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Old Salt
Posts: 461
Location: Medina, OH | Subject: Best Liberty Ports?
Miss Lumpy Bumps got me to thinking. (Oh, oh)
If we eliminate ports for "frolicking," which ports are best for liberty? Why? Different for FAs, boomers?
Might be interesting tidbits for the cookbook.
Nancy  |
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Senior Crew
Posts: 124
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But ports are for "frolicking". |
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Master and Commander
Posts: 1324
Location: Oxnard, CA | Subject: RE: Best Liberty Ports?
The best liberty ports - other than those for frolicing, were, ... uh, DAMN! There weren't any.
I'm sorry, this is a SAILOR's BBS. You will have to check on either an army or airforce BBS for places other than frolicing.
Edited by JrKrup, Skimmer 2007-07-12 2:13 PM
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Admin
Posts: 2299
Location: Renton, WA | Subject: RE: Best Liberty Ports?
Mr. Krup sir.... by God well said... well said indeed! |
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Master and Commander
Posts: 1455
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We poor unfortunates on FBM's can only look to the singular liberty "port". That is if we exclude whatever state the off crew was based in. |
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WWII Sub Vet
Posts: 135
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In WWll without a doubt it was the SF Bay area. So many towns, so many girls, so little time.
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Master and Commander
Posts: 1431
| Subject: RE: Best Liberty Ports?
The one I was in at the time! |
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COMSUBBBS
Posts: 3202
Location: Alexandria, Virginia | Subject: Liberty Port FROLICKING???
When I last heard the word, it was in MY PONY BINGO a Little Golden Book..."Bingo was frolicking about in the meadow." Diesel boat sailors were never caught frolicking in a liberty port...They got caught taking pesos from the native population while providing graduate level instruction in shooting eight-ball...Eating fried monkey strips...iguana on a stick...and burritos, thought to possibly contain stray cat...throwing rocks at fire alarm boxes, to see twenty clowns show up in something previously used as a prop in a Laurel and Hardy flick and rig leaky hoses....They had to be coaxed out of tall trees, where they had gone to "get a coconut for Aunt Tilly"....They got drunk on stuff that would probably qualify as weapons of mass destruction...and 151 proof rum that could propell Yankee Stadium to Pluto...They cohabited with females no lady in the altar guild at their church would have approved of...and purchased true love and affection in increments of thirty minutes. Some lads visited cathedrals, museums, historical attractions, tourist sites and cultural points of interest...I know some guys did "that kind of stuff" cause there were pictures of them doing "that kind of stuff" on recruiting posters...personally I never knew any of them and figured that they must have ridden aircraft carriers....Drunken sailors tend to form some kind of innebriated bonding with exceptionally large animals like cows, bulls or anything with four legs available for riding...and are frequently found in shore patrol stations, attempting to explain why they were riding something with horns the size of the wingspan of a Piper Cub down the main street of the present manicipality singing a Tommy Cox song. Submarine sailors were ordained by their Creator to navigate the oceans of the world and visit ports, where they would leave white hats on bar tables and placed on the heads of big busted barmaids....They were sent forth to cruise the planet in search of gin-mill juke boxes, with Johnny Cash singing DON'T TAKE YOUR GUNS TO TOWN, Hank Williams singing HEY, HEY, GOODLOOKING and some sonuvabitch singing LOUIE,LOUIE....A good libery port was one where the Liberty Launches hauled drunks to 0200 and you could pass bottles around waiting on the cox'un to make his round and return...and you could take a whiz behind a dumpster without some JG giving you a lecture about you being a poor ambassador in representing your country....A good liberty port was one where the entire population was grateful the men you were a downline decendant of, for saving them from Hitler, Mussolini, Tojo and that pipsqueek Hirohito and showed their appreciation by purchasing local rot gut for you. The only frolickers you ran into in a good liberty port were playing wind instruments in Gay Parades or wearing Speedos on the "light-in-yer-loafers" beach club. Put simply, a good liberty port was the kind of place where the crew returned like that scene in MISTER ROBERTS. ....DEX |
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Great Sage of the Sea
Posts: 892
Location: Palo Pinto County, Texas | Subject: RE: Best Liberty Ports?
Well Nancy, you've received the pros and cons about Liberty Ports. The only real significant difference was in the era. During WWII the US ports were great. After that the foreign ports prevailed. In any case, we were "steamers" and delighted in the available local flora available at any given time. Ah, what fond memories...
I can't believe that I said that! I've a piece of paper that says that I'm an Officer & a gentleman.... LOL
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COMSUBBBS
Posts: 2540
Location: Wappingers Falls, NY | Subject: RE: Liberty Port FROLICKING???
Dex,
Would repairing a broken tractor in a field in Charleston, then taking for a joy ride qualify...all while being "socially intoxicated"???
Patti |
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Great Sage of the Sea
Posts: 561
Location: Belleview, Fl | Subject: RE: Best Liberty Ports?
