If your name does not appear on this list and you have paid your dues, please let Paul Mohawk know as soon as possible.  His e-mail address is pshawks@charter.net

Regarding the story on the Sonar Boom.  I am attempting to establish a time line.  1958 PR is in the Med till October/November.  We returned and remained in Little Creek VA till the end of the year because we pulled holiday liberty, Christmas & New Year, from Little Creek VA.  I am thinking the first Sonar Boom fiasco was in 1959.  I know we were in the Philadelphia Naval Yard for an over haul for 3 to 4 months, followed by a shakedown cruise in the Caribbean for 6 weeks.  I believe the Sonar Boom was installed while we were in the yards.  After the shakedown cruise,  we received orders to test the Sonar Boom in different types of seas, mild, moderate and heavy.  Well the “old man” found a nice giant storm in the Atlantic, put the Boom down and it broke off in less than a minute.  We then hauled butt to Bermuda for a long weekend.  In January 1960, we sailed for South America because President Eisenhower was to conduct his “Good Will Tour”.  We had all the Presidential Vehicles on board.  We also had all the U S Navy Band equipment on board.  Horrifically, the entire Navy Band was killed when their plane crashed while landing in Rio de Janeiro.  If my time line is somewhat accurate, the boom shown in the picture dated 1963, had to be the 2^nd boom. 

Information contributed by Tom Wagner, YN3.

Off Loading Vehicles, 1958, Beirut, Lebanon	LCU's lining up to enter weldeck, 1958, Beirut, Lebanon
Pictures contributed by Ron Miller, EN3, Havre, MT

We've been hearing rumblings about the U.S. Navy's triple-hulled ships, but here's one that was launched last month, the U.S.S  Independence .. Built by General Dynamics, it's called a "littoral combat ship" (LCS), and the tri-maran can move huge weapons around faster than any ship in the Navy. Ironic that with all that high tech built in, the ship reminds us of the Merrimac ironclad from Civil War days. 

Littoral means close to shore, and that's where these fleet-hulled babies will operate, tailor-made for launching helicopters and armored vehicles, sweeping mines and firing all manner of torpedoes, missiles and machine guns. 

Charleston, SC Reunion Information
(Things to see in Charleston)

Current Status of Reunion

Dave Dortch , Reunion Coordinator

  If you wish to contact David, at 870-236-3725, or by e-mail at tazrhondave@yahoo.com

Mail Call

Calvin Carmichael, SH3, Kearneyville, WV (on board:  12/71-12/75) writes:  "Loved the time on board the Rock, especially all the fun of running the ships laundry and gee dunk store as I called it. Have moved around a lot since getting out of the service and at times wish I had stayed in. The ship yard was my worse part of the memories, hated living on that floating barge they brought up for us".  His e-mail address is:  wolf1pack2alpha@yahoo.com

David Wardle, QM1, Cross Plains, WI  (on board:  10/58-7/64) writes:  "It looks like all my shipmates have either not joined or passed
Would like to hear from anyone that I served with.Jim McDermott, Rick Nolan, etc."  His e-mail address is:   golferwhiskey60@yahoo.com

Nick Clark, DK1, Virginia Beach, VA  (on board 74-78)  writes  "I just got my copy of the newsletter (I suspect it's been in my wife's car for several weeks so it wasn't a mail delay).  BZ on the work you're doing.  One small note on the Navy Trivia for Distinguishing Marks/Rating Badges.  While it's been quite a while since I wore a crow on my sleeve, I seem to remember walking around with severely bruised left arm after each tacking on of promotions crows.  Assuming (bad word to use I know) that this definition of Distinguishing Marks is referring to the Rating Crow, I did look it up (http://www.navy.mil/navydata/ranks/rankrate.html) and it (the Crow) is worn on the left sleeve, not the right as indicated in the newsletter.  I seem to recall some specialty badges (Expert Lookout, Gun Mount Captain, Coxswain, etc.) that used to be on the right sleeve so maybe that's what they're talking about.  Minor issue so keep up the good work."  His e-mail address is:  nclark@ggsvb.com

Dave Westenberger, EN3 (on board 73-74) writes:  "The P Rock and gator navy was great fun... now. Would like to find Bob Gregg EN-3 from Fort Wayne."  His e-mail address is westy577@gmail.com

Reba Stanley writes:  I have found out that a close friend was in the Navy back in the early 60”s.. He would be thrill to learn of anything or anybody that was on the Plymouth Rock in or around 1962. He went to the Mediterranean and talks about the beautiful water. What fond memories he has and I can listen to them for hours. I tried to pull up as much info on-line that I could. I am sure he would enjoy the News published every so often and the reunion coming up next year in Charleston. Please help me get started. He has no email yet but his name and address are :
                                    Gordon L. Throckmorton (Lefty)
                                    107 North 13^th Ave
                                    Mayodan ,NC 27027-2121

He got an award for the Most-Push-UPS among 500 men on the Ship then and still can do about 100 now @71yrs young. Very active.  Just let me know what I can do to help, since I will be the contact.  Reba Stanley e-mail:  stanleyr@ccl.org

George Correa, QM2 (on board 9/80-Decom.)  writes:  Looking for shipmates from my time onboard, softball team members, Unitas and Decomm.  His e-mail address is george.correa@comcast.net

