Farragut Stories2

On the 3rd day of October, 1962, the USS Farragut and the destroyer USS Huntington passed through the narrow Dardanelles, the sea of Marmara and the Bosphorus past Istanbul and into the Black Sea. As we slowly passed Istanbul, there was a pilot boat that came along side and a Navy Lieutenant came aboard. When we reached the Black Sea, there lay two Soviet destroyers waiting for us. As the Farragut and Huntington went their separate ways, one Soviet destroyer followed us, and one fell in with the Huntington. All of this was happening at the same time Russian missile installations in Cuba were nearing operational status. The United States stood on the brink of war. The crew of the Farragut really knew little of what was transpiring between the U.S. and Russia/Cuba. As signalmen we had to learn the Russian alphabet, which has more characters than English. We communicated with our Russian escort by flashing light. Captain Herron sent a message to the skipper of the Russian destroyer offering to come along side and exchange Ship's Plaques. The Russians declined. Our Lieutenant that boarded in Istanbul spent hours on the flying bridge watching all Soviet shipping we encountered through the "big eyes" binoculars. Each time we tried to get near a cargo ship the Russian destroyer would rapidly move to place herself between us and the merchant ships. I remember going into Trabzon and Eregli, Turkey for brief visits. I have to say liberty there was not like the French Riviera by any stretch of the imagination. All the time we were in port, the Russian tin can steamed back and forth a couple of miles out, waiting to escort us once again.
At the time we didn't know or even think of the gravity of the situation in the U.S. and just how close we were to war with Cuba and possibly the Soviets. I think most of us did realize that being in the Black Sea, if hostilities broke out between the U.S. and U.S.S.R. that we were in a bad place and that our fate would be quickly sealed by all the Soviet firepower that we were so near to. Then there was the fact that there was only one way in and out of the Black Sea and it was tedious passing. We managed to finish our assignments there without major incident and departed the Black Sea with a better appreciation of Naples compared to the Turkish ports. Our 8 day sortie with the Huntington and the Soviet Navy ended on October 10 and all hands were happy we were back in the Med. I think most of us realized the true gravity of the entire Cuban crisis more or less after the fact. I was glad it happened that way, because if everyone had known just how perilous was our situation in the Black Sea, it would have been a much more strained forage than it was in reality. It is one of the most memorable times I had on the Farragut and particularly being in the signal gang and seeing all the action made it even more so. I often wondered whether the Soviet ship's crews thought us to be stupid for being there or incredibly brave. The truth of that lay somewhere in between and looking back we felt we were a part of the U.S. victory in what was probably the hottest days of the cold war.

I'M SURE EVERYONE THAT WAS IN THE DECK FORCE ON THE FARRAGUT FOR OUR FIRST NORTH ATLANTIC CRUISE CAN REMEMBER THE STORM WE RODE THROUGH TO GET THERE.

THE HEAVY ROLLS, WHERE YOU STOOD IN THE SKIMPY CHOW LINE, AND AT TIMES WOULD LEAVE FOOTPRINTS ON THE BULKHEAD. NOT MANY PEOPLE COULD EAT, AND THOSE THAT COULD AT TIMES FOUND THEMSELVES STANDING YOUR TRAY ON IT'S END, AND NOT SPILLING A DROP, SOME OF THE OLD SALTS WOULD PUT A SLICE OF BREAD UNDER ONE END OF THEIR TRAY TO KEEP IT FROM SLIDING OFF IF THEY HAD TO GO GET A CUP OF BUG JUICE, OR COFFEE. AND SLEEPING WAS NO PLEASURE EITHER, MANY OF THE GUYS WITH CENTER OR TOP BUNKS WOULD HAVE THE BUNK STRAPS HOOKED UP AND HALF THEIR SEA BAG OF UNIFORMS, STUFFED UNDER THEIR OUTER EDGE OF THEIR MATTRESS, TO KEEP THEM FROM BEING FLUNG OUT ON THEIR KEESTER DURING THE HEAVY ROLLS.

WELL, EVERYONE KNEW OLD "SULLY", BM2, WELL, ONE NIGHT ONE OF THE DECK APES HAD A SITZ PAN TO SOAK HIS PYLONIDAL CYST IN, AND THIS BUTT SIZED DISHPAN WAS KEEPING HALF THE PEOPLE AWAKE, EACH TIME THE SHIP TOOK A ROLL TO STARBOARD, THE SITZ PAN WOULD GO SZZZUUT, BANG AGAINST THE STARBOARD BULKHEAD, THEN ON THE ENSUING ROLL TO PORT,SZZZZUUUUTT, BANG AGAINST THE PORT BULKHEAD. WELL, AFTER ABOUT A HALF HOUR OF THIS RACKET, OLE SULLY JUMPS FROM HIS CENTER BUNK, AND LANDS WITH BOTH FEET IN THIS RUNAWAY SITZ PAN. I HAD JUST GOT UP TO HAVE A SMOKE, AND WHAT A SITE MY EYES BEHELD, THERE WAS OLD SULLY IN HIS SKIVVIES, WITH BOTH ARMS FLAILING, AS HE WHIZZED PAST THE FOOT OF MY BUNK AT ABOUT 65 KNOTS.
AT THE TIME, I DIDN'T REALIZE IT, BUT SULLY WAS AHEAD OF HIS TIME, HE HAD JUST INVINTED SITZ PAN SURFING, THIS WAS BEFORE EVEN SIDEWALK SURFING WAS HEARD OF. AS I HALF JUMPED TO MY FEET AND GRAPPELED FOR SOMETHING TO HOLD ONTO, I HEARD THE FAMILIAR WHINE OF THE SZZZZZUUUT, FOLLOWED BY AN ENOURMUS , KERTHUD, AS SULLY'S SHORT DEMONSTRATION OF HIS NEW SITZ PAN SURFING CAME TO AN ABRUPT END AS SULLY SLAMMED INTO THE PORT BULKHEAD.

QUARTERS FOR THE NEXT FOUR DAYS WEREN'T THE SAME WITHOUT SULLY GIVING US HIS FAMOUS, QUOTE OF, " LAST NIGHT YOU ALL DANCED AND TODAY YOU PAY THE FIDDLER, AND I'M THE GOD DAMNED FIDDLER, SO TURN TOO YOU LAZY CREW."

OLD SULLY WAS TOO OLD FOR THIS SITZ PAN SURFING RIDE TO KEEP HIM DOWN, AFTER 4 DAYS OF TOTAL BED REST, HE WAS RIGHT BACK ON US LIKE UGLY ON AN APE.

I DON'T KNOW HOW OLD SULLY WAS, BUT AT 17, HE SEEMED TO BE A THROW BACK FROM THE OLD DAYS OF WOODEN SHIPS, HE HAD MANY MORE HASH MARKS THAN HE HAD RATE STRIPES..

I'M SURE ANYBODY THAT WAS ON FARRAGUT THEN REMEMBERS OLE SULLY, HE MADE BEING A DECK APE A LITTLE BIT OF FUN, AND INSPIRED MANY TO CHANGE RATES, HAVING HIM AROUND WAS DEFINATELY PUT ALOT OF FUN INTO BEING A DECK APE FOR A SEASON.