So why would today be any different?
USS Sierra AD-18
Destroyer Tender
Motto: The Ship with the Helping Hands
Commissioned: 03/20/1944
Decommissioned: 10/15/1993
She was not the most beautiful, nor streamlined ship you ever saw, But she was Ours!
When I first met this Lady of the Sea, she was anchored in Charleston, SC.
Man, did she Look Big to me (I would later learn She was small, but she will always be Big to me).
She was supposed to be what is referred to as "Welded to the Pier" - meaning She rarely if ever left port.
I spent 3 1/2 years on board Her and almost 3 years was at Sea. "Welded to the Pier", My ASS!
I learned and saw many things on board that Old Lady of the Sea.
3 Med. Cruises, 4 trips to Boston (for special repairs on the USS Constitution (and Yes, the Constitution is still a part of the Fleet)), 4 Gitmo runs, 2 Hurricanes (Hugo, and Andrew), and many, many short runs for exercises and training.
I got my first tattoo while on board when we visited Palma Mallorca (sp) Spain. My first bar brawl in Naples Italy. Made Friends with many locals of all the ports we visited. Tried my first squid (no pun intended) pizza in Greece. Real Gyros there also with fresh Lambs meat (actually was present for the preparation if you know what I mean - so I know it was Lambs meat).
Standing crazy watches in the engine room so that at times you could literally go days without ever seeing the Sun. Sometimes, when out at Sea and standing those watches, I would go out at the end of a watch in the pitch dark (so dark you couldn't see your hand in front of your face when under cover) and lay on our small flight deck and just stare up at the stars and sometimes, just sometimes if I got lucky I could watch meteor showers (twice) or watch a satellite(s) traverse from horizon to horizon and catch them coming around a 2nd and 3rd time (several times got that).
I actually got to see dolphins escort us in and out of port, flying fish as we broke the waves, Whales as they would move with us at a distance, and the one that stays the Freshest in my mind even to this day almost 20 years later was a Whale Shark that was at least 60' long and it was right beside us within 30 yards of the ship. That Whale Shark stayed at our side for over an hour. Reminded me of a calf whale with its Cow Momma Whale. Darnedest thing, yet Awe inspiring!
Just a little about the Old Lady of the Sea that I (at times HATED with a Passion, more on those days later) will always remember and Love.
They say the first one will steal your heart, and She Did!
