50 Years Ago Today, Mullinnix Heads to Ammunition Anchorage Fogtrot!
(Excerpt from “The Last Gun Ship - History of USS Mullinnix DD-944” - A Historical Novel By Frank A. Wood)
Midday on 9 January, Mullinnix headed to ammunition anchorage Foxtrot near Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth. She anchored in 6 fathoms of water, sand bottom, with 30 fathoms of chain to the starboard anchor. Once the off loading of 288 H/E Hedge Hogs and pyrotechnics was complete, she moored portside pier Four (4), berth 26, Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth, Virginia. Cold iron watch was set in all engineering spaces as Mullinnix was receiving all services from the pier. SOPA was COMCARDIV 6 (RADM G.W. Anderson) in USS Saratoga CVA-60 transferring later in the month to USS Essex CVS-9.
The rest of January saw Mullinnix and her crew engulfed in minor repairs, on loading equipment and stores, as well as crew training. Other than a quick pier change to Berth 1A, Pier 1 in Portsmouth on the 16th with the aid of US Navy tugs YTB 499 and YTB 502, Mullinnix kept busy in preparation for a lengthy assignment with the nation’s allies in South America.
Unfortunately for shipmate W.L. “Willy” Campbell, he would not be riding south on the Mux. Campbell was a mean bastard. Campbell hadn’t lost his ‘Na Yacker’ accent. Like when he’d say, “Fuggedaboutit!” (forget about it). He’d tell a story of when he was a kid growing up in New York City. “We all lived on Mean Street,” he boasted. “The farther down the street you’d go the meaner it got. And I lived in the last fuckin’ house!” He had a slight limp like a sailor who’d been in a bar brawl. Which he had - most of the time. Campbell’s training consisted of a temporary transfer to US Naval Retraining Command, Norfolk, Virginia, under guard, for 20 days of hard ‘training’.
On the midwatch of 17 January at 0300 Andy Weckbacher was once again the man of the hour as he was delivered on board by the Shore Patrol. First thing out of his mouth was, “What the fuck happened to Campbell?”
To be continued…
Cheers,Woody
Midday on 9 January, Mullinnix headed to ammunition anchorage Foxtrot near Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth. She anchored in 6 fathoms of water, sand bottom, with 30 fathoms of chain to the starboard anchor. Once the off loading of 288 H/E Hedge Hogs and pyrotechnics was complete, she moored portside pier Four (4), berth 26, Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth, Virginia. Cold iron watch was set in all engineering spaces as Mullinnix was receiving all services from the pier. SOPA was COMCARDIV 6 (RADM G.W. Anderson) in USS Saratoga CVA-60 transferring later in the month to USS Essex CVS-9.
The rest of January saw Mullinnix and her crew engulfed in minor repairs, on loading equipment and stores, as well as crew training. Other than a quick pier change to Berth 1A, Pier 1 in Portsmouth on the 16th with the aid of US Navy tugs YTB 499 and YTB 502, Mullinnix kept busy in preparation for a lengthy assignment with the nation’s allies in South America.
Unfortunately for shipmate W.L. “Willy” Campbell, he would not be riding south on the Mux. Campbell was a mean bastard. Campbell hadn’t lost his ‘Na Yacker’ accent. Like when he’d say, “Fuggedaboutit!” (forget about it). He’d tell a story of when he was a kid growing up in New York City. “We all lived on Mean Street,” he boasted. “The farther down the street you’d go the meaner it got. And I lived in the last fuckin’ house!” He had a slight limp like a sailor who’d been in a bar brawl. Which he had - most of the time. Campbell’s training consisted of a temporary transfer to US Naval Retraining Command, Norfolk, Virginia, under guard, for 20 days of hard ‘training’.
On the midwatch of 17 January at 0300 Andy Weckbacher was once again the man of the hour as he was delivered on board by the Shore Patrol. First thing out of his mouth was, “What the fuck happened to Campbell?”
To be continued…
Cheers,Woody
posted by Frank A. Wood at 23:59
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