Welcome to the USS Plymouth Rock Newsletter

Eighteenth  Edition:  The USS Plymouth Rock Newsletter is a publication issued every four months by the USS Plymouth Rock Ships Association.  If you would like to contribute an article, a piece of Navy or Plymouth Rock history, photo, memory or anything that might be of interest to you or other shipmates, you can send it as an e-mail to:

Bill Provencal, Association  Secretary at:
billinp@metrocast.net

or regular mail at:
Bill Provencal
37 South Main Street
Pittsfield, NH   03263

If you change address or e-mail address be sure to let me (Bill Provencal) know so we can update our Crews List.   My e-mail is billinp@metrocast.net  Our ships website is found at www.ussplymouthrock.com

Paid Association Members for 2007-2008
As of December 27, 2007 we now have 142 paid members

WASHINGTON -- Selected officers and Sailors will begin limited wear testing of new uniform prototypes, service dress khaki for chiefs and officers and service dress blue and white for E-6 and below, late this fall or early winter.

“The service dress khaki uniform is in a traditional style, last worn during the Vietnam era,” said Robert Carroll, Head, Uniform Matters Office. The uniform allows for chiefs and officers to shift from service khaki to service dress khaki by adding a black tie and jacket.

The E6 and below service uniforms, which still look much like the “Crackerjack” of today, will feature hidden zippers for ease of dressing and new piping for service dress white. The fabric is polyester, which allows for improved ventilation and can be washed with no dry-cleaning necessary. The service dress blue will be for men only, he explained.

Uniform testing is expected to run for 90 to 120 days. The selected officers and Sailors will evaluate the uniforms’ functionality, appearance and acceptability and provide their feedback to the Navy Uniform Matters Office, according to Carroll.

Testing of the dress khaki and service blues and whites will be in Norfolk, Va., Washington, D.C., Millington, Tenn., and Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. An overseas testing site may be added later according to Carroll. The service dress whites will have limited wear tests in Key West, Fla., and Pearl Harbor. About 225 officers and Sailors are expected to take part in the wear tests.

Carroll also said delivery of a single Navy working uniform for wear by all Sailors E-1 to O-10, and a year round service uniform for all Sailors E-6 and below is on track to get to the Fleet in summer 2008. The new Navy PT uniform is on track for spring 2008.

REMEMBER

Written by Father Denis Edward O"Brien, USMC

It was the Veteran, not  the reporter who has given us the freedom of the press.

It was the Veteran,  not the lawyer who has given us the right to fair trial.

It was the Veteran, not the campus organizer, who has given us freedom to demonstrate.

It is the Veteran who salutes the flag, who served under the flag, and whose coffin is draped the flag,. who allows the protestor to burn the flag.

All Gave Some - Some Gave All

Our own Harry T. Andersen, BTC on the right, WO1 Mosley on left, while on board the Rock in 1969.  Harry is currently the Ship's Historian and my #1 provider of Navy Trivia

Thank You's

We would like to thank the following shipmates/friends for providing pictures, information and articles to the website, the Ships Association and newsletter.

Reunion Update

DIRECTIONS TO
DOUBLETREE HOTEL ST. LOUIS AT WESTPORT

FROM NORTH OR AIRPORT: 70 WEST TO 270 SOUTH, EXIT PAGE EAST 16A, TURN RIGHT ONTO LACKLAND, FOLLOW LACKLAND UNTIL ROAD TAKES A SHARP TURN TO THE LEFT WHERE IT TURNS INTO CRAIGSHIRE, 11 STORY BUILDING ON RIGHT SIDE OF ROAD

FROM SOUTH: 270 NORTH, EXIT PAGE EAST 16A, TURN RIGHT ONTO LACKLAND, FOLLOW LACKLAND UNTIL ROAD TAKES A SHARP TURN TO THE LEFT WHERE IT TURNS INTO CRAIGSHIRE, 11 STORY BUILDING ON RIGHT SIDE OF ROAD

St. Louis History
Gateway to the West

The question in the last newsletter that no body guessed at was the Plimsoll Line.  Don't we have any Deck people out there who knew the answer?

Right-Arm Rates
by Terry Miller, USS George K. MacKenzie (DD-836)

Questions often arise at Bull Sessions and other gatherings about Right-Arm Rates.  What were they, when did they exists  and why were some ratings worn on the right while others were  on the left.  Maybe it's time for clarification

The navy established rating badges in 1841 with the Seaman Branch wearing their rates on the right arm and all others on the left.  Right-Arm rates continued until they were disestablished on April 2, 1949.

Why Right Arm?  Men of the Seaman Branch had precedence of command over other rates because of their knowledge of seamanship, navigation, gunnery, and other aspects of ship operations.  In the absence of an officer, a hierarchy of command would still exist with the individual rates within the Seaman Branch falling in order from highest to lowest in authority.  They were:  Boatswain's Mate, Mineman, Torpedoman's Mate, Quartermaster, Signalman and Fire Controlman.  All were found aboard destroyers except Turret Captain and Mineman.  Some destroyers that were designated as DM's did have the Mineman rate aboard but without turrets, there was no need for Turret Captain aboard the small boys of the fleet.

When the rating badges were moved to the left arm for uniformity in 1949, the former right-arm rates couldn't just move their "crow" to the opposite arm because navy regulations had the eagle facing forward regardless of the arm on which the badge was located.  A right arm badge moved to the left would have the eagle facing the wrong way.  When viewed without the uniform, the right-arm badges have the eagle facing to the right while all others face left. 

