tirante (SS 420) - Naval Cruise Book

Text from Pages 1 - 42 of the 1971 volume:

,,,.- . .YT 1 JY if OFFICER VBBK, B. B. DUNN, J. M. DONALDSON, w. J. LANTBIP, B. B. KISTLBB, L. s. STINSON, J. B. GBAGG, G. H. MANN, B. H. CHIEF PETTY OFFICER LUDDEN, M. W. BARNO, G BROOKS, C. T. CRUM, P. MCANALLY, C. M. MELSON, J. SALVETER, YASAITIS ENLISTED AYERS, R K BENNIGHT, K. M. BISHOP, T. BRAXTON, P. S. BURNS, G. M. CABANAYAN, R. B. CARR, M. CLARY, C. W. CLAUSSEN CLEMENTE CORBETT, J. G. DEMPSEY, M. R. ERICKSON FAILLACE FBBBD, G. K. GAULDEN, D. G. GEORGE, B. J. GGNATIGB, G. F. GOOD, B. J. HECK, B. w. HEWITT, J.A. HILLISTAD, L. G. HISSA, B. L. HODGKINS, w. J. ...nm-...... ., ..-B H ROSTER CDR LCDR LCDR LT LTJG LTJG LTJG LTJG TMCKSSJ MMGCSSJ HMCKSSJ EMCQSSD ETCSCSSD RMCCSSJ STCfSSD ENCKSSD IC3fSUD TM3fSUD TMQCSSJ TM3fSUl TM3fSUD TNKSSD QMSACSUP QMQKSSH SACSUJ TNfSSD QM3CSS7 SNCSSD FNfSSJ ETRZKSSD STSBCSSD CSQCSSD QMSNQSSJ csafssj EN3fSUD TMSNfSSD SNCSSD EMIQSSD EMICSSH ENFNQSUD Commanding Officer Executive Officer ,. Cfousef 7l'DE.f4f F? 7f NavigatorfOperations'Officer Engineering Officer Weapons Officer Communications Officer Food Service Officer Supply Officer q Chief Of the Boat JOHNSON, JONES, D JOYCE, T KINGSLEY KOHLMANN LAUGHLIN LYONS, R MARTENS, MCCARNEY MISENER, MROWKA,C. A. MULLINS, PETERSON, P. L. PFLIEGER, M. A. ROSE, D. BGSIAK, B. B. BHYMAN, B. B. SEELBINDER, J. F. GHATNBY, A. A. SHIELDS, D. J. SHBUMP, G. B. SIBBCI, T. J. SMITH, J. B. SPURLOCK, M. J. RMBKSSJ MMBCSSD SK3CSSD TMZKSSD EM3fSSD BNFNQSUJ EM3CSSD QMIKSSJ smtssy ENFNCSUJ FTGQKSSJ ICBCSSD YNEKSSD FAfSUD . RM3fSSD Fmfssy FTG3fSSD STS3KSSJ MMBCSSD SAKSUJ EM3fSSD ENlfSSD sufssb ENFNCSUD 5 5 A ? ENLISTED TART, K. F. TIERNEY, W. B. TOMLIN, W. F. TURNER, J. W. VILMIN, W. L. WAHL, C. F. WARZECHA, M. S REEDS, J. M. HARRIS, W. G. ENQCSS7 WEIR, A. P. ENlfSSD WEST, S. w. FNCSUD WILLIAMS, w. M. ICBQSUD WIRKALA, A. C. RMBCSSJ YONNICK. D. J. EMZQSSP ZIMMERMAN, R. A SNCSSD TOPITS, J. w. STSQCSSP LAVELLE, J. P. CSSRKSUD FNCSSD SNCSSD ICZCSSD IClfSSJ ENZCSSQ ENFNCSUJ ENQCSSD ETlfSSD Having set sail for Rota, Spain 16 AUG-l SEP by way of Lisbon, Portugal, TIRANTE was on her way after months of hard work preparing for The initial 12 hours uneventful. By the time Island, north of Miami, of watches and further broken out and read, began being comsumed fying. In order to break planning but the MED deployment. of steaming up the Keys we made the turn above things were settled down was fast but Grand Bahama to a routine preparations for the MED, Pubs were books of miscellaneous subject matter by all and the qualification of non-qual- the routine and further our spirit of competition throughout the crossing,TIRANTE HOlympicianH were held.Due to our inability to feature track and field eventsfwe were hot to trot but delete, reorganized olympics to fit our events included Acey After numerous cross finally decided. The had no track to run on? we had to expand, and change the traditional landlubbers sea-going capabilities. The final list of Ducey,Cribbage, Bingo, and Arm Wrestling. playing and elimination the winners were five Gold Medalists in Bingo were YNECSSD PETERSON- ftwiceb, Ensign GRAGG, ETRlfSSD LAVELLE, ETCS KSSP MCANALLY and STS2fSSD REED. STCKSSD SALVETER emerged as a double champion, Cribbage and Acey Ducey. Our games ended with the heavy CBrobdignagianD and light CLilliputianJ Arm Wrestling Championships, MM3CSSD nBig Alu SHATNEY and TM3nLean and Meann BRAXTON. ' Saturday morning TIRANTE pulled into Lisbon,Portugal. Sighting land after an extended time at sea somehow is no different now than the way we have read it was back in Magellan's Day. It's a grand feeling. Everyone took advantage of the fine wine, clean city and the warm hospitality extended by the Portugese. The consensus evaluation of Lisbon could be summed up in seven words, Ha great place to come back ton. After leaving Lisbon, Sunday morning, we