The computer is such a wonderful thing.  I put the name of my boat in and came up with a video that includes our Westpac of 1968 and our sinking of a destroyer off Oahu also in 1968.  I thought I'd just get the video of the amazing surface that was way  before my time, but I also got a video of the way we looked in 1968.

Forgive me for getting excited, but it's wonderful to get to see the boat and my shipmates in 1968.  It's something I never thought I'd see and would have paid anything for this goofy poor quality video.  I was in the deck gang and I don't remember ever seeing or knowing about a deck gun that I see in the video - I'm wondering if that deck gun could be from the previous Westpac. 

My shipmate Scrivener was off the Pick by this time, but he'll also recognize our shipmates who we often talk about.

I had no idea there was any film available of operations in Westpac and of us sinking the destroyer, I never saw a camera and it had to be before video cameras.  I recognize and remember all but one of my shipmates.  Gawd we were so young then and our officer looks just as young.  We thought we were veteran hot s**ts in 1968 after surviving a Westpac and making an attack on a stationary destroyer.  It took our third and last torpedo to knock the bow off.  I had never seen the explosion which is very impressive.  By the time we surfaced the destroyer just sat there like a cork with its bow off and then the surrounding ships opened up on it and finished the job.

I'm fully responsible for sending this US warship to the bottom since I helped load all three fish into the tubes and gave this one my extra lucky pat. 

They had allowed all ships and boat to take parts off the destroyer and we guessed its draft must have been about six feet.  If we had missed with our last torpedo it would have been embarrassing to us.  Ford Island only gave us three torpedoes for this.  I don't think we could use our regular fish for this.

What an amazing lucky video find by me.

Don't laugh at us punk kids, but go to the Pickerel surfacing and it will end with 1968.  Does anybody recognize the port we're coming into.  I don't recognize it as Yokosuka, but I'm thinking it most likely is Sasebo.  I don't think it could be Kobe, Hong Kong, or Okinawa.

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.search&t=Pickerel

Dave,

We got to Yokosuka in January of '68 and left in early July.  We were about the only ship or boat there when we arrived.  Everybody else was at sea because of the Pueblo incident.  We celebrated two July fourths because of the dateline with swim calls and barbeques at Yankee Station.  Only our worst cook reupped then. 

After arriving we had to have much needed repair.  Transiting from Pearl to Yokosuka we got hit pretty hard by storms.  Every day on lookout I'd watch waves smash the deck and became worried, one watch we hit a wave that was over our heads.  We lost about three clam shells and on lookout I'd watch other huge waves smash on the exposed piping.

We had to replace those clanshells before we left port, but we didn't have to go to drydock for that.  The yardbirds at Yoko also fixed our Loran Charlie for the first time ever - unforunately a few months later it went bad again.

I remember ships and boats coming back to Yoko in the next few weeks.  We had a wonderful time on the beach until the Kitty Hawk came back. At that time I remember being tied up with three or four boats in Yoko quite often.  I don't recall going to drydock or any collision incident.  The yard made us some temporary fiberglass clam shells then later we got permanent ones.  We also came up with enough coffee to get the Pickerel painted in Yoko.

I don't remember going into drydock in Yoko, but then I don't remember us having that deckgun.  In around August of '68 we went to Hunters Point and  drydock.