We Sail with the Tide
As an Ensign Supply Officer aboard the "G" while in Bremerton undergoing repairs, my storekeepers had the requisitions prepared for all of the supplies, spare parts, & food needed to sustain us for prolonged periods at sea (every thing except fuel oil and ammunition which was the responsibilty of the Engineering Officer and Gunnery Officer, repectively). I had held off re-provisioning 'til it was known when we would depart. As there was usually a two to three day advance notice, I felt quite comfortable waiting. To this day, I will
never forget when the Captain called me into his cabin at 1600 hours and stated "I just received orders. We sail with the tide at 0700 tommorrow. I trust that all supplies have been taken care of." "Yes, sir" I replied, and left.
I went immediately to the quarterdeck and requested the OD to muster a 5 man working party. I then called the motor pool for 3 large trucks with side boards to take us to the Supply Depot Seattle. So off we went. On the way we sorted the requisitions by class and type of material and divided them into 3 groups. Each truck had 5 men, a driver and a stack of requisitions.
At 0230 we left the Depot with th trucks literally bulging with supplies tied down to the side boards and headed for the ferry to Bremerton.
Arriving at the ferry slip, I found that the trucks had been overloaded too high for clearance. My God, what will I do now? I couldn't take off the necessary amount to clear and just leave it all on the pier. Just then I heard a lot of noise that sounded like a herd of elephants bellowing. I went to the next pier and lo and behold there WERE elephants. The circus had arrived in town with brilliantly colored wagons and all. (When a Supply Officer goes ashore
for provisions in war time, he always wears a 45 cal. side arm). I quickly found out who was in charge of the wagons and with my hand leaning on my side arm, I explained the situation and that I was appropriating the wagons for a few hours. After a brief, but forceful, discussion an agreement was reached and the working party off loaded the bales of hay and other circus material; pulled the wagons to the rear of the trucks; attached the wagon shaft to the trailer hitch and loaded the "over height" supplies into the circus wagons.
We made the next ferry and reached Bremerton at 0545 hours. When we came down the pier where the "G" was tied up; what a sight we must have been-- Navy gray trucks pulling red, yellow, and orange circus wagons with our supplies. The OD ordered an "all hands" working party to bring the supplies aboard. The Captain was on the wing of the bridge with a querilous look on his face; but relieved that we made it in time to sail with the tide.
Never again did I wait to hear when we were to sail before re-provisioning.
--Dave Craigmile Ens. 3/45-7/46
>
Back to Grayson Memories
Information was provided by Dave Craigmile, ENS USS Grayson. Copyright 2000, USS Grayson Association and Richard Angelini.
All rights reserved in whole or in part.This is a service provided by the USS Mayo Group. Please ask to use any information contained within these pages. Thank you.
