My Times at Sea

A gallery of images taken aboard ship during my time in the Navy. It will grow over time as I find additional photos.

USS Lexington CV-16 (Official Navy Photograph)

My First-Class Midshipman cruise was in 1962 aboard USS Lexington CV-16. We sailed from San Diego, California to Norfolk, Virginia via the Drake Passage as Lexington was too wide for the Panama Canal. Enroute we visited Acapulco, Mexico, Valparaiso, Chile, and Rio de Janero, Brazil.
(Click on small images for full size view)

After crossing the Equator, the Pollywogs were initiated as Shellbacks during the traditional Navy ceremony.

On 17 August Lexington rounded Cape Horn, and I was admitted into the "Brotherhood of Sea Dogs." During that passage we experienced the heaviest seas I would encounter during my Navy career.

USS The Sullivans DD-537 (Official Navy Photo)

In 1963 my first assignment as a freshly minted Ensign was to the Newport, Rhode Island based USS The Sullivans DD-537. The ship was named for the five Sullivans brothers killed during the sea battle off Guadalcanal during WWII. The Sullivans and USS Abbot DD-629 were the school ships for the (then) US Navy Destroyer School. My initial billet was First Lieutenant and later ASW Officer. In 1964 both ships were transferred to reserve squadrons and The Sullivans was relocated to the Brooklyn Navy Yard. The following photos were taken aboard USS The Sullivans in 1964.

One day, in mid-Atlantic, a crewmember needed to return to New York on Emergency Leave. We hailed the liner City of Manchester who was enroute to New York and she agreed to take him. We began to lower our 26-foot motor whaleboat. Seas were rough, running 3-4 feet and the ship rolled suddenly to port. The whaleboat swung out and then in against the hull. The impact opened several seams in the wooden boat, which leaked badly once in the water.
We were a grand sight as the boat crossed the gap between the two vessels. The crew was in whites, and I was the boat officer. It was a bright, sunny day and the boat's Ensign waved proudly in the gusty wind. The liner's passengers gathered at the rails to observe our seamanship. Little did they know we were pumping frantically in order to stay afloat. When we returned to homeport we found the boat was beyond repair and had to be replaced.

In addition to ports in Canada and Florida, The Sullivans cruised to the Caribbean visiting San Juan, Puerto Rico and Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Less than a year later I would return to Santo Domingo in USS Davis DD-937. This time instead of a typical port visit we entered at General Quarters with our 5"/54 guns loaded as part of Operation Power Pack.

In 1965 The Sullivans entered the Philadelphia Navy Yard and was decommissioned. She is now on the National Historic Register as a museum ship in Buffalo, New York. I was the Officer of the Deck for the decommissioning ceremony and the last to carry her long glass. It was my privilege to pass the long glass to the first Officer of the Deck of USS The Sullivans DDG-68 during her commissioning ceremony in 1997.

After being detached from The Sullivans in 1965, I returned to Newport, RI and reported aboard USS Davis DD-937 as Fire Control and Ordnance Officer.