USSDAVISDD937

JUNE 1, 2009
I've got a story for you that only maybe four or five people know of. You might want to use it, and it can be verified too.

I'm not sure after all this time if we were in Boston
shipyards or Norfolk Va. I do remember that we were moored so far down the end of this pier that it seemed like two miles before you came to the street that headed into the base.

Anyways myself, Bill Hart, and Dunster were sent after 25 cases of 16mm. movies. We were to depart for the Med. that afternoon. Now that's three guys to carry 8 plus cases of movies, Each had 3 reels of film @ 1000 ft./reel, Weighting about 20 lbs./case.

We checked out the movies at the base movie exchange. We slowly dragged these cases along, when behold we walk past a large flatbed USN truck with the keys in it. Between the three of us we reasoned that we were government property as was the truck so to borrow it wouldn't be any real problem. So we in the best Mchale's Navy style grabbed the truck. We ditched it next to the rail tracks for those really big cranes at the head of our pier. We made sure to wipe down everything so no prints were left behind. We about died getting those movies back onboard, but we made it.

We got the movies back to the IC room and 15 mins. later Mr. Gifford, our division officer stuck his head thru the hatch and asked us how we got the movies back to the ship? Well for sure we said we carried them and to ask the Quarter Deck watch verify it. Then 15 mins. more past and the ships legal officer pokes his head in and asks us the same thing. We answered the same as before.

The three of us were soon glad when the last line was cast off and we were underway. We, the three of us never talked about this after that. In the back of my mind I wondered if the SP.s would be on the pier in Newport on our return.

Like I said I doubt very many people know about this. Its one of those things that go on when your in the service that leaves you with mixed feelings, both humourus and regretful at the same time.

By the way, we got lost on the base and we backed into a nice driveway and as I looked in the rearview mirror the sign on the gate post said it was the base commanders quarters... I'm sure the statutes of limitations has run out.

Bill (Tommy) Thompson

TO: CARMINE
FROM:DAN

The DAVIS was in Gitmo in July and August 1959.for a shakedown-refresher training cruise after coming out of drydock and the "yards" in Boston from February thru May 1959, via Mayport/Jax, FL; 5 fabulously wonderful days in February '59 in Washington, DC; and one day at dropping off all our ammo at Earle, NJ munitions piers enroute to Boston. I won't mention that the DAVIS had no ammo (no ballast), little or no fuel oil aboard, and we went thru a small storm enroute to Boston that bounced the ship around like a cork bobber for fishin', and now.the cruise to Gitmo and Castro. That was SOME (bleepin-expletive deleted 3#*XX***<>/pokfjfjfjf##^^**&&) cruise, July 4th in Portsmouth, NH (Kittery, ME beer party), and then enroute to Gitmo, a couple of days spent in looking for a downed aircraft in the Atlantic, and then when we got to Gitmo. Whatta mess... including my getting drunk on Saturday afternoon and evening of July 11, 1959...in the EM club...and then quickly pulling out of Gitmo(emergency departure from Gitmo on that Sunday morning of July 12th after Port side Liberty call with 5 DAVIS crew members still unaccounted for - the 5 guys who took off for the Air Station for a steak dinner ,... We didn't even have 1,200 lb. steam up in both firerooms as I recall,.and we were backing down into the Bay pretty fast ...and then it was full/flank speed ASAP to get into the Windward Passage. The DAVIS actually was the FIRST warship to be on station to patrol the Windward Passage between Cuba and Haiti, just in case there might be the "probable invasion" of Haiti by Fidel Castro & Company, and that's just for openers, memories after 3 days of patrolling the Passage, P2V-Neptune patrol planes buzzing the ship, being relieved by the HARLAN R. DICKSON(?) and a whole bunch of other weird things going on aboard the DAVIS. Memories, of 49 years ago, and, I've also got some really nasty reminders of burn scars where I was burned in the Fwd. Fire Room during the GITMO-observer -G. Q. drills along with the 125-degree heat on the upper level of the Fwd. fireroom on watch ..and chewing MANY MANY salt pills (1 per hour) like they were candy when you were on watch.... and then I remember freezing to death in the "M" Div. compartment where the temperature was an air-conditioned 68-degrees...