completed our transit of the Atlantic by pulling into Rota, Spain monday morning . It took a lot shown that our Entering the equivalent to of work to get this far, but the results have preparations were thorough. MED for us on the 3rd of September is our returning to school and it's at nearly the same time. We've still much to learn. I'm confident that we'll receive an A plus report card. It's news time again. Since so much has happened since the last letter, I'll try to fill you in as best as I can. Pulling into Rota, Spain on August 30, provided a welcomed chance of scenery, that of dusty brown instead of salty blue. Land always feels good, regardless. A mini up-keep commenced upon arrival with USS HOLLAND AS-32 personnel coming aboard as soon as the brow was over, long hours' were required in certain areas putting final touches and tweeks on the equipments particularly radio. Chief MELSON, as you know isn't to tall to begin with, but by the time we departed Rota, he was even less tall. The radiomen leterally worked themselves into a coma. After having barely learned how to convert Hgreen backsn into escudos, we were faced with the new challenge of converting pesetas, the Spanish version of exchange. The pesetas are now common knowledge, having practiced with it for six days. Before our trip is over, I'm sure we will be faced with many frustrating hours, not of deciding whether or not to buy, but deciding how much we actually paid. We were proud and happy to approve advancement of Chief McANALLY to Senior Chief and STSN SEELBINDER to STS3 on September l, l97l. Before leaving Rota, qualification swim call was held for CS2 Cssb Don GAULDEN, QMSNCSSD Rick GEORGE, and LTJG Charlie GRAGG, later having swam for his HJGH stripes. But now we have no bonafied Ensign. From what I heard the water was cold, dirty and salty but a pleasant relief after months of hard work with late hours in learning the boat and how to be a submariner, I'm sure many of you have participated, in part, in this program and you, too, are to be congratulated. Sunday, September 3,we left Rota and entered the Mediterranean sea. During the transit towards San Remo, Italy,a small resort town on the Italian Riviera, we operated with various DD's and air craft, providing them with ASWEX Anti-Submarine Warfares Exercise Services oftem referred to as sonar Hping timen. it was time well spent getting back to actual submarine type operations and not just transiting. Monday morning, September lh, we were welcomed to San Remo by many friendly enthusiatic towns people and two visiting Key Westers my wife Marygrace, and LTJG Charlie GRAGG's wife Carol-During OUT Stay many of the crew took as the local area of. San Remo. The people of San Remo were most hospitable, SO1ng to great extents to communicate with us. Our Italian Heritage Representative ENICSSD Tom SIRECI was in his glory taking only moments to refresh himself before entering into fluent conversation with the Italian Port Director and pilot, I've never seen such an interested towns people as in San Remo. We permitted general visiting each afternonn which placed additional burden on the duty sections, but was obviously appreciated by the Italian and visiting tourists. This time we not only had to contend with changing dollars ,to lire, but had to go a step further and change dollars to franc and vice versa, not to mention changing of lire to francs and back again. Like I said earlier, many more frustrating hours are ahead of us. Leaving beautiful San Remo Friday morning, the 17th TIRANTE headed for Naples, Italy. While en route we were engaged in exercises putting the SS against destroyers, aircraft,and the carrier. I think we got an A plus. As usual with so many adversaries, it is no easy task, but the crew gets better'and better with each operation and overall effectiveness is quite obviously improved. For a little break in the routine and for