The Boatswain's Mate rating dates from 1775; Turret Captain dates from 1903 and was merged into the Gunner's Mate rate in 1948.  These were senior positions and were limited to chief and first-class petty officers.  The Gunner's Mate was started in 1797.  The Mineman rate began in 1943, was disestablished in 1947, and re-established the following year.  The rating of Torpedoman's Mate began as Torpedoman in 1921 but was changed to Torpedoman's Mate in 1942.  The Quartermaster rating was established in 1789 for frigates was was expanded navy-wide during the War of 1812.  Signalman became a rate in 1921, was merged into Quartermaster in 1948 and re-established in 1956 as a separate rating.  In 2004, the Signalman was disestablished as a separate rate and its functions were incorporated into Quartermaster. 

The list to the left are the right-arm rates in order of precedence.

One of six 3"50 gun mounts on the ship in the 1960's  J. Ziemba HM2	Ship Underway sometime in the 1960's.  G. Holden, YN2
A clear day in Little Creek, VA, Old Glory flying over the Rock, circa 1967 Photo courtesy of Ron Swearingen, DC3

Ships Store Items

The following items are offered for sale through the Ships Store.  All orders are handled through Shorty Cyr, 119 Pinecrest Drive, Waterbury, CT   06708, Phone #203-753-6220, e-mail at:  shortybm3@yahoo.com  All orders must be accompanied by a check.  Checks must be made out to the USS Plymouth Rock Association.

Plymouth Rock Mug.  Price is $8.00 + $4.80 shipping and handling.
Bumper Stickers.  Price is $2.00 + $.40 shipping and handling.
Ships Patch.  Price is $8.00 + $.75 shipping and handling.
Plymouth Rock Cap.  Price is $12.00 includes  shipping and handling.
Personalized Commemorative Plaques.  Price is dependent on size, 7x9 is $15.00 + $5.00 shipping, 8 x 10 is $20.00 + $5.00 shipping.

My Heart's at Sea Forever

Long ago I was a Sailor.
I sailed the Ocean blue.
I knew the bars in Singapore...
The coastline of Peru.

I knew well the sting of salt spray,
The taste of Spanish wine,
The beauty of the Orient...
Yes, all these things were mine.

But I wear a different hat now,
No tie and jacket too.
My sailing days were long ago...
with that life I am through.

But somewhere deep inside of me...
The sailor lives there still.
He longs to go to sea again,
But knows he never will.

My love, my life, is here at home,
and I will leave here never.
Though mind and body stay ashore...
My heart's at sea forever.

CTRC Wayne D. Neighbors USNR (Ret)

Hello Shipmates... Dog Watch? It's the name given to the 1600-1800 and 1800-2000 watches aboard ship. The 1600-2000, four-hour watch was originally split to prevent Sailors from always having to stand the same watches daily. As a result, they dodge the same daily routine, hence they are dodging the watch or standing the dodge watch. In its corrupted form, dodge became dog, and the procedure is referred to as "dogging the watch," or standing the dog watch. More Naval terminology. Coalition Warship Thwarts Pirate Attack Arabian Sea -- British Navy warship HMS Campbeltown saved a civilian cruise liner from potential pirate attack while on coalition patrol in the Arabian Sea. The Seabourn Spirit's call for help was taken at the Bahrain headquarters of Royal Navy and coalition operations in the Gulf, as the liner transited for Muscat, Oman. The crew had grown increasingly concerned about small skiffs believed to be pirates closing on their position. Over 120 nautical miles away Campbeltown's maritime attack Lynx helicopter was dispatched to the scene, armed with its machine gun to reassure the cruise liner, and if necessary intercept the pirates. By the time the helicopter had reached the liner the skiffs had disappeared. Campbeltown's actions have reassured vessels transiting through the Combined Task Force 150 Joint Operating Area that the coalition warships are effective at supporting requests for help in any direction. Campbeltown Commanding Officer, Cmdr. Gordon Abernethy, Royal Navy, said, "It is extremely rewarding to be of assistance and know that our presence reassures law-abiding mariners going about their normal business." Campbeltown is currently one month into a seven-and-a-half month deployment east of the Suez Canal. Up to and including Christmas, the ship is operating in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.

Veterans Day ceremonies, A.L. Post 246, Moline, IL.  Lt. Col Carl E. Stone, Ret., Mt. Thomas Jones, Special Asst. Sec. of Veterans Affairs, T. Hickson, BT3, Berry Sharp, Director of the Veterans Admin. Med. Center, Iowa City, IA	John F. Baker, holder of the Congressional Medal of Honor, T. Hickson, BT3 and Congressman Phil Hare, 17th District, state of IL.  John Baker on 11/5/1966 saved several of his comrades and knocked out numerous VC snipers and bunkers.

Navy Trivia

WHITE HAT - In 1852 a white cover was added to the soft visorless blue hat. In 1866 a white sennet straw hat was authorized as an additional item. During the 1880's the white "sailors hat" appeared as a low rolled brim high-domed item made of wedge shaped pieces of canvas to replace the straw hat. The canvas was eventually replaced by cotton as a cheaper more comfortable material. Many complaints on the quality and construction led to modifications ending in the currently used white hat.

KEELHAUL - An extreme punishment given in which an offender was tied hand and foot, with heavy weights attached to his body. He was slowly lowered over the ship's side and dragged under the ship's hull. If he didn't drown, which was usually the case, then barnacles usually ripped him, causing him to bleed to death.

CARRY ON -  In the days of sail, the Officer of the Deck kept a weather eye constantly on the slightest change in wind so sails could be reefed or added as necessary to ensure the fastest headway. Whenever a good breeze came along, the order to "carry on" would be given. It meant to hoist every bit of canvas the yards could carry. Pity the poor sailor whose weather eye failed him and the ship was caught partially reefed when a good breeze arrived. Through the centuries the term's connotation has changed somewhat. Today, the Bluejackets Manual defines carry on as an order to resume work; work not so grueling as two centuries ago.