My own DAVIS photo album has my picture taken of the heavy cruiser USS NEWPORT NEWS out in the Bay with a "hang fire" or "miss-fire" situation on the NEWPORT NEWS. The Mount 52 -12" gun turret was aiming directly at the bridge of the cruiser, along with some other multiple "screw-ups" on that cruise.

Carmine,...you might want to send out a request for info on the DAVIS cruise to GTMO in 1959 to all the DAVIS crew you communicate with on the Internet. I guarantee you'll have many different "sea stories"(ALL TRUE) of what happened on the "DAVIS CRUISE TO GTMO-59" and a lot of the TRUE stories are NOT very pretty!!!

Probably the first sea story you'll hear about is the fact that the DAVIS ran over a baby grey whale [blood everywhere in the water back aft near the depth charge rack on the strbrd side] enroute from Newport to Portsmouth, and all the "old timers" aboard said this cruise to GTMO was gonna be a real bad/unlucky cruise

Hey, some really great memories for the May Mini-Reunion in S. Yarmouth, huh???

Ya know, walking around the Gitmo base I actually talked with some of the "Cubans" in July 59,...the natives who worked on the GTMO base and came thru the back/front "gate" every morning to work on the base. Most of their comments were.summed up as "CUBA, SI,...CASTRO, NO!!!" In the beginning, Castro was NOT too popular with the "peasant Cubans," but that's what happens in a dictatorship, bad guys sometimes actually win....thru intimidation, among other things.

Dan

TO:CARMINE
FROM: Lefty Lavrakas

Hi old keeper of the ship's log, Your use of the word CUBA rekindled some memories of the Commodore John Bulkeley days. We were doing some training out of Guantanamo and one weekend headed for Haiti for a weekend liberty. The Commodore had been there a week earlier and had visited the palace to show Papa Doc Duvalier his movie of "They Were Expendable" (You may or may not remember MGM's Robert Montgomery played the Bulkeley role), at any rate ,I got orders to go to the palace and pick up the movie. When I got there, I was greeted with a number of guards whose guns were pointed in my direction. I beat a hasty retreat and turned the job over to a Col. Heinl head of missions. Such was life; I have a Bulkeley file that is an inch or so thick with his instructions to me. He was not too popular with his peers, but he was the most decorated naval officer in our days. Kennedy liked him too. Regards,

Lefty Lavrakas

FROM: Lefty Lavrakas

One of several highlights on Davis that comes to mind deals with our trip to Kiel, Germany to participate in Kieler-Woche,Kiel Week which involved participation by midshipmen we carried. They were to use Finn dinghies which we carried (amidships, topside), I had to go to MIT on the Charles River, to inspect and sign for them. A guy named O'Day owned them and he made promise that I would inspect them daily, etc. At any rate, the crossing was uneventful ,but when we crossed the English channel, we began looking for the entrance to the Elbe River, by Hamburg into, eventually, the Kiel Canal. I was a little tired from being on the bridge so long that I talked the commodore to tie up to a couple of pollards in the canal to catch a few winks. Finally, the time came, after we were underway, to clear the canal locks and enter the harbor. Low and behold, there were a number of foreign/allied ships on hand who rendered honors which we returned. Frankly, I was bushed enough to concentrate on tying her up to Von Tirpitz Mole(you never forget names like that). Twenty knots, a shot of 25, and then 15, 10, boy , all back full. Beautiful response from the engineers and there we were. (Would you believe that, in the afternoon press conference, some reporters wanted to know a little more about the guy who brought the ship into port. I should also add that the Mids who sailed the following days, never did go more than a few hundred yards before their dinghies capsized. Final evaluation: I Most of were aware that we were involved in an event that Hitler had tossed out in 1935 and thus, from a historical standpoint, we were involved in a kind of historical undertaking.

