Alright fellow shipmates have a question, what was your worse pucker factor while in? Mine occurred in 1974, we were moored port side to the pier (USS Brumby DE-1044) in Charleston, SC. USS Cone DD-866 was moored outboard. I was the duty HT and also a fresh new on-scene leader, most of the crew was gone on liberty or at home, it was the weekend. Suddenly the GQ alarm goes off,1MC starts barking duty damage control party muster in hangar bay, fire, fire, this not a drill...on scene leader lay to the quarterdeck on the double!!!!! I was quickly informed by the QDWO what was going on..there was a fire in the galley on the Cone, we laid lines across hooked up to the risers, sent men over to assist and had fire under control and out before base fire department arrived!! All of my crew received a letter and kudos from the Captains of both the Cone and Brumby for our quick actions. Only one person was injured, a crewman from the Cone had smashed his finger when closing off all hatches to mess decks and galley area...very quick thinking on their part! We backed up their DC party and worked hand in hand and me...I needed a beer the next day real quick...talk about a trial by fire, was not expecting that at all!! I later went on and did 15 years as a Firefighter/EMT after I was discharged..
Posted on: Wed, 30 Jul 2014 15:08:00 +0000