Orientation Cruise
Posted by Warren Enos on 12 Jun 2006 | Tagged as: Gleamed from Chapter Newsletters
USS COWELL (DD547) STEAMS INTO HISTORY
“Stand by for heavy roll!”
That was the warning from the ward room speaker as the Fletcher class U.S. Navy destroyer USS Cowell moved out under the Golden Gate Bridge bound for Monterey. It was a special orientation cruise for certain U.S. Army Reserve Officers, members of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, and the print media.
From the starboard wing adjacent to the bridge it was easy to see the bows rise high then drop into the swell, dumping tons of seawater all the way to the gun mount. The ship would roll precipitously, making it hard to control balance and move about the vessel.
A journalist from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, standing topside just forward of the stack was overheard to say, “Hey, buddy, I think I’m getting rather sick.” And his companion answered, “You do look a bit green.” Moving below, the situation didn’t get much better when the odors of the human body in close quarters came together with roast beef, mashed spuds and gravy, and the diesel fumes covering the ship. For some, the best answer was to return to the ward room and try to sleep.
One young sailor about 20 years old serving at his station far aft said, “This is really fun. I love it when it gets like this. I like my job and the Navy. The Cowell is a fine ship, and she can take the weather and seas.”
At one point, off Ocean Beach and well within the famed Potato Patch, an area of very rough water known to be dangerous, the ship passed a 35 foot commercial fishing boat, with the crew trying hard to fish the boat in 10-12 foot swells and brisk wind. Men and women passing aboard the Cowell gave the fishermen a hearty wave.
It was hard for the typical landlubber to understand how Navy personnel could fight a ship in such weather and sea conditions. But the ship had special equipment, gyros and such, to steady the guns and center on a distant target. And the crew apparently had iron stomachs.
It was one of the last trips for the Cowell, a ship built by Bethlehem Steel in San Pedro, CA, and launched 18 March 1943, being decommissioned in 1946, then recommissioned in 1951 for use by the Navy and Navy Reserve. much later the ship was transferred to Argentina and renamed the Almirante Storni.
The VIPs were put ashore by ships tender just outside Monterey harbor and transported to the airport for a UH1B Huey helicopter flight to the Peninsula and on to Crissy Field at the Presidio of San Francisco.
Ok, who was the actual writer of this piece? Why do you think you’re correct? (1) a Naval Academy graduate member of ROA; (2) a Coast Guard Ensign commanding a ship out of Monterey, CA and member of the Navy League; (3) an Army Reserve officer with lots of offshore salmon fishing experience and MOAA member; a retired U.S. Air Force officer with his last station Travis Air Force Base and member of Air Force Association; none of the above.
Just click on “comment”, write your answer in the field or square, and click “submit”.
2 Responses to “Orientation Cruise”
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Hi Warren. I would guess that the “author” was an Army Officer who was an fisherman and a member of MOAA. Clues: the article was “gleaned” from a Chapter newsletter; hence the MOAA. The author was familiar with the “Potato Patch” and fishing boat nomenclture. The use of some terms such as: the “diesel smell” maybe associated with fishing boats; while the odor discerned was probably from “stack gases” (non diesel)especially when they were on a downwind course; the term “tender” is probaby more applicable to the Army Corp of Engineers while the navy would more likely refer to the ship’s boats (whaleboat and/or gig); “far aft” is generally referred to as “the stern”.
My first destroyer billet was as “gun boss” on the Fletcher herself (DDE 445), the E means her armament had been converted for an ASW mission. That class (2100 tons)indeed were the true greyhounds of the fleet manned by dedicated, hardworking “tin can sailors”. “Iron stomachs” were optional.
Not unexpectedly I find Al Ashurst so nimbly signs in as the first commenter. I too feel that it has to have been authored by an Army Officer and quite possibly by Warren himself.The keys or clues? Well in the 1st paragraph it states the cruise had on board Army Reserve Officers. Then reading Warren’s bio on the Website provides the final nail. For the record my destroyer service was on a Cowell sister ship. It being the USS Twining (DD-540)and which can be viewed in the masthead of my blog ” Http://www.starsstripesshop.com/blog “