|
|
Master and Commander
Posts: 1602
| Subject: Gilley (sp)
Anybody remember your first reaction to drinking Gilley's? Was it pleasurable?
I was messcooking on the boat and our 1st class storekeeper (Pappy) would while away the midnight hours in the AB drinking coffee infused. Most of the time he kept a stash of good booze hidden in his area. He'd only alk angrily to Control if the sternplanesman lost the bubble (obviously a bottle got broken). On the beginning of our Westpac Pappy drank his "coffee? in the AB in a mellow mood. At the end of our 45 days his mood changed - the guys said his stash ran out and they said he turned to Gilley.
Pappy was the only one that over abused liquor at sea that I was aware of, but the sonarmen and Yeomen had access to Gilley. One day (only time) I was invited into the sonarshack to taste it. Sonar mixed theirs with grapefruit juice and it was terrible. Later I saw it in the metal cans that sonar requisitioned to clean their heads.
I couldn't understand how anyone could drink the stuff, or get acclimated to it. At boot camp in Hunters Point here was scuttlebutt about guys drinking aftershave or Vitalis in bootcamp. I never saw anybody do that, but if I had my druthers I'd try that before Gilley.
|
|
| |
|
Master and Commander
Posts: 1454
| Subject: RE: Gilley (sp)
It was Torpedo alcohol before they added some crap to supposedly get you to hurl. I've tried it straight (leave in mouth and slowly inhale the fumes) [not recommended]. Usually it was to give the coffee a bit of a taste or add it to some bug juice. I did try it with Grapefruit juice and agree it was awful. We did add some to bottled cherries for later in the run. That was acceptable. One patrol one of our MTs smuggled a case of Mogen David wine aboard. How, I never knew. That stuff was lousy and found by the Asst Weps a few weeks at sea. One bottle leaked and smelled up the LOP area. It was stored in the tool bench next to the LOS watch station. Somebody made hooch from sugar, yeast, and apple juice stored in a few large poly bottles. They ended up in the Missile Compensating tanks to keep cool and out of sight. Sad that they they were found during a test of the tanks when the calculations didn't quite turn out correct. Much hell to pay on who had the LOS watch standers, me included. |
|
| |
|
Plankowner
Posts: 9164
Location: Upper lefthand corner of the map. | Subject: RE: Gilley (sp)
Had lots of "cocktail hours" with torpedo juice. Everyone knew it was happening and even a few officers came by with an ice filled coffee cup. Most folks had one and went to bed. Had the big cans of grapefruit, orange and tomato juice to mix in. It all came to a screeching end when a spook marine got drunk out of his skull and accidentally sat on the collision alarm. PD in seconds to the sound of water tight doors slamming shut. Everything got confiscated and special tanks installed just outside the CO's stateroom for the torpedo juice.(We still carried MK 14's). This was just too extreme to ignore. |
|
| |
|
Master and Commander
Posts: 1796
Location: Albany, GA. | Subject: RE: Gilley (sp)
Seems everyone knew about it. Knew who drank and where. Pretty much knew where it was kept. Very few chose to do anything about it. On my sub it wasn't Gilley, it was bourbon, vodka and scotch. No one ever got drunk, but I sure smelled it on folks. I guess that was the old Navy. |
|
| |
|
COMSUBBBS
Posts: 6180
Location: Summerville, SC | Subject: RE: Gilley (sp)
Before any going to sea our A-gang always had a gallon jar of marchino cheeries with gilley stashed in a secret hidey-hole aboard. Nothing finer than to pop a couple of "cheeries" right before rack time. |
|
| |
|
Master and Commander
Posts: 1602
| Subject: RE: Gilley (sp)
The Gilley I knew was in the smaller "flask size" metal cans. Sonar got it by the case and used it to clean the heads, and I think Yeoman somehow got it to clean their typewriter keys. Any other suposedly legitimate "uses"?
'?
The Enginemen on our boat supposedly had a still at times in the FER, or used the fresh water distiller. This was only for a short time during Westpac.