Arvell Cuffey, YN3 (on board 10/56-5/60) writes:  I can clarify this problem about the Sonar Boom. I was on the Prock 1959-1960 when the boom was installed, as shown on the bow in the photo taken in 1963. We were off the coast of Bermuda evaluating the sonar system and entered the eye of a hurricane. Man that was a rough ride. After the Hurricane and the Prock went it separate ways, we attempted to pulled the boom out of the water and much to all eyes waiting, there wasn't a sign of the boom. To make a long story short, we lost the boom and had no evidence as to how we lost it. I was the Captain's Yeoman at that time and I can say without any doubt that the first attempt ended before 1963. The 1963 photo was taken during the 2nd installation/evaluation of the sonar boom. Very odd looking contraction. The article on Like War is pretty good. I remember the locals asking "Where are the movie cameras"-thinking we were making a movie not knowing that the port of Beirut was the center of attention for take over by NATO or Syria and the UAR. Very good picture of Rocky.  His e-mail address is:  aecuffey@yahoo.com

  Tony Evangelist, SN writes:  I was very impressed with your Web page, I served board the USS Vermilion AKA 107 from 1960 to 1964 I was in the 3rd div. (boat div.) I was a boat coxswain (mike boat #3) I enjoyed seeing those high line photo's I remember being on the Med cruise we made in 1963 it was the best time of my service in the Navy to bad I was to young to really appreciate those moments.My ship was decommissioned in 1969 that was a sad day for me and my shipmates I kinda wish we had a Web page or even a reunion I would like to find some of my old shipmates I have done some research but always run into a dead end.  His e-mail address is:  taggertony@aol.com
 

Artic Cruise en-route to Thule Greenland, July 1957
Ensign flying over the Flight Deck	Bill Sims on watch with sound powered phones
Photos contributed by Arvell Cuffey, YN3

Ahoy This old traditional greeting for hailing other vessels was originally a Viking battle cry.

Bully Boy Bully boys, a term prominent in Navy chanties and poems, means in its strictest sense, "beef eating Sailors." Sailors of the Colonial Navy had a daily menu of an amazingly elastic substance called bully beef, actually beef jerky. The term appeared so frequently on the messdeck that it naturally lent its name to the sailors who had to eat it. As an indication of the beef's texture and chewability, it was also called "salt junk," alluding to the rope yarn used for caulking the ship's seams.

Chief Petty Officer in Baseball Hall of Fame - Bob Feller is the only CPO to be elected to the baseball hall of fame. He played for the Cleveland Indians. He was a pitcher.

Chit One tradition carried on in the Navy is the use of the chit. It is a carry over from the days when Hindu traders used slops of paper called citthi for money, so they wouldn't have to carry heavy bags or gold and silver. British sailors shortened the word to chit and applied it to their mess vouchers. Its most outstanding use in the Navy today is for drawing pay and a form used for requesting leave and liberty. But the term is currently applied to almost any piece of paper from a pass to an official letter requesting some privilege.

Fathom Fathom was originally a land measuring term derived from the Ango-Saxon word "faetm" meaning to embrace. In those days, most measurements were based on average size of parts of the body, such as the hand (horses are still measured this way) or the foot (that's why 12 inches are so named). A fathom is the average distance from fingertip to fingertip of the outstretched arms of a man --- about six feet. Since a man stretches out his arms to embrace his sweetheart, Britain's Parliament declared that distance be called a "fathom" and it be a unit of measure. A fathom remains six feet. The word was also used to describe taking the measure or "to fathom" something. Today, of course, when one is trying to figure something out, they are trying to "fathom" it.

Flat hats First authorized in 1852 the flat hat was eliminated on 1 April 1963 due to non-available materials. The original hats had unit names on the front, however, unit names were taken off in January 1941.

How long have you been in the Navy? - "All me bloomin' life, Most Honorable Senior Chief! Me Mother was a mermaid, me father was King Neptune. I was born on the crest of a wave and rocked in the cradle of the deep. Seaweed and barnacles are me clothes. Every tooth in me head is a marlinspike; the hair on me head is hemp. Every bone in me body is a spar, and when I spits, I spits tar! I'se hard, I is, I am, I are!"

 Jacob's Ladder - Jacob's Ladder is a portable ladder made of rope or metal and used primarily as an aid in boarding a ship. Originally, the Jacob's Ladder was a network of line leading to the skysail on wooden ships. The name alludes to the biblical Jacob, reputed to have dreamed that he climbed a ladder to the sky. Anyone who has ever tried climbing a Jacob's Ladder while carrying a seabag can apreciate the allusion. It does seem that the climb is long enough to take one into the next world.

 The Lucky Bag -  The so-called Lucky Bag was really a huge locker in which articles lost aboard ship were deposited. Once a month these articles were produced and handed back to their respective owners. But there was a catch to it...each lucky recipient of a lost article was then given three strokes from the cat-o'-nine tails to teach him not to lose anything again.

Man the Rails -  This custom evolved from the centuries old practice of "manning the yards." Men aboard sailing ships stood evenly spaced on all the yards and gave three cheers to honor a distinguished person. Now men and women are stationed along the rails of a ship when honors are rendered to the President, the heads of a foreign state, or a member of a reigning royal family. Men and women so stationed do not salute. Navy ships will often man the rails when entering a port, or when returning to the ship's homeport at the end of a deployment.