It seems everyone has a story to tell about their time on the ship; well here’s mine. I was on the USS LaSalle AGF-5 in the Persian Gulf and had received orders to Jesse and thought great now I am back stateside. We had been on alert due to the Iranians taking hostages from day 1 and Bahrain was our “Homeport “and we were out to sea forever, I packed my bags and headed to Indiana for a well-deserved break. Then off to Charleston and my new ship. When I arrived I found out that Jesse wasn’t there and no one knew where she was so I waited. After about 1 ½ weeks I am on my way to Jesse but where I didn’t know. Right before I left they said she was in the Persian Gulf and the I/O....... yea Great here we go again.

Well I’ll be damned back to the Gulf I went, the opposite way. It was a long Journey, Calf. 2 days, Alaska 8 hours, The PI for a week, Diego Garcia 6 hours, then 3 more ships 1 overnight just to reach Jesse. Then the time came and off we went from a Carrier in a Chinook dropping people off different places then I was the only one left. As we flew I seen Jesse and noted that this big bird wasn’t going to land on “THAT “flight deck and I was told nope we are just going to toss you out the side door and I thought yea right!!!. He gave me a vest and proceeded to explain what they we going to do. I was to step out on the steps then just step off and they would lower me down on a cable and to let the people on the deck ground me with a rod but sit on my rear on the deck to be safe. I was the laugh of then day when the deck crew kept trying to get me stand but hey I was told to sit so I did, everyone had a big laugh. I was welcomed like a new Captain because she hadn’t had a Postal Clerk in a couple of months. She had a great bunch of guys on her and I made some good friends, its something I will always treasure. I have allot of memories and stories form the short time I was on the JLB

Just a note 1 ½ years later when I got out of the Navy low and behold we had went back to the Persian Gulf again and I left Bahrain for the last time. 3 times I went to the gulf, I guess that was enough for me. I got out of the Navy in Philly and 1 year later I joined the Army but that’s another story.

Paul Barger PC3 80-82

 

These stories are from Phil Atwood, a Plank Owner and FTG.

Practical Jokes...

One neat little feature of the Gun Director's Dish antenna was that as well as focusing radar beams into the radar receiver, it could focus sound waves outward, traveling fairly long distances.

So, when pulling maintenance on the director while in port, we would sometimes find an unsuspecting person down on the pier.

We would aim the dish at them, stand in front of the feedhorn and talk into the dish, with the radar turned off, of course.

Our voice would appear to come from "out of the sky" and we could definitely see the confusion on their faces as they tried to figure out where this voice was coming from.

We never said anything mean, usually just saying we were down in the water, or this was "God" telling them we were watching them and they better straighten up.

So, if any of you had heard any "voices" from out of nowhere, I apologize.

It was, I hope, a harmless joke and didn't leave you feeling paranoid.

Dropping the Load...

Anyone on board during the First Med Cruise ( '74 ? ) remembers the time we Dropped the Load after leaving Naples with an "International Squadron made up of us, a Turkish Destroyer, a Canadian destroyer and an Italian destroyer, all headed for Marseille, France.

We had just left the port and lost all power aboard ship.

The backup Diesel just would not start.

The GM's even tried to use the high pressure in their Mount 51 Hydraulic Accumulator to start the diesel using some ingenious plumbing and piping valve setups, but to no avail.

We ended up being towed back to port by an Italian tug.

But, we were subject to the power outages even while in the yards in Boston before commissioning.

Evidently, the ship's electrical load was right at the edge of the source supplied by the shipyard.

There were times when starting up one of the electric hot air hand dryers in the forward head would trip the circuits. The EM's eventually disconnected those hot air dryers for the duration of our stay in the yards.

During commissioning ceremonies, I was stationed in the Gun Director to "spin it" when the 1089 was officially commissioned and called to active duty, in essence to show the ship "coming alive and ready for action".

Just before that occurred, I got a call over the 21MC to refrain from moving the director for fear that it might trip the power to the ship, an obviously bad omen for a new ship.

It was decided that the Air and Surface Search Radars could be rotated safely.

So, I watched the ceremonies from above and everything else, as they say, is history.

 

Grenades in Port Said...

We were one of the first US military ships to transit the Suez Canal after it was reopened.

We spent the night before anchored in Port Said, Egypt.

About every 10 - 20 minutes, we could hear a fairly loud explosion, that resonated thru the ship's hull.

The next morning it was explained that the Egyptian Police / Military would come out to the edge of the pier and throw a live hand grenade into the water, every 10 - 20 minutes or so.

This was supposedly to keep any enemy divers from swimming in the waters near the ships.

don't know if it's true, but that was what we were told.

 

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