good cross-training, LCDR Bill DONALDSON, LTJG Ed STINSON,LTJG Charlie GRAGG, TMQCSSJ Dave MARCUM, TM2CSSD Tommy BISHOP,STS2 Cssb Jim REED, and YNQCSSD Phil CPeteD PETERSON got to ride o destroyers and observe them hunting for SAM. They also got to take showers. Sunday September 26 we were visited by Peruvian RADM ECHEANDIA and Paraguan CAPT LEZCANO, both Naval Attaches in Washington D. C.Arriving by helo in the morning and leaving in the afternoon, both followed an iternary showing them some aspect of Submarining. Planning for a flag officer is never to easy--details, details. Finishing our operations 28 SEP-16 NOV Tuesday, we set a course for Naples, ,Italy.Arriving here Tuesday, the 28th of September our up-keep and replenishment period began, this being the logistical halfway point. Swim call was held again for our newly qualified submariners. Participating in this special event were LTJG Ed Stinson, MM3KSSD Danny JONES, SN KSSD Jim HEWITT, STSBKSSD Jim CShortyD SEELBINDER, FTGBCSSJ Randy RHYMAN, SNCSSJ Rich Smith, and SNCSSD Dave Koenig. I include in this letter two special events which we're very proud of and looking forward to on the lst and 2nd of October and they are the nmaking of the Hatn for ENICSSD Gary BARNO and the Hmaking of l lf2 stripesn for CWO2 Elmer MANN. There will be a nwet timen in Naples this weekend. Will tell you more about HNAPOLIH in next letter. Busy was the word for all hands during the Naples visit.A few major items underwent repair, along with the many small things that continously need fixing. We experienced some ., ... ... , ...f.. ML-- 4..ahng..LLuM4 ' I1 thing seldom previously nLiberty Launchn. After Change of Command of the to ride small boats to iforth to the tender. used by TIRANTE, the riding of ia changing berths to make room for the Commander, U.S. SIXTH Fleet, we had and from shore as well as back and Everything seemed to go adequately despite the added complications. . The sights to see and the places to go in Naples were many and varied. The NATO Exchange coupled with the Navy Exchange proved to adequatley stock gifts and dwindled necessities, respectively. Rome, Pompii, Herculaneum, Mt. Vesuvius, Amafia, Sorrento and Capri were among the nearby places most traveled. Everyone welcomed and enjoyed the visit in Naples, but as we sailed out Monday morning, M October , we were looking forward to an even more, interesting city---ancient Athena, Greece. During the next operation, Deep Furrow 3-Tl, a NATO Exercise we esperienced a disappointment, that of 'losing EN2 Jeff TOPITS. After becoming ill, he was found to have diabetes and subsequently returned to Key West for further tests and treatment. Our thoughts are with him and our hope is that he will soon be back in as fine a condition as ever maybe even a little slimmer. On 19 October, we pulled into Piraeus, Greece, which is about 15 miles from Athens. After the previous two weeks at sea, land was a welcomed sight again. Getting adapt at monetary exchanging, everyone quickly converted dollars to dracmas and soon were touring such places as the Parthenon, on the Acropolis, Thission, Agora, Temple of Zeus,Academy of Science, Byzantine Museum and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. A highlights of Piraeus was a German cruise ship the HAMBURG, which moored near TIRANTE. Compared to our humble and modest 27 years old vessellwe celebrated her birthday on 6 Novemberl, the luxury was absolutely astounding. With the necessary arrangements being made,Tom SIRECI Jr.,AQ2, on USS AMERICA, joined his dad, Tom Sr.,aboard TIRANTE to ride during the upcoming operation Crehearsal for Exercise National Weekl and pulled out with us on Monday, 25 October. As we left Athens,we proceeded south for five days of operations opposing USS AMERICA off of Crete.After a week of evading and attacking the task group Cwhile instructing Tom Jr. in the art of submariningl