Coxswain Garrett from the USS Cumberland Sound
My Father was all of 17 years old when, this took place. A memory that stuck with him through out the years.. Late Fall 1946, Long Beach After returning from Bikini Island Atom Bomb Test I was shaken awake about midnight and told to report to the Officer of the Deck. On arriving , the OOD says we have had the mooring line separate and two of our boats are loose. I want you to take your crew and go find them and bring them back. The sea was running fast, the rain was coming down in sheets and our boat was way out at the end of the mooring line. The Jacobs ladder we used to get to the boats was flapping in the wind and nowhere near the boat. The fireman volunteered to skinny down the mooring line and fire up the engine and drive the boat under the ladder so we could board. When we cast off from the mooring line we were fast away from the ship. Carefully turning to run with the wind, we set off to find the loose boats. The bow hook was holding a battle lantern over the bow, trying ...