My first watch after leaving the Med was the midwatch. We were proceeding up the coast of Portugal. In spite of the traffic we had experienced in the Med I was somewhat surprised by the sheer number of contacts we had on the radar at any one time. Portugal is very much dependant on the sea and very large numbers of fishing boats littered the seas. Fortunately, we were able to keep a close watch on them and it quickly became obvious when one or two of them were moving in different directions from the others. We would only concern ourselves with plotting those that were approaching our track. It did make for a much less boring watch. Even plotting large groups of boats kept both the bridge and the Combat Information Center (CIC) busy. We had a great advantage in both speed and maneuverability over the vast majority of the contacts. Other than staying keeping us alert there were no problems though the watch. I did, however, gain a new appreciation for just how busy a midnight to four AM watch could get.

What I didn’t know then was how much worse it could be. I was rather glad I was a junior officer during one of my next watches. The English Channel at night.

The channel is well laid out with lanes for traffic headed north or south. This, however, does little to resolve the cross channel traffic. The rules of the road are quite clear about who has the right of way in any given situation. You always wonder if the other guy understands the rules the way you do. During our time in the channel the captain almost never left the bridge. As Junior Officer Of the Deck (JOOD) I was doing a lot of plotting on the radar scope while being checked by the people in CIC and usually had the Con or Control of the ship. Each time there was another vessel approaching I was to discuss my plan for maneuvering or not maneuvering the ship as the situation applied with the Officer of the Deck (OOD). Once the plan had been agreed to the OOD would explain the plan to the captain. The discussion between the OOD and JOOD is routine and even the checking with the captain was normal for close passage with any vessel at all times. What made this watch so different was the frequency of these discussions and the number of times that a third or even fourth vessel was involved to complicate the situation.

The variety of traffic was most interesting. Almost every type of vessel can be found in the English Channel from commercial fishing trawlers to Air Cushion cross channel ferries. It was anything but a routine, boring watch.

Fortunately, I was off watch when we had to make the cross channel dash to the Firth of Forth. Our liberty port was the City of Edinburgh. Edinburgh is a large and attractive city with both the river and even a medieval castle on a large hill. It is a big city, but the people are very friendly and there are many parks and green areas.

The officers were invited to visit a British ship that was moored nearby. On that visit I received complete honors with the appropriate number of side boys and proper piping by the boatswain. A bit of protocol that is usually reserved for much higher ranking guests, but very nice. After a round of drinks in the Wardroom, just because we could on a British ship and not on American ships, the officers on the ship challenged us to a round of Beer and Skittles. Once it was explained to us that this was a bowling challenge, we readily accepted. It ended up as a long, but enjoyable night.

I had duty the next day and paid for the night’s fun through most of the day.

The following day was spent roaming around the city and enjoying the weather and wonderful aspects of the area. That evening was spent learning about Scottish nightlife. Lesson one, you don’t order a Scotch, a whiskey is automatically scotch. I awoke in an apartment somewhere on the outskirts of town realizing that we were to set sail that morning. A dash to the street soon had me headed back to the dock and I arrived just before they lifted the brow (gangplank) and got underway. This might have gotten a few cheers from the crew, but didn’t exactly endear me to the XO.

After a quick dash across the channel we were placed in a waiting line for entry into the Kiel Canal. While waiting our turn to enter the canal we received a pilot on board. The Kiel Canal is one of the very few places in the world where the Canal Pilot actually takes on the full responsibility for the ship’s safety over from the Captain. Although technically absolved of all responsibility for the safe maneuvering of the ship though the canal there was no way he was going to leave the bridge during the entire transit of the canal.

The canal cuts across northern Germany and saves a lot of time by saving the trip around Denmark. It is a remarkable piece of engineering which actually carries the ships at a level well above the land for a remarkable distance. It is a very unusual feeling to be looking down to what would normally be water level and having to look even further down to see the land. The entire crew had a chance to wave at farmers and people in their cars well below water level. At the end of the canal we were to be treated to some of the most unusual liberty most of us had ever experienced.

