Registered: Jul 2001
Location: Norfolk, VA
Posts: 4691

Just a few photos which you may find interesting.

First...sunrise in the central med:

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Registered: Jul 2001
Location: Norfolk, VA
Posts: 4691

Heavy rolls outside the straits of gibraltar.
I may have posted this one before.
The lookouts are my buddies Bravo and Aziz.

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Registered: Jul 2001
Location: Norfolk, VA
Posts: 4691

Whoops. Sorry bout the size there.

This is a shaky distance shot of a helo landing on a destroyer about 5 miles away.

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Registered: Jul 2001
Location: Norfolk, VA
Posts: 4691

Pulling into Rota at sunrise.

I remembered to resize this one.

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Registered: Jul 2001
Location: Holy shit
Posts: 1083

Nice pics, post more if you have them.

I have a friend who used to be in the UScoastguard. He told me of how they'd fish for sharks in the carribean with rotten sides of cows on huge hooks.

Do you get up to any fun like this? You know, tow people on inflatable bananas behind the ship, or "en masse" all run from starboard to port making the ship rock.

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Registered: Jul 2001
Location: Norfolk, VA
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Big boat, small boat.
I think that's the Cape St. George in the background.
That's our launch in the foreground.
This was taken on a foggy afternoon when you could barely tell sky from sea. It shows up in the photo but as I was taking the photo you COULD NOT see the horizon. We were all just floating in calm grey limbo.

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Registered: Jul 2001
Location: Norfolk, VA
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One of my all-time favorites.
We were heading into the sun to rendezvous with an oiler to take on fuel, which operation will occur rain or shine. In this case not five minutes before we were getting the shit knocked out of us by a gigantic storm. Then it just...stopped. We did the entire operation in under an hour and got below just as it started howling again.
I can only assume someone in the ship was praying.

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Registered: Jan 2002
Location: Shreveport, LA
Posts: 3833

quote:

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Originally posted by squee
I can only assume someone in the ship was praying.

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Registered: Jul 2001
Location: Norfolk, VA
Posts: 4691

Another all-time favorite.
The Chief Engineer actually took this on one of his rare ventures outside the Central Control Station. It's taken from the same place those lookouts (above) were standing.

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Registered: Jul 2001
Location: Norfolk, VA
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Burial at sea, Eastern Mediterranean.

edit: I'm actually in this shot: the last guy on the left of the three saluting in the background-right. Not that you can tell.

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Registered: Jul 2001
Location: Norfolk, VA
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quote:

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Originally posted by cornelius
Nice pics, post more if you have them.

I have a friend who used to be in the UScoastguard. He told me of how they'd fish for sharks in the carribean with rotten sides of cows on huge hooks.

Do you get up to any fun like this? You know, tow people on inflatable bananas behind the ship, or "en masse" all run from starboard to port making the ship rock.

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We actually practiced that--it's a technique for breaking suction when the ship runs soft aground. It's a lot harder to pull off in a destroyer, which masses quite a bit more than your average cutter, so we didn't bother...ditto with tubing and other fun stuff.

We were supposed to have swim call last time we were in the Carribean but the powers-that-be continually called it off

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Registered: Jul 2000
Location: NH
Posts: 6086

I didnt know they actually still did burials at sea. Is it just a ceremony or do they really commit the body to the deep?

Cool pics.

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Registered: Sep 2001
Location: ........
Posts: 15003

squee, I've asked you this before, but you used to have a magnificant photo of a destroyer or something, taken from a stairwell from another destroyer or something.

All misty like, think it was a morning shot.

Still have it?


*wonders if squee still has me on ignore for calling the pope a cunt*

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Registered: Jul 2001
Location: Norfolk, VA
Posts: 4691

skalie:
I don't remember you ever calling the pope a cunt, but I can believe me putting you on ignore for it

If this photo was something I posted back on SPF or THT then you may be thinking of...I got a photo of the USS Alabama in the fog from the weatherdecks ladder of a submarine moored nearby. This would have been like...oh...Spring of 2001 or so, right? I can dig that out, I think.

edit
DI:
We commited the cremated remains to the sea. We would have "done" bodies but we didn't have the storage space in the freezer. Larger ships will still do that, and smaller ships like ours if the person is some noteworthy personage.

Last edited by squee on 09-15-2003 at 12:16 AM

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Registered: Jul 2000
Location: NH
Posts: 6086

Is it a choice, squee? The burial, I mean. Burial at sea seems like an archiac concept. A great one, mind you. I would rather be dumped in the ocean than stuck in the ground. Do the familys bitch or is it just standard practice? I could ask my brother but he is a sub-mariner and probably wouldnt have a clue.

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Registered: Jul 2000
Location: NH
Posts: 6086

I could just look it up, I dont mean to screw up your thread.

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Registered: May 2002
Location:
Posts: 8820

These are great pics.

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Registered: Jun 2001
Location: Octopus's Garden
Posts: 1005

I need to find some of mine to add to this collection

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Registered: Jul 2001
Location: Norfolk, VA
Posts: 4691

I had forgotten, Astro, you are/were a swabbie as well, right?

DI: No worries. As far as I know anybody affiliated with the military in any way (all active-duty, reserves, and veterans, spouses, dependants, DOD civilians, cats, goldfish, etc.) can be buried at sea from a Navy or Coast Guard ship with full military honors.
You may not get buried right away--we were holding onto these remains since last July or so and they were finally buried in April. That's why we don't take bodies. However they will sometimes get underway specifically for a burial and then they do the more familiar setup, where they slide the coffin under the flag and into the sea and so forth.

mmmsivart: After reviewing these...I am beginning to think that by taking shore duty I am making a huge mistake

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Registered: Oct 2001
Location:
Posts: 18142

One of Dad's options as a former Navy man is burial at sea. I remember him tellin me that about a year ago. I don't think we have a plot, so it's an option I entertained on his behalf. I think he's leavin that stuff to someone else. I'd likely float him out on the river'n figger he'd get there eventually. Sorta like "Paddle To The Sea" or somethin.

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Registered: Jul 2001
Location: Norfolk, VA
Posts: 4691

I didn't know oxsan was a Sailor.

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Registered: Oct 2001
Location:
Posts: 18142

well, I think he was stationed in Chicago, and WWII ended a few months after he got in, but yeah. I think he credits it with bein a life-changin experience for which he was forever thankful as well, for what that's worth.

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Registered: Oct 2001
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Oh, and I love your pictures. I envy you the experience, but I'm glad it was you and not me. Does that make any sense?

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Registered: Sep 2001
Location: ........
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quote:

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Originally posted by squee
If this photo was something I posted back on SPF or THT then you may be thinking of...I got a photo of the USS Alabama in the fog from the weatherdecks ladder of a submarine moored nearby. This would have been like...oh...Spring of 2001 or so, right? I can dig that out, I think.

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