15 July 2014

Flashback: 40 Years Ago, in Port and at Sea

My "home" for 18 months (the ship, not the pier.) That pier was only home when we weren't underway, and during the Arab oil embargo in '74, where we sat for six months while hoarding precious fuel in case of emergency.



Happier times, before the embargo; this picture was taken in early '74 as preparations for a change of command were getting underway (see what I did there?). :)

Good times, different era.

6 comments:

Bob said...

Those Gearing-class destroyers look more like real Navy ships than more modern versions, IMO. Probably has to do with size; our modern destroyers are, of course, more the size of WWII cruisers. The first Gearing-class I ever saw was the Robert A. Owens in Pensacola when I was in A-school, she was the escort for the Lexington.

Rev. Paul said...

I concur, Bob. That old '44-built Willy Wood still outguns the new littoral ships, which appear to be quite a joke.

PioneerPreppy said...

SO how does the navy account for water pitch and such when indirect fire, or even direct? I know we would ay the battery and then re-level the guns against an aiming point unless we were hop shooting. Does the Navy lay against the horizon or something?

"Heimi" said...

Was onboard 73-76 as an EM,, that is the pier at Elefsis. We rarely got to get pier side,,, anywhere,,, unless we were the only ship there. So many trips on the bus into Athens. We had a car eventually and parked in the cement factory on the other side of the gate. Remember the oxi Americani demonstrations in Athens and the gate to the pier? Good memories.
Patrick Climer EM 4 - 1973-76

"Heimi" said...

That is the pier at Elefsis. We never got to be pier side,,, ever,,, unless we were the only ship there. I remember the demonstrations at the gate and in Athens, the cement factory across from the gates where we parked our little Fiat. Also the many, many, bus trips over the hill into Athens when not having a car. We ate a lot at the Pizza Palace too. Warm coke.
Pat AKA Heimi EM4 - 1973-76

Rev. Paul said...

Preppy, sorry I missed your question. The answer is, a fire-control computer (primitive as it was by modern standards), timing, and volume.

Heimi - your name sounds familiar to me. Were you on the Wood? But yes, I remember those things ('73-'75), and recall those huge hamburgers at the pier's snack bar with some fondness.