Ahhhh the days of liberty's past, finding the best booze joint in town that had less then lady like wimmin dancin on the dance floor or on the tables talkin sweet nothin's in your ear while trying to steal your wallet and once those establishments were closed trying to find the hole in the wall whose doors never seem to close. The days of waking up on the beach or on a pier because you missed the liberty launch are unfortunatly over for those who ride the boats of today's Navy. The kids today when they hear the stories of days past and of liberty ports past can only set there and dream and wish that they had the chance to ride the boats when it was still alright to have two beers at lunch and then go back to work or take one day off a month and get tore up at Beamen's and not have to worry about having to see the alcohol counseler or a rehab facility. Very few of my shipmates are still sailing the oceans on submarines and they are now Chief's or Senior Chief's and they miss those days of our youth when it was perfectly acceptable to have a beer softball game and be able to tear up the town and not have to worry about getting in trouble for it.
For what it's worth..
the Crystal Palace in Nanoose, Canada was a great place to unwind while having the wimmin dance and frolick in front of you and have a nice cold very tall beer.
Followed by the Tiger Bar in Singapore whose claim to fame as I recall was their "tiger beer" served warm and close location downtown made it fun to have a number of drinks with the Aussie's and then go out in town with good shipmates and try to find the best bars intown. It was also good for those who had families back home and wanted to send the wife and kids some nice gifts instead of a shot glass or a tee shirt from above mentioned bar.
Other ports I am just going to set here and smile and think of the times I had with good shipmates, drinking beer with the best while answering the call ocassionaly for the submarine creed.
No sadly enough today's Navy won't have those memories to share with their kids and grandkids, because they are no longer allowed to do that.
Darrin |
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Crew
Posts: 73
Location: Kingwood, Texas | Subject: RE: Best Liberty Ports?
In nineteen fitty ought seven, the best liberty port I was in was Auckland, NZ. As soon as the yard bird got the phone connected it started ringing. In less than an hour there were more invitations to dinner, parties, etc then there were Yankee sailors. You couldn't walk a block on the main street without getting invited to a couple or more parties. And our money was no good in the pubs. Ale was on the house. The first day, I changed $50 into NZ pounds. The last day I changed my remaining NZ pounds into about $35. |
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Old Salt
Posts: 461
Location: Medina, OH | Subject: RE: Best Liberty Ports?
Love the dialogue among you. If today's submariners are "listening," do imagine they're as jealous as cast-off lovers. And here I thought sub sailors on liberty visited art museums and historial sites! LOL. Maybe Roy did this in SF. Hmmm. Per usual, Dex came through graphically writing about the way it was. Brought to mind the story about Norfolk residents having the dog/sailor signs in front yards. Enjoyed the New Zealand story as it does show respect. Farmer's relatives in S.C. probably still passing down the tractor story. Nanoose, Singapore memories sound like fond ones. Surprised no mention about the cherry cokes bought for the ladies in Japan. Keep 'em rolling. |
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Great Sage of the Sea
Posts: 602
Location: Visalia, Ca. | Subject: RE: Best Liberty Ports?
Well, in the late '70s and '80s, as pressure was brought to tone things down, and drinking and "frolicing" to excess became not just socially unacceptable but down-right dangerous in some places, the Morale, Welfare & Recreation folks began to organize guided tours of the more respectable sights to see in each port.
I remember the time the 622B was supposed to go around the top and take a long weekend in Edinburgh before we went on station, but they broke the locks at the Royal Navy base there, so we went upriver to HMS Faslane instead. First day the off-section got a bus trip to visit a couple of Scotch whiskey distilleries. On my day off, we got a bus trip to the Wm. Teacher's bottling plant in Glasgow. It sits on a hill, and most of us had contact highs from about a mile away as we approached.
We got the full tour, from the receiving dock to the mixing room, the aging cellars, the filtering room, and the bottling lines. (There was an armed security guard stationed at every operating station, to keep the workers from stealing.) They took us across the street to the shipping warehouse, then back to the very top floor of the main building, to the canteen. They fed us crackers and cheese and poured all the Teacher's Scotch we cared to drink, then gave us each a pint to take with us as we boarded the bus. I still have my (empty) bottle.
On the way back, we visited Loch Lomond and Loch Ness. Didn't see the famous Monster, but had a fine lunch.
On my FA trips to Hong Kong, we took tours out to the Chinese Border, to Tiger Baum Gardens, the race track, the floating cities, and up the funicular railway to Victoria Peak. Many of us did a lot of shopping in the daytime, and still had enough money to go "frolicing" in the Wanchai or over to the Brit & Aussie pubs in Kowloon.
So we did take in some of the tourist-y sights. But after being under water for 4-10 weeks, a submariner still has to do some "frolicing" to regain what little sanity he has left.
