On 10/30/2018 10:56 PM, wrote:
On Tue, 30 Oct 2018 15:42:39 -0400, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:

On 10/30/2018 3:16 PM, wrote:
On Tue, 30 Oct 2018 16:23:34 -0000 (UTC), Bill
wrote:

Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 10/30/2018 10:05 AM, Tim wrote:

7:35 AMMr. Luddite
On 10/30/2018 6:25 AM, Tim wrote:
On Monday, October 29, 2018 at 8:09:56 PM UTC-5, Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 10/29/2018 8:28 PM, wrote:
On Mon, 29 Oct 2018 18:04:16 -0400, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:

On 10/29/2018 5:53 PM, Keyser Soze wrote:

I don't know what the status of my grandparents was when they "landed"
here and got off the boats. Never discussed it with any of them. All
four of them became citizens at some point.




If they arrived by boat as my grandparents did in 1907, it's doubtful
that they entered the USA illegally. I recently came across my
grandfather's naturalization papers. He arrived from Sweden in 1907 at
the age of 17 and became naturalized in 1916. By then he was
married and had one son, my uncle, who was 10 years older than my
father. My uncle was a marine engineer. He and I shared the same
birthday (Oct 19th) although obviously he was here many years before
me.

More newcomers ;-)



(a little boating content)

Even found a picture of the ship my grandfather arrived on in Boston.

Also found his manifest ... he paid $10 for the voyage from Liverpool,
England via Greenland and then to Boston.

http://funkyimg.com/i/2MCaC.jpg

Interesting ship, Richard. I know those aren't sailing masks. Would
those towers be directional for shortwave or radio?



Probably. Records indicate it had "steam quadruple-expansion engines
geared to twin propellers".

I looked it up on Wiki and it turns out it had an interesting history
and fate.

The SS Ivernia was owned by the British Cunard line and was primarily
built to transport immigrants from Europe to Boston and New York. When
WWI broke out it was hired by the British government as a troop transport.

From Wiki:

"In autumn of 1916, William Thomas Turner (made famous for being the
captain of RMS Lusitania at the time of her sinking) was given command.

On 1 January 1917, the Ivernia was carrying some 2,400 British troops
from Marseille to Alexandria, when at 10:12am she was torpedoed by the
German submarine UB-47 58 miles south-east of Cape Matapan in Greece, in
the Kythira Strait. The ship went down fairly quickly with a loss of 36
crew members and 84 troops. Captain Turner, who had been criticized for
not going down with the Lusitania (even though he had believed he was
the last person on board), remained on the bridge until all aboard had
departed in lifeboats and rafts "before striking out to swim as the
vessel went down under his feet."

.........

It’s a colossal amount of tonnage the U-boats put to the bottom of the sea.

I’m sorry the ship was sunk, and sorry for the loss of lives ....



The German sub, UB-47, sank 22 ships during WWI.

Was it torpedoed or shelled. Most of the Uboat WW1 activity was with the
deck gun from what I understand. Was not removed until sometime after the
start of WW2.

Yup the later ones ditched the gun for better underwater speed.
Some started looking more like what the Russians were running up into
the 60s and 70s like a Foxtrot.
This one is down the road a few hundred miles from you in San Diego
http://gfretwell.com/ftp/california/...trot%20sub.jpg



I remember visiting San Diego and seeing that sub, the old sailing ship
and the big white boat in the background. It's a restaurant or
something, IIRC.


HMS Surprise is just another marine museum exhibit.
After dragging them around the Midway, the girls were done with boats
so I did not go aboard.

http://gfretwell.com/ftp/california/...rise%20bow.jpg

http://gfretwell.com/ftp/california/...%20gangway.jpg



So the Brits had a HMS Surprise? I was stationed on
the USS Surprise (PG-97) for a while. Little faster
than it's British namesake:

http://funkyimg.com/i/2MEmU.jpg

On Tue, 30 Oct 2018 23:33:33 -0400, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:

On 10/30/2018 10:56 PM, wrote:


HMS Surprise is just another marine museum exhibit.
After dragging them around the Midway, the girls were done with boats
so I did not go aboard.

