It was on the ride to Athens when we almost had that mishap with the Soviet DE, during re-fueling operations. I've already covered that in an earlier entry, but there were two other things that happened on that ride: Butch and I got to watch a Soviet Mig fly by the ASROC deck, and our sleeping compartment flooded.

Butch and I use to get together at least once a week on the ASROC (Anti Submarine Rocket) deck to bring each other up on family matters. The ASROC deck is located amid-ships, on the O2 Level. All the floors are numbered on a ship; everything above the Main Deck had an "O" in front of it. Those below the Main Deck would have just the number. The area is like a patio in your back yard, with a missile launcher in the middle of it. It was located near enough to our work spaces that we'd catch each other as one or the other would be going on watch, and the view was astounding. Being on the O2 level, we were about 40' above sea level, so you were close enough to watch the sharks, or dolphins, and high enough you could watch the whales out a ways.

The sea had started to pick up towards the end of our picket duty, so we were riding 20' swells. That sounds high, but if you're riding a 670' ship, it's just a nice ride. Butch use to write home a lot, and I didn't. I'd try; I had dozens of half written letters home with a squiggle at the end of the last letter. I'd fall asleep while writing them, and wouldn't be able to get back to it for another three days. Anyway, Butch and I would get together and he would have a list of questions that mom wanted to know, and anything I wanted to pass on.

Butch and I are standing looking aft off the Port Quarter, when we see a black dot on the horizon. Our Aft 39 Radar's were down so the ship was down to MK1 EYEBALL, and I think all the watches spotted it at the same time. Butch yelled, "OHSHIT!" and bolted up the ladder to his computer room. Over the 1MC "General Quarters" sounded and that patio got busy real quick. I watched that black dot get bigger and then take on some form, and then he was going by below me! Honest to God, that plane was below me, and that pilot had a shit eating grin on his face. It took about as long to happen is it did just to read it. A Mig is not the thing you want to see doing that. As he cleared the bow, he pulled up into a 60 degree climb and did a roll over on the way out. It was a beautiful thing to watch, but if times were a little bit different, that would have been the last thing I ever saw. "WOW," I thought, and headed for MainComm.

As the sea grew in strength, we found out what a "sea duche" is. Our berthing compartment was # 3-18-O-L. We were two decks below the Main Deck, 18 Frames aft of the bow sprit, (a frame is the ships ribs, one compartment may have several frames in it, or just a few) the O-L shows it's a living compartment. The Chain locker was right in front of us, so we use to get some pretty good rides being that close to the bow. Our flushing system in the heads (bathroom/showers) is all salt water. When we'd use the head at night, the urinals and toilets would have phosphorescent critters flowing through them. It was a hellava light show, but the problem was a little further down stream. The used water would exit the ship just above the water line and it had a check valve between the two. When the bow would go below a certain point the valve would close to keep the sea water out. The valve broke.

Yeah, it feels just like your thinking right now. Talk about a surprise! It got worse though; it didn't take long before the water line in our sleeping compartment was bunk deep. To any future sailors out there, never take the bottom bunk. Damage Control got the pumps running but they couldn't fix the problem.

After they got it pumped dry, it was obvious that the head needed to be scrubbed down and then re-painted. It was talked about at quarters the next morning (Quarters were held every morning around 0730). Our Division officer would take a roll-call, he'd go over the "plan of the day" and anything else he wanted. He told us that we were going to be cleaning and then painting it. One of the guys asked him if there was any particular color he'd like, and he said; "I don't give a shit what color you paint it, paint it Pink." Honest to God I heard him say it. We went over to the paint locker and got some white lead and some red lead and mixed up a batch. One of the guys made cutouts of heats and lips and a few other things and used them for stencils. We even painted the seat.