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Crew
Posts: 75
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Patti, It wasn't a tractor and we didn't have to repair it but sometime I have to tell you about the fire engine on Chi-Chi-Jima. |
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COMSUBBBS
Posts: 2540
Location: Wappingers Falls, NY | Subject: RE: Best Liberty Ports?
OH MY LORD...my Dad is probably having a rather large chuckle from "up there"...he was a volunteer for over 50 years...and
I know would appreciate your story.
He was known to have done a few rather "questionable" things, while stationed in England during WWII...like commandeering a
jeep to drive to N. Ireland...just for a bottle of good Irish Whiskey!!!
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COMSUBBBS
Posts: 2673
Location: New Jersey | Subject: RE: Best Liberty Ports?
What I wanna know is how did the local lovely's know my name was Joe....HUH! How did they know? |
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COMSUBBBS
Posts: 2540
Location: Wappingers Falls, NY | Subject: RE: Best Liberty Ports?
Well, we know that you are being "tongue-in-cheek" here...but didn't that particular "term" come from the fact that all the G.I.'s in WWII were being called "GI Joe"???
Legitimate question to the board.
Patti
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COMSUBBBS
Posts: 2673
Location: New Jersey | Subject: RE: Best Liberty Ports?
miss lumpy bumps - 2007-07-14 12:54 PM
Well, we know that you are being "tongue-in-cheek" here...but didn't that particular "term" come from the fact that all the G.I.'s in WWII were being called "GI Joe"???
Legitimate question to the board.
Patti
Patti,
The ladies who plyed their trade to the fleet called most of us Joe, regardless of your actual name. Of course mine just happens to be Joe.
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COMSUBBBS
Posts: 2540
Location: Wappingers Falls, NY | Subject: RE: Best Liberty Ports?
AH...I read you...but didn't the "femme fatales" in Europe take to calling the G.I.'s "Joe" also??? |
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COMSUBBBS
Posts: 3202
Location: Alexandria, Virginia | Subject: English girls...and US Bluejackets
British girls are for the most part, very lovely ladies. Polite, sweet and reserved. However, during World War II they picked up a terrible habit. All Americans were called YANK. Now if you were a lad who entered the planet at Floyd County Hospital, Rome, Georgia and grew up in East Tennessee on a mountain outside Chattanooga...a kid whose great grandfather rode with the Third Tennessee Cavalry (Forrest's Own) from 1861 to 65...A kid whose family homeplace was torched by Sherman's bummers as they worked their way to the sea...being called YANK didn't sit well. Amazingly enough, these lovely ladies whose countrymen supported the Southern Cause in buying bonds based on cotton futures that financed the purchase of 577 Enfields, Blakey and Armstrong guns...cartridges, accoutrements and Seagoing Raiders to Include the ones built by Johnathon Laird, one of which was the CSS Alabama of Raphael Semmes fame. Where in the hell they got the term YANK, I never figured out. But before I completed DSEA School at Gosport (HMS DOLPHIN), Margaret...the Tavern Wench (Brit for barmaid) at the Silver Latch, was calling me Ridge Runner. There has always been a special place in my heart for the British people...love em. I was the only "colonist" rating in the DSEA "draft" and had fun one morning at "First Parade"(morning quarters) by yelling..."1776, 1814 we can do it again..." The old grizzled First Cockswain" smiled and twisted the ends of his magnificent mustache and simply said.."Not likely." God love em. DEX |
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Master and Commander
Posts: 2254
Location: Foothills of the Ozarks | Subject: RE: English girls...and US Bluejackets
I agree with Dex on the English and Brits in General. My favorite liberty port was Portland England and our cab ride to Weymouth. I learned the fine art of drinking "bitters" by the pint and gave a few lessons to some astonished Brit skimmers in the art of throwing darts. I still have the hats of the Brit and Dutch sailors I won at the Black Dog Inn. |
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COMSUBBBS
Posts: 3202
Location: Alexandria, Virginia | Subject: RE: Best Liberty Ports?
Doc, Is that where you picked up your love of the pipes? Hey, Any guy who can walk into a limey pub and give dart tossing instructions to the locals, has to be one helluva dart tosser. I got my clock cleaned on a regular basis. Never fully understood the scoring or the lingo that went along with the game. Didja ever play "two up" with an Aussie crew? That's another way to lose your bloody shorts...the damn kangaroo chasers make up the rules as they go along...You think it's a simple matter of matched and unmatched pairs of coins until they start telling you about Queensland rules....The Adelade corkie....It's a game rigged by the fine lads of Down Under specifically designed to seperate dumbass American sailors from their available pocket coinage. Eating duck billed platypus gives you diabolical brain cells. Love English girls...but can't stand that damn tea...After drinking bottom of the pot midwatch coffee, British tea is as weak as dishwater. Doc...I totally agree with you....If I couldda shot darts worth a damn, I'd probably own Buckingham Palace by now....DEX |
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Best Liberty Ports?
