There is also a "breaking away" song, when an underway replenishment ends and the fuel lines "break away" and the two ships are no longer connected. On USS Boxer we had a song from Rocky
This is heresy, but I prefer Julie London's: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeLVCeErypY
As for a service anthem, meh.
Oh jeepers. I was seasick once all my years in the Navy.
It was my summer active duty rotation when I was at UL and had been transferred to the USNR, probably about 1980. I was on a WWII destroyer, and for our underway replenishment I was assigned to the firefighting team. I was high in the superstructure, and we had to stay inside so that, if there were an explosion, we would be protected and be able to go out to fight the fire.
You know how unreps go, the two ships have to keep moving in parallel, and a trough is created between them. But when one is a tiny destroyer, and the other is humongous oiler, it creates and deep trough which means the little one bobs side to side rather dramatically. If you're up in the superstructure, the movement gets wild.
As I noted, this was a WWII ship... hence, no AC. We were in the tropical Pacific, it was hot inside the ship, and where I was it was swinging back and forth 30 or 40 feet.
I had to lie down on the deck. I didn't lose my cookies, but I came close...
Trivia:
1) Name the TV show London appeared on years ago.
2) Name her connection to one of the male leads.
3) What was the original name of 'Fly me to the Moon'?
4) Who was the legendary music producer who changed the name, and changed the style to make it the classic it is today?
You weren't on board long enough to learn the ship's nickname: The FAT Sam.
Sure, she was big and bulky, but that's not the reason for the nickname. The Gompers was the only repair ship (a 'tender' for you land lubbers) sent into the war zone during the Vietnam war. Which was ridiculous: We were over 600 feet long (more than two football fields), and for weapons we had one— count 'em, one— 50 mm cannon.
In an emergency, we could mount a second one.
Now, the Gompers was also a supply ship, and it was rumored we had nukes on board (I never found out either way). But the joke was that we had no way to launch them.
We would just have to heave them overboard and hit the accelerator. Hah. Hah.
Anyway, that's how the ship got its nickname: Fast Attack Tender.
Any of you Navy guys ever read “ Holding Fast: The Untold Story of the Mount Hood Tragedy?”
My dad was stationed on the island when it happened. The things they had to do afterwards are unbelievable. He never spoke of it, read it in his unit’s notes from their reunions decades later.
1. She was the kinda hot nurse on “Emergency”
2. Hold on, can’t remember, going look…married to the doctor in real life.
3. Knew this, “In Other Words”. Wife n I will if this plays wherever will get up and dance. Just kinda became a thing for us.
4. I know, but I won’t take all the fun.
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