http://gfretwell.com/ftp/california/...rise%20bow.jpg

http://gfretwell.com/ftp/california/...%20gangway.jpg



So the Brits had a HMS Surprise? I was stationed on
the USS Surprise (PG-97) for a while. Little faster
than it's British namesake:

http://funkyimg.com/i/2MEmU.jpg

What is that on the bow? a 3"/50?
I knew they had an autoloader in an enclosed mount but I never saw
one.
This is more what I have dealt with.
http://gfretwell.com/ftp/New%20Mexic...%20in%2050.jpg

On 10/31/2018 1:21 AM, wrote:
On Tue, 30 Oct 2018 23:33:33 -0400, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:

On 10/30/2018 10:56 PM, wrote:


HMS Surprise is just another marine museum exhibit.
After dragging them around the Midway, the girls were done with boats
so I did not go aboard.

http://gfretwell.com/ftp/california/...rise%20bow.jpg

http://gfretwell.com/ftp/california/...%20gangway.jpg



So the Brits had a HMS Surprise? I was stationed on
the USS Surprise (PG-97) for a while. Little faster
than it's British namesake:

http://funkyimg.com/i/2MEmU.jpg

What is that on the bow? a 3"/50?
I knew they had an autoloader in an enclosed mount but I never saw
one.
This is more what I have dealt with.
http://gfretwell.com/ftp/New%20Mexic...%20in%2050.jpg


Many post WWII Navy ships had enclosed, radar controlled 3"/50 mounts,
either single or twin. Some had more than one. The patrol gunboats
like the USS Surprise had a single in an enclosed mount. It originally
had a Bofors 40 mm on the aft deck as well but it had been removed and
replaced with some missile launchers when I was on it. Only other
armament were four, 50 cal machine guns. Crew was only about 20 people
total (officers and enlisted) and my general quarters station was
manning one of the 50 cal machine guns.

I've described this PG before but what made it unique was it's
propulsion. Two relatively small Cummins diesels for speeds up to about
12 knots and a GE gas turbine for high speed runs. It had a fully
reversible pitch prop that could be engaged at full speed and power,
a procedure they called a "crashback".

Wiki claims these PGs were capable of stopping from full speed (about 50
mph) in two ship lengths. This is not true because I witnessed one of
these "crashbacks" while on the bridge. It stopped and was moving
slightly backward in less than it's own length (164 feet). Hard to
envision given the speed, weight and inertia but it did it. Hull was
aluminum and superstructure was fiberglass.

Biggest problem with this class was they didn't have a great reputation
in heavy seas. Too light.

On Wed, 31 Oct 2018 07:52:15 -0400, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:

On 10/31/2018 1:21 AM, wrote:
On Tue, 30 Oct 2018 23:33:33 -0400, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:

On 10/30/2018 10:56 PM, wrote:


HMS Surprise is just another marine museum exhibit.
After dragging them around the Midway, the girls were done with boats
so I did not go aboard.

http://gfretwell.com/ftp/california/...rise%20bow.jpg

http://gfretwell.com/ftp/california/...%20gangway.jpg



So the Brits had a HMS Surprise? I was stationed on
the USS Surprise (PG-97) for a while. Little faster
than it's British namesake:

http://funkyimg.com/i/2MEmU.jpg

What is that on the bow? a 3"/50?
I knew they had an autoloader in an enclosed mount but I never saw
one.
This is more what I have dealt with.
http://gfretwell.com/ftp/New%20Mexic...%20in%2050.jpg


Many post WWII Navy ships had enclosed, radar controlled 3"/50 mounts,
either single or twin. Some had more than one. The patrol gunboats
like the USS Surprise had a single in an enclosed mount. It originally
had a Bofors 40 mm on the aft deck as well but it had been removed and
replaced with some missile launchers when I was on it. Only other
armament were four, 50 cal machine guns. Crew was only about 20 people
total (officers and enlisted) and my general quarters station was
manning one of the 50 cal machine guns.


That explains it. When I was in the CG we had WWII ships, pretty much
unaltered. We even had hedgehogs.
They did take the 40mm off the rear deck and there were places above
the bridge that probably had 20mm guns and they were gone.
The only new thing we had was a pair of Mk44 torpedo mounts. (later
Mk46)
I always called them the doomsday device.
We were told to remove the tompins and pull the salt water plugs as
soon as we heard "this is not a drill". They gave me presets to
manually load into the fish in case CIC was knocked out.
They would go get the sub that sank us as soon as the 02 deck went
under water.

We really thought the first shot of WWIII might be sinking us because
we were SOSUS before there was a SOSUS.

