The Desk in Pat Garrett's Garage

USS Cumberland Sound AV-17 (Official Navy photograph) I finished boot camp in San Diego and was assigned to the USS Cumberland Sound E.A." Pat" Garrett AV-17, docked at a pier at Terminal Island, being outfitted for Operation Crossroad.  I was in the second division. There was much activity aboard the ship as we were getting wartime stores off the ship and making rooms below the seaplane deck to house the scientists. One day, we were off-loading torpedo warheads up out of a hold through a well that went through the mess deck. I was down in the hold  screwing hoisting rings into the noses of the warheads. There was a hoist on a small track that was used to lift the warheads up off the deck in order to move them over to the well. We were only able to lift the warheads an inch or two off the deck.  because there was very little room between the track ,the warhead and the deck.  If you pushed the warhead too hard, one side then the other would bang ...

A younger E.A."Pat" Garrett Bootcamp and Beyond I graduated from Boot Camp at San Diego Naval Training Center at the end of December 1945 and was told to report to the Naval Receiving Station Terminal Island, Long Beach. From there I was told to report aboard the USS Cumberland Sound, AV-17. She was a seaplane tender that was being converted to be a part of Operation Crossroads, the Atomic Bomb test at Bikini Islands in the Marshall Island chain. Upon reporting aboard, I was assigned to the second division, which was responsible for every thing aft of mid ship, deck wise. After a few days on board, the leading petty officer told two other petty officers to take me down and teach me how to “run” a boat. We went down the gangway and over to a re-arming boat. This is a boat that was designed to carry two torpedoes for loading onto aircraft. We, the three of us, took off up the harbor and I figured soon they would show me how to run the boat. In...