TIRANTE sailed into Iraklion, Crete for the weekend,t at which time we bade Tom Jr. farewell and he returned to the bird farm. N After receiving a message to ENFN Cssb ROSIAK concerning a death in his family, arrangements were made to fly him to the States on emergency leave. pf Our last MED moor of this trip was executed smoothly by LTJG Lance KISTLER in bone chilling cold in Port Mahon. Once moored to the pier, the hunt for our long overdue mail began. By late evening the efforts of many paid off in the form of twelve large bags full. Oh, how fine it was to hear from home, with three more days of sightseeing and shopping under our belts, we departed Tuesday, the 23rd, for Barcelona. Rough seas met us again as we left the harbor. Not to have our long planned for Thanksgiving celebration upset, we submerged' to the calm depth of 200 feet and enjoyed a truely magnificant feast in peace and quiet. Somewhat stuffed, but nevertheless content, we surfaced and completed our transit, arriving in Barcelona the following morning with the weather clear and brisk. The city has a most distinctive, but somewhat garish Cgaudyl architecture style, however, our sights were set on heading home more than to looking at the interesting sights. Among places visited in the city of nearly three million were the Cathedral, Picasso Museum, Lalonju fthe exchangel, Monument of Columbus, replica of the Santa Maria and Montjuich Castle fun Fair. Saturday morning we departed for Rota for our turnover to USS CORPORAL and were on our last leg prior to returning to Key West. After pulling into Rota we began the turnover of pubs and passing on of useful information which went quickly and smoothly. Unfortunately, we must bid farewell to one of our real asset and great shipmates, QTMQCSSD Tommy BISHOP, who will be enrolling in college in Tulsa, Oklahoma. We wish Tommy and his wife Emily, much continued happiness and success. Our crossing may not be the smoothest, due to the winter weather but we'll certainly make it just as quickly and safely as humanly possible. Our scheduled arrival time is set for 1500 on the lhth of December. Marygrace, my wife will be contacting each of you as definite information concerning our arrival becomes available. ' Leaving Rota Wednesday morning the lst of December we operated several hours with the spanish and then commenced steaming full on three towards Key West. Encountering only several days of bad weather, we arrived at the Sea Bouy about 0830, Monday the 13th of December, thus ending our four months, MED deployment. It is wonderful to be home in Key West. We arrived in the rain as usual, but received a hearty welcome from the Iraklion Air Force Detachment. They quickly answered our questions and provided us with other assistance we needed. The highlight of the visit was the Temple of Knossis, about h,ooo years old. Purchases of souvenirs, coupled with our very successful Hrock huntn enabled Iraklion to become TIRANTE's most weight gaining POTP 50 far' We ran out of weights utilized to sink trash at sea. The local populations thought we were sort of wierd loading the crew's Mess with 500 five pound rocks. Prior to leaving Monday. l November, our swimming list was shortened considerably, with LTJG Elmer MANN and LTJG Ed STINSON receiving belated dunkings for ss quais and making LTJG, SNCSS7 Dave KOENIG' and FTG3CSS5 Randy RHYMAN tested their dolphins in the IRAKLION blue. Tuesday we commenced our last big operation of the MED deployment. This was a large exercise CNational Week? with the majority of the U. S. SIXTH Fleet units participating. Once again, we played the role of the opposition. Much of our times was spent submerged, with snorkel battery charges becoming as common as eating. At the completion of the exercise, Tuesday, 9 November, we surfaced and headed north for two days in Toulon, France. The transit was the longest of our deployment, with