I've described this PG before but what made it unique was it's
propulsion. Two relatively small Cummins diesels for speeds up to about
12 knots and a GE gas turbine for high speed runs. It had a fully
reversible pitch prop that could be engaged at full speed and power,
a procedure they called a "crashback".

Wiki claims these PGs were capable of stopping from full speed (about 50
mph) in two ship lengths. This is not true because I witnessed one of
these "crashbacks" while on the bridge. It stopped and was moving
slightly backward in less than it's own length (164 feet). Hard to
envision given the speed, weight and inertia but it did it. Hull was
aluminum and superstructure was fiberglass.

Biggest problem with this class was they didn't have a great reputation
in heavy seas. Too light.


Those wallowing round bottom tubs (AVPs) we had were horrible at sea
but we were there anyway. They might get 20 kts with a tail wind but
they were originally seaplane tenders so it was really just a big
tanker and we carried enough fuel to go around the world a time or
two, mostly just as ballast I suppose.
It did give us a great loitering ability so they were perfect for
ocean stations. We could stay out there for months if we had to.
Typical patrols were 5 weeks but they routinely ran longer.
Food was a bigger issue than fuel and we made water.

On 10/31/2018 12:45 PM, wrote:
On Wed, 31 Oct 2018 07:52:15 -0400, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:

On 10/31/2018 1:21 AM, wrote:
On Tue, 30 Oct 2018 23:33:33 -0400, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:

On 10/30/2018 10:56 PM, wrote:


HMS Surprise is just another marine museum exhibit.
After dragging them around the Midway, the girls were done with boats
so I did not go aboard.

http://gfretwell.com/ftp/california/...rise%20bow.jpg

http://gfretwell.com/ftp/california/...%20gangway.jpg



So the Brits had a HMS Surprise? I was stationed on
the USS Surprise (PG-97) for a while. Little faster
than it's British namesake:

http://funkyimg.com/i/2MEmU.jpg

What is that on the bow? a 3"/50?
I knew they had an autoloader in an enclosed mount but I never saw
one.
This is more what I have dealt with.
http://gfretwell.com/ftp/New%20Mexic...%20in%2050.jpg


Many post WWII Navy ships had enclosed, radar controlled 3"/50 mounts,
either single or twin. Some had more than one. The patrol gunboats
like the USS Surprise had a single in an enclosed mount. It originally
had a Bofors 40 mm on the aft deck as well but it had been removed and
replaced with some missile launchers when I was on it. Only other
armament were four, 50 cal machine guns. Crew was only about 20 people
total (officers and enlisted) and my general quarters station was
manning one of the 50 cal machine guns.


That explains it. When I was in the CG we had WWII ships, pretty much
unaltered. We even had hedgehogs.
They did take the 40mm off the rear deck and there were places above
the bridge that probably had 20mm guns and they were gone.
The only new thing we had was a pair of Mk44 torpedo mounts. (later
Mk46)
I always called them the doomsday device.
We were told to remove the tompins and pull the salt water plugs as
soon as we heard "this is not a drill". They gave me presets to
manually load into the fish in case CIC was knocked out.
They would go get the sub that sank us as soon as the 02 deck went
under water.

We really thought the first shot of WWIII might be sinking us because
we were SOSUS before there was a SOSUS.

I've described this PG before but what made it unique was it's
propulsion. Two relatively small Cummins diesels for speeds up to about
12 knots and a GE gas turbine for high speed runs. It had a fully
reversible pitch prop that could be engaged at full speed and power,
a procedure they called a "crashback".

Wiki claims these PGs were capable of stopping from full speed (about 50
mph) in two ship lengths. This is not true because I witnessed one of
these "crashbacks" while on the bridge. It stopped and was moving
slightly backward in less than it's own length (164 feet). Hard to
envision given the speed, weight and inertia but it did it. Hull was
aluminum and superstructure was fiberglass.

Biggest problem with this class was they didn't have a great reputation
in heavy seas. Too light.


Those wallowing round bottom tubs (AVPs) we had were horrible at sea
but we were there anyway. They might get 20 kts with a tail wind but
they were originally seaplane tenders so it was really just a big
tanker and we carried enough fuel to go around the world a time or
two, mostly just as ballast I suppose.
It did give us a great loitering ability so they were perfect for
ocean stations. We could stay out there for months if we had to.
Typical patrols were 5 weeks but they routinely ran longer.
Food was a bigger issue than fuel and we made water.