One Aussie boat came to Pearl in '68and we tour each other's boat. We also both toured the Kitty Hawk at Pearl. Funny to see a rum keg between the tubes, The Aussie's told us they got a rum ration, but they would pool theirs and have a drawing for it. Whoever won it would go on real bender, and shipmates took his watches until he recovered.
|
|
| |
|
Old Salt
Posts: 272
Location: Vista, Ca. | Subject: RE: Gilley (sp)
When in torpedo man "A" school we heard of Gilley. But we were also warned that they had put some stuff in it to turn it pink. Therefore it was called "pink lady". We heard stories of filtering it through a loaf of bread to get the stuff out or you would go blind. When I go to the boat we were in the yards and I really had no time to investigate. Just as we left the yards I went mess cooking. Another crank and I came up wit the idea of of putting a six pack in the cold storage locker. I snuck one out a sea one night. The darn thing was so frozen it fizzed and spurted. I lost most of it in the bilge. After that we figured it was better to just not bring stuff on the boat unless we gave it to the XO. On one run I had the XO store a bottle in his safe for me for probably six months before either of us remember it was there. But, Gilley, no. |
|
| |
|
Master and Commander
Posts: 2490
Location: East Coast of Wisconsin | Subject: RE: Gilley (sp)
Somebody correct me if I am wrong.
Gilly referred to alcohol torpedo fuel for steam fish. Later an additive supposedly to limit drinking made it a pink color (Pink Lady). This is the stuff people used to strain through bread to supposedly make it drinkable. I guess a few had to die to prove this wasn't a good thing.
Now the olive drab 1 pint cans were pure grain alcohol used to 'clean the contacts' on the controllers in maneuvering. That is a couple drops on the toothbrush and the rest for the electricians. I never heard it called gilly. I did see folks grinning when they conned the engineer to sign the chit for a pint. I am not sure where it was stored since that wasn't on my quallie card. Never had any of either.
We did have a torpedoman striker in the FER that was removed from the boat with serious liver ailments so he was drinking gilly or pink lady. he didn't come back. This in 1959 or 60 .
If anyone had a stash, they kept it pretty quiet.
One little event that I was involved in. A third class in the FER missed muster and when he got back, he was restricted to the boat. He was some kind of hung over but went to the Exec with the story he had to get to town and pay his rent or else he was in the street.
The exec agreed to let him go to town but only with an escort to ensure he came back and also the escort was to also ensure he didn't drink. Since the leading PO for the FER was on leave, escorting this dude fell to me. How well I remember waiting topside while the Exec shagged the Gunner's Mate below to get a .45 (with clip inserted) for me to wear while escorting this 'prisoner'. We made it to his apartment and as soon as he opened the door, he headed straight to a bottle of vodka which he tried to suck down. Apparently too much in the bottle. After this he turned to me and said, "lets go back". We did and didn't see the Exec on our return. I don't know if I was supposed to shoot him for drinking or to just keep him from 'escaping'. I didn't but the dude didn't even offer me a drink. NTINS. |
|
| |
|
Master and Commander
Posts: 1268
Location: Hopewell Junction NY | Subject: RE: Gilley (sp)
Gilly was Pink Lady, torp fuel, and we never messed with that stuff.
Why? because we had 190 proof Everclear for "contact cleaning". Many jugs of cherries got saturated in that stuff and more than one gun-tub of punch to celebrate th night before we arrived back in NLON, courtesy of our CO who will remain nameless.
|
|
| |
|
Plankowner
Posts: 9164
Location: Upper lefthand corner of the map. | Subject: RE: Gilley (sp)
I remember the Auzzie boat in Pearl and toured it. I ran into a high school classmate from Kitty Hawk and got a 2AM tour of it drunk as a skunk in civilian clothes. |
|
| |
|
Old Salt
Posts: 438
Location: Fort Lauderdale, FL | Subject: RE: Gilley (sp)
No torpedo juice but I did bring a fifth of Gin on patrol. Kept it in the bottom of the BRN-3 receiver where the chill air came in. On Field Day Fridays I would load up a cleaned out Cremora jar with olives and add Gin. We would all take barely a sip because no one wanted to get caught drunk. Looking back it was more about getting away with it.
Edited by 610ET 2017-04-15 9:32 AM
|
|
| |
Gilley (sp)