FROM: CARMINE MARCIANO BT3 PLANK OWNER TO 1958.
IN THE SEPT. 1, 2007 POSTING ABOUT THE DAVIS BEING THROWN OUT OF DC, WHO SENT IN THE POSTING? I WAS THERE. I WAS BROUGHT BACK BY THE SHORE PATROL TWICE. THE FIRST TIME THEY BROUGHT ME TO THE GANGWAY, BUT BEFORE THEY COULD ESCORT ME ABOARD, THEY HAD TO RUSH AWAY TO ANOTHER EMERGENCY CALL. THEN I WENT BACK TO TOWN. I DON'T REMEMBER ANYONE GOING INTO THE WATER, BUT IN THE CONDITION I WAS IN, I DON'T REMEMBER MUCH ANYWAY. I'M GLAD I WAS A SNIPE AND COULD HIDE FROM CAPT. BALL. I NOW RUN THE SHIP'S STORE. CLICK ON TO IT AND SEE SOME OF THE ITEMS WE STOCK. THIS IS A SERVICE WE HAVE FOR THE BENEFIT OF DAVIS SAILORS. WHAT WE DO IS TO ADD $5.00 TO WHAT IT COSTS US FOR AN ITEM. A BALL CAP COSTS US $10.00. WE CHARGE $15.00 PLUS S&H. THE $5.00 GOES INTO OUR GENERAL FUND. THIS HELPS TO PAY FOR SOME OF OUR COSTS TO RUN THE ASSOCIATION. THE S&H IS A FLAT FEE. WE USE USED CARTONS OR NEW ONES TO SHIP OUR ITEMS. SOME AREAS ARE CHEAPER TO MAIL TO, SO THE EXTRA MONEY WE GET OVER THE S&H FLAT RATE GOES INTO THE ASSOCIATION. TRYING TO FIGURE OUT THE S&H FOR EVERY AREA WOULD DRIVE EVERYONE NUTS. WE DON'T GET MUCH ON EXTRA S&H FOR OUR FUND. NO ONE IN THE ASSOCIATION MAKES ANY MONEY FROM THE SHIP'S STORE. IT'S STRICTLY VOLUNTEER. I HAVEN'T RECEIVED ANY NEW ORDERS SINCE THE SHIP'S STORE WAS POSTED ON THIS SITE. THE BIGGEST ITEMS ARE THE BALL CAPS. WE ONLY ASK THAT YOU EMAIL US WHEN YOU RECEIVE YOUR ORDER. MY ADDRESS IS ON THE ORDER FORM OR carminerecords@aol.com

What about the time the USS Davis got kicked out of Washington D.C. and got the whole crew going on to the pier to protect the crew member. Shore patrol was after a crew member that ran aboard the ship for protectin but the quarter deck turned him over to the shore patrol. That's when everyone went on to the pier and started to rock the shore patrol car and the crew member ran to end of the pier and jumped into the water. After that everything calmed down and the shore patrol took the crew member away. The next morning the Captain got word to leave port and not return.