The Coast Guard has a physical requirement of being at least 6 feet
tall so that in the event the boat sinks, the crew could walk ashore.
:-)

On Wed, 31 Oct 2018 12:53:43 -0400, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:

On 10/31/2018 12:45 PM, wrote:
On Wed, 31 Oct 2018 07:52:15 -0400, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:

On 10/31/2018 1:21 AM, wrote:
On Tue, 30 Oct 2018 23:33:33 -0400, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:

On 10/30/2018 10:56 PM, wrote:


HMS Surprise is just another marine museum exhibit.
After dragging them around the Midway, the girls were done with boats
so I did not go aboard.

http://gfretwell.com/ftp/california/...rise%20bow.jpg

http://gfretwell.com/ftp/california/...%20gangway.jpg



So the Brits had a HMS Surprise? I was stationed on
the USS Surprise (PG-97) for a while. Little faster
than it's British namesake:

http://funkyimg.com/i/2MEmU.jpg

What is that on the bow? a 3"/50?
I knew they had an autoloader in an enclosed mount but I never saw
one.
This is more what I have dealt with.
http://gfretwell.com/ftp/New%20Mexic...%20in%2050.jpg


Many post WWII Navy ships had enclosed, radar controlled 3"/50 mounts,
either single or twin. Some had more than one. The patrol gunboats
like the USS Surprise had a single in an enclosed mount. It originally
had a Bofors 40 mm on the aft deck as well but it had been removed and
replaced with some missile launchers when I was on it. Only other
armament were four, 50 cal machine guns. Crew was only about 20 people
total (officers and enlisted) and my general quarters station was
manning one of the 50 cal machine guns.


That explains it. When I was in the CG we had WWII ships, pretty much
unaltered. We even had hedgehogs.
They did take the 40mm off the rear deck and there were places above
the bridge that probably had 20mm guns and they were gone.
The only new thing we had was a pair of Mk44 torpedo mounts. (later
Mk46)
I always called them the doomsday device.
We were told to remove the tompins and pull the salt water plugs as
soon as we heard "this is not a drill". They gave me presets to
manually load into the fish in case CIC was knocked out.
They would go get the sub that sank us as soon as the 02 deck went
under water.

We really thought the first shot of WWIII might be sinking us because
we were SOSUS before there was a SOSUS.

I've described this PG before but what made it unique was it's
propulsion. Two relatively small Cummins diesels for speeds up to about
12 knots and a GE gas turbine for high speed runs. It had a fully
reversible pitch prop that could be engaged at full speed and power,
a procedure they called a "crashback".

Wiki claims these PGs were capable of stopping from full speed (about 50
mph) in two ship lengths. This is not true because I witnessed one of
these "crashbacks" while on the bridge. It stopped and was moving
slightly backward in less than it's own length (164 feet). Hard to
envision given the speed, weight and inertia but it did it. Hull was
aluminum and superstructure was fiberglass.

Biggest problem with this class was they didn't have a great reputation
in heavy seas. Too light.


Those wallowing round bottom tubs (AVPs) we had were horrible at sea
but we were there anyway. They might get 20 kts with a tail wind but
they were originally seaplane tenders so it was really just a big
tanker and we carried enough fuel to go around the world a time or
two, mostly just as ballast I suppose.
It did give us a great loitering ability so they were perfect for
ocean stations. We could stay out there for months if we had to.
Typical patrols were 5 weeks but they routinely ran longer.
Food was a bigger issue than fuel and we made water.



The Coast Guard has a physical requirement of being at least 6 feet
tall so that in the event the boat sinks, the crew could walk ashore.
:-)


Yeah I wanted to be a Puddle Pirate but they put me on a white one and
sent me to sea.
I was actually tricked by the recruiter. I went in there thinking I
could be an ET in a lifeboat station fixing radios and radars. They
made FT school sound so much better without really explaining they
don't really have FTs in the Coast Guard. I was in the Navy Reserve.
I just got hidden in the Treasury (later DoT) budget. AKA an ORTAUG
unit (navyvessel augmentation).
Once I got there, I turned out to be a Gunner's mate. They just
wouldn't let me change my rate ... and I tried, even finishing the
GM3&2 course.