waves no smaller than large houses. A few of us, in one degree or another, paid tribute to HMr O'ROURKEH. Finally arriving in Toulon on Saturday the 13th, we received a warm welcome from the French Submariners. Sea stories as well as uniforms were swapped to such a degree that some, to us, appeared more French than UQS. The visit was short but fun and the sun, for a change, shined brightly in a crisp fall atmosphere. Unfortunately, our mail has not gotten to us for about three weeks primarily due to short inport periods. Please bear with us as we attempt to have it catch up with us prior to our arrival in Fort-Mahon. We departed Toulon, France l6 NOV-l DEC Monday morning, l5 November l97l after our brief two day visit and proceeded to participate in our final exercise of the trip. Isle D'or, a NATO exercise involving many ships of many nations, and as usual, we were the opposition. It was a good operation with which to complete our schedule. Upon surfacing at the end of the operation, we were faced with the roughest seas and weather seen this far. After several cold and wet watches , with the OOD and lookouts chained to the bridge, the watch was moved to the conn for the remainder of the night and we proceeded enroute Port Mahon, on the Island of Menorca. STATISTICS Miles steamed surfaced in Med ............. Miles steamed from homeport to homeport... Miles steamed submerge Total dives d ............ Simulated t5ig5A5 firings:::..'.... Total ports visited... Days in port ......... Days at sea ........... Officers qualified .... Enlisted qualified .... Total money spent on camera.eduipment:::. Total meals fed ....... Officers onboard ...... Total enlisted onboard Lisbon,Portuga1 Rota, Spain San Remo, Italy Naples, Italy Athens, Greece Iraklion, Crete Toulon, France Port Mahon,Menorca Barcelona, Spain Rota, Spain PORTS VISITED Aug Aug Sep Sep Oct Oct Nov Nov Nov Nov ....5001 ...15965 ....2224 .....70 ....2O0 ...10 .33.1 ....59.8 .....1 ....14 S2554 ...'.9729 .....8 ...72 Aug Sep Sep Oct Oct Nov Nov 71 Nov 71 Nov 71 Dec 71 71 71 71 71 71 71 Thanksgiving Dinner Menu itisicieiezkieieicickieieieicickkkkkieickkkkiekkkkkkieitieieiciekieieic Roast Young Turkey Baked Ham wf Pineapple Glaze' Giblet Gravy i G Pinapple Sauce Snowflake Potatoes B Candied Sweet Potatoes Bread Dressing oChilled Cranberry Sauce Hot Buttered Green Beans Buttered Mixed Vegetables Mince Meat Pie al a Mode Pumpkin Pie Fruit Cake Cucumber G Onion Salad Tossed Salad Relish.Tray Hot Rolls Bread - Butter Coffee - Tea RESTING IN THE DRY DOCK E -QE - -x. , , M ff 1 FINISHING THE UORK IS LISBON REALLY ouT THERE ENTERING LISBON HARBOR I THINK THEY MOVED IT CAPTAIN OUR FIRST UELCONING l F SEEMS LIKE JUST ANO'HER NANEUVERING MATCH UHAT HAVE UE GOT HERE D0 ALL ENSIGNS END THIS MAY ON TOWARDS SAN RENO mHo SAID A YN CAN'T BE AN SD f 1 N0 SUBNARINE CAN GET TO'US ,-srvnnmxmHf- '-r gvgvw- ' I DON'T UORK1 I ONLY POSE REALLY1 SUBNARINE RIDES ARE FUN I DON'T UANT TO G0 OUR LAST ADNIRAL LEAVES 'Q 3 X DANCING IS NY LINE I SAY UE SHOOT GUESS UHO NAPLES AT LAST HI ,, V ,W Q., ., 'W ,P M,,,, , :E mm, X .,IE,,Q,.g N N INI-.lv N m 'N .ww I W W xmii ww I LOVE LIBERTY I DON'T LIKE LIBERTY LAUNCHES 5.5 V wwf: - . .. af., 1 xr-.XX kk XNQQLK HOME AGAIN NAPLES AHOY I'l'l LOST SO ANI 1 CONCENTRATION IS THE KEY A NEU CANIDATE FOR THE MICKEY MOUSE CLUB A MMMMK AJ-1...,- -:. --M ,-- -minu- I , 1 1 .-K ' .-, ., ,,, WA? 1 ON TO TOULON THANKSGIVING --M W vans: HNMN ANYONE FOR FIFTHS f FILLED . A MOMENT OF PEACE B IEE ,..... , GOODBYE 51 ,X v ,f,w,....v,..,,....,---w- WELCOME BACK HI BARCELONA THEY SAILED THE ATLANTIC IN THAT YOU FINISH1I'N GOING ON LIBERTY THE VERSATILE AUX GANG RELIEF AT LAST OUTCHOP I WANT TO STAY ALMOST HERE' EVERYONE BE NICE FINISHING LOADING mum A TRIP ANOTHER DAY CLOSER GETTING NEARER , N.,.n-.,,., -mamma... , . . w ON THE RANGE INSIDE THE HOLE AGAIN l1JHAT A wEl.coME BACK -V f -A. -gym -!,.g,.ny. HI DAD Wil