FROM: CARMINE MARCIANO:
WHOEVER SERVED WITH WILLIE MOUNT, WILL NEVER FORGET HIM. REMEMBER HIS STARCHED SOCKS? I DON'T REMEMBER THE INCIDENT YOU TOLD ABOUT, BUT I CAN SURE UNDERSTAND WHY HE WAS THROWN OVER. I WAS ABOARD THE DAVIS AS A PLANKOWNER FROM 1957-1958, AS WAS WILLIE. WHEN I LEFT THE DAVIS IN 1958, I WAS A BT-3. WILLIE WAS MY TOP STEAMING WATCH IN THE AFTER FIREROOM. BEFORE I COULD LEAVE THE SHIP FOR SEPERATION, I HAD AN EXECUTIVE OFFICERS MAST BECAUSE HE PUT ON REPORT, EVERYONE ON HIS WATCH. THE EXEC THREW OUT ALL THE CHARGES AGAINST EVERYONE. I TOLD THE EXEC "THIS IS THE REASON I'M NOT SHIPPING OVER. GUYS LIKE THIS HAVING A RATE MAKE THE NAVY A JOKE." I'M SURE A LOT OF OTHER GUYS IN ALL BRANCHES OF THE SERVICE DIDN'T SHIP OVER BECAUSE OF GUYS LIKE HIM. WILLIE WAS OIL KING, WATERKING, AND SCREWED UP EVERYTHING HE DID. THERE WAS A SECOND CLASS BT WHO CAME ABOARD ONE NIGHT 3 SHEETS TO THE WIND. WILLIE WAS MASTER AT ARMS AND GAVE THE GUY A RATION OF --. THE BT-2 PROMPTLY COLDCOCKED WILLIE. UNFORTUNATELY, THE BT-2 TOOK A BUST. I CAN'T REMEMBER HIS NAME. MYSELF AND THE OTHER PLANK OWNERS, CAN SPEND HOURS TELLING MOUNT STORIES. CARMINE MARCIANO

I think it was aboard the Davis that an MM going to the after fireroom to get a sample on the DA tank. The sea was a little choppy and he opened the hatch to come down the fireroom ladder and he did not make sure the hatch was secure and he started down the ladder with his fingers on the knife edge. The ship tilted and the hatch slammed shut cutting off his fingers and down the ladder he came. I was on watch on the upper level checking water in the boiler. We had a habbit of sitting on a bucket with shirt over the vent so we could put the shirt over our heads to keep cool. That was what I was doing when I heard something hit the deck plates near the DA tank. When I looked he was laying there with blood going all over. I know no one could not get any sleep in the B&M compartment because of him and the pain he was going through. After a couple of days they send a Helo out and took him off. I am pretty sure this happened on the DAVIS and I hope someone else can remember so I know I am not losing it.

Does anyone remember the time in the Med when someone threw BT-1 Mount over the side and at the time we were just making head way so BT-1 could grab the screw guard and came back on board. They threw him overboard from the Starboard break he had just come off 20-24 watch in the forward fire room and was on a smoke break. They had to look for the fantail watch who called the bridge and stated that something had just come on board and that was all they heard. They found him up in the forward paint locker. They also found BT-1 in his bunk with all his wet clothes on the deck. They followed the wet foot prints from the fan tail to his bunk.

TIM'S SEA STORY:
In January of 1966 Davis left for her World Curies/Vietnam and I had the job of “OIL KING”, this is a very coveted job indeed. Oil king does his work, testing Boiler water, adding chemicals to the boilers, insuring the oil tanks supplying fuel and water to the Boilers never go empty. When the days work is done the Oil King has the rest of the day to do what ever, if at sea he can sleep, if in port, go on Liberty. Well I had gone to Water testing school and passed and I was on my way to the “LIFE OF EASE” on this nine month Cruise.

After a week at sea and every thing going good for me, I found myself under investigation by the Chief BT. Seems that the Boiler report I turned in to the Captain every day showed no chemicals being added nor Boiler Blows being performed, for the Boiler, this was not good and the Captain wanted to know what was going on. The Chief asked every one that I came in contact with during my days work just what it was I was doing. He was told I was doing this and that, this way and that way and he determined that I was doing the actions as I should but without the desired results. Part of the water test is to compare a colored water sample to a Standard and add the chemicals as needed, or give the Boiler a “Blowdown” to get rid of the bad stuff. Well, when we got to the next port Chief sent me to see a Doctor. Doc. Gave me a Color Blind test and that was the end of my water testing days and my “FUN TRIP”.

Piczo