Kiel week is a festival which is celebrated thorough the city and the region surrounding it. Ships from seven different Navies were there as well as the largest gathering of the "Tall Ships" as of that time. There was so much to do that both officers and crew were actually scheduled to attend event. The schedule was so intense that we were allowed to attend events even on duty days as long as we were sober enough to stand any scheduled watches. That last condition was probably violated as much as adhered to. In addition to the scheduled events and personal time, the ship had open house tours everyday. Unfortunately, this doubled the time we were ‘on watch’, but as the week progressed more and more of us were looking forward to duty days and using them as excuses not to leave the ship.

I can remember visiting the home of a nice couple with a French Officer. We were treated to a sampling of his home brewed beer as well as profuse apologies for everything that might have happened in World War II. The war had ended before any of us in the house had been born. I remember a ferry trip around the harbor where we passed a supertanker whose bow dome was larger than the boat I was on. There were receptions, dances, festivals, dinners, luncheons and more. I knew I had had enough to drink one evening when I looked down at my dinner plate and noticed an eel staring back at me.

It was an incredible week. Our departure was every bit as interesting as the week was. We proceeded out of the port in a parade of ships all lead by the Tall Ships. As we left we were reminded of the importance of this port and it’s famous submarine pens. Here it was more than 30 years after the war had ended and we still had to stick to swept channels through the minefields and keep an eye out for any mines that might have broken free.

Before we were allowed to head to home we were tasked with tracking a Soviet sub out of the North Sea. We were given good information and soon had our target. We continued to track this sub until released from duty. It turned out that we had been assigned to track one of the first November class subs onto its first patrol. For out efforts we were awarded the Presidential Unit Citation. I now had a ribbon to add to my single "alive in ’65 ribbon".

We returned to Newport and I experienced the emotions of arriving home after a six-month deployment. This is an event long looked forward to, and even though it happens frequently, never one that becomes routine. Traditionally the single sailors and officers take the first duty day to free the new fathers who have never seen their children and most married people can find someone to take their assigned duties.

Sleep the night before is hard to come by it is hard to explain what it is like to come home to a young family that you have not seen in six months, and in those days you would have been lucky to have even talked by phone. (I can remember going to the main telephone exchange in Naples, paying my $20 and being given a time that my call would be made. Then you sat and waited while the international operator got a line on the cable and made your connection and you were called to a booth where you could get to talk for a few minutes.) Most of us have just managed to keep in touch by mail. The mail is rather good when you consider the complications of getting mail to and from a ship that is constantly changing schedule. Essentially a two-week response time is about all that can be expected. Of course, the minute the ship clears the channel on the way out for a long deployment the home refrigerator stops cooling and the washing machine is sure to spring a leak.

By the time we enter the harbor everyone is in dress uniform and straining for the first sight of their loved ones. A few families would wait on the roads overlooking the entrance to the harbor for that first sighting of the ship. Unfortunately, at those distances identifying a car is not that easy.

Generally the ship has been assigned a berth immediately pier side and every one on the ship and on the pier are doing their best to get the ship secured as rapidly as possible. It just seems like forever between the time you first spot your family and liberty call is sounded. Generally those men with children born while we were away are given the first chance to leave the ship followed, in short order, by the remaining family men. The officers’ wives are generally escorted to the Wardroom to have their reunions. As soon as possible the engineers are permitted to shutdown the boilers and go to a "cold plant" status where minimal ship’s functions are provided by the ship’s own equipment. The base to minimize demands on the crew supplies electricity, phones and water. We are generally given a week or so at a stand down level where we are given a little freedom from the get the ship underway in four hours rules.

Life soon returns to normal. The kids get used to the strange man in the house, and so does the wife. The routine of the 8 to 10 hr day with every third day staying on board is almost relaxing before the next assignment for the ship comes up.