USS MULLINNIX DD-944

           Early 1962
(Pre-Unitas III)           

1962 Mullinnix Deck Logs

January 1962 (PDF)
February 1962 (PDF)
March 1962 (PDF)
April 1962 (PDF)
May 1962 (PDF)
June 1962 (PDF)
July 1962 (PDF)
August 1962 (PDF)
September 1962 (PDF)
October 1962 (PDF)
November 1962 (PDF)
December 1962 (PDF)



Excerpt from "The Last Gun Ship - History of USS Mullinnix DD-944"
A Historical Novel By Frank A. Wood
[Note: Remember the definition of "Historical Novel" as Kramer, Brady, McGhee, and Mags are my imagination!]

The ship spent her first New Year's Eve at sea and the traditional rhyming midwatch deck log reflected that:

Steaming in company with Task Group 81.8,
Off the coast of North Carolina, is our New Year's fate.
In a six ship circular screen, we're number six,
USS Randolph CVS-15 is guide, on her position we fix.
Bearing 000, distance 4000 yards,
The JOOD says station keeping in not very hard.
Other ships present include Lowry and Blandy,
Perry, Stormes, and the Laffey.
Base course is 315, speed is one two.
Condition of Readiness 5 is set, plus Material Condition Yoke too.
Boilers 1A and 2A are on the line.
And 1 and 3 generators are running fine.
SOPA is CTG 81.8 in Randolph embarked,
While COMDESRON 32 on this vessel is parked.
Our movements are stated in COMASWGRU ALFA OP-ORDER 13-61,
So I'll review 1961's history, just for fun.

In January we were sitting at the D and S Piers,
At Norfolk we welcomed a happy New Year.
In February, we left for a long deployment,
Six months in the Med for the crew's enjoyment.
March found us in Naples, Cannes, and Black Sea.
All were interesting places, and fun to see.
April and Barcelona, we're sure to remember,
Bull fights and senioritis, we'd have stayed thru December.
In May we saw Taormina, Sicily, and Ancient Athens,
The city is modern now, not as tall as back then.
June and the French Rivera, a good combination.
With the pretty mademoiselles, we had friendly relations.
July in La Spezia with its surrounding beaches,
Made the summer days comfortable with the soft sea breezes.
August in St. Jean we're not likely to forget,
As our last port it scored a big hit.
September was spent back at the D&S piers,
Re-united with our families and giving cheers.
But alas October found us busy at Key West,
Working for TEVDET, we were doing our best.
November found us in the Norfolk Naval Shipyard,
To repair our shop we all had to work hard.
And at last in December, our ship all mended,
To the ASW Force ALFA, we were appended.
It's been a busy year, you're sure to agree,
We've had two skippers, and commodore's three.
But back to this watch, we've been busy,
If I don't' get started, I'll be here 'til Tuesday.
At 0025 boiler 2B was brought on the line
And changed course to 045 at the same time.
Time 0037, came to course one three five
Speed is 4 knots, the BT is taking a dive.
0047, BT on deck, speed is fifteen,
And back to our station we start to steam.
Secured fires under 2A boiler, 0050 is the time
Now all machinery is running just fine.
0109 changed speed to one two,
The JOOD has more station keeping to do.
Said to course 315, the whole task force must go.
This watch is almost over for my relief is in sight,
So I'll say Happy New Year to all and to all Good Night!

LTJG, C.M. Garverick

On 4 January, The CO of Mullinnix assumed tactical command of USS Lowry and USS Perry in a tactical exercise. After a busy early January, the ship returned to D&S Piers on 11 January.

She left port for yet more exercise on 29 January with USS Strong DD-758, USS Stribling DD-867, USS R.K. Huntington DD-781, USS Randolph, USS Stormes, USS Nantahala Ao-60, USS Skate SSN-578, USS D. H. Fox DD-779, USS Meredith DD-890, USS Lowry DD-770, and USS Sirago SS-485. After this extensive training period at sea, Mullinnix moored port side to Pier D in Berth J3D, Charleston, South Carolina next to USS Vogelgesand DD-862, USS Harold J. Ellison DD-864, and USS Everglades AD-24. After a short liberty visit, Mullinnix steamed out of Charleston on 14 February and returned to Norfolk on 16 February.

On 27 February, the ship steam towards Virginia Capes Operations Areas 9 and 15 in accordance with Virginia Capes Ops AREA Coordinator Message 262224Z of 4 February, returning pier side later the same day only to return to sea on 28 February. Mullinnix exercised with USS Bearss DD-654 and USS Sirago.

The Ash Wednesday Storm of 1962 occurred on March 6–8, 1962 along the mid-Atlantic coast of the United States. Also known as the Great March Storm of 1962, it was considered by the U.S. Geological Survey to be one of the most destructive storms ever to affect the mid-Atlantic states. Classified as a level 5 or Extreme Nor'easter by the Dolan-Davis scale for classification of Atlantic Nor'easters it was one of the ten worst storms in the United States in the 20th century. It lingered through five high tides over a three-day period, killing 40 people, injuring over 1,000, and causing hundreds of millions in property damage in six states.

The bow plunged, then rose, then fell again, passing a wall of green water. The helmsman, a salty old dog - BM3 with 16 years in, was fighting the helm with all his strength and experience. All of a sudden, the ship took a hard roll close to 30 degrees, which pitched many sailors to the deck and produced screams from the mess decks as the soup sluiced out of the large cooking pots. The Mullinnix righted herself and readied for the next wave, and the next, and the next.

The meal was to be critter fritters - fried mystery meat. Food would have to wait, with the massive kettles, knives, dishes, and other equipment breaking loose and being violently strewn about, left over mystery meat sandwiches was the flavor of the day.

The seas were so tall that the bridge lost sight of the Randolph, one of the "long-hull" Essex-class ships, in the troughs while only about 2 miles away from her.

Having kept himself out of trouble and focused on his duties during the two Med cruises, now BM Second Class Jonathan "DD" Kramer nursed the last of his lukewarm coffee, while watching one of his BMSNs puke his guts out.

"Hey Brady, you smoke a big-ass Cuban cigar, will help your sea sickness," offered Kramer.

"Go Fuck Yourself!" No sooner had Brady uttered the words than a particularly fearsome wallow made him go a deeper shade of green, running towards the aft head.

"Fucking pollywogs," laughed Kramer.

The ship was pitching heavily and rolling steadily in the 25- to 35-degree range. She took an unusually big roll to starboard and Kramer's feet slipped out from under him. He found himself hanging onto the handrail. As the ship rolled back, he looked around to see where FGT2 McGhee was. He had wrapped himself around the pedestal of the signal light and was hanging on with all the strength that he possessed. As they straightened up, he looked towards the next wave. Kramer and McGhee couldn't believe their eyes as they looked up at the white wave cresting against the blackened sky. The big wave laid the ship over again. The pair felt seawater around their angles. Surely it was spray and not dipping into the sea. As she slowly came back, Kramer hoped there was not a second rogue wave waiting for them.

She returned to D&S Piers on 9 March.

The ship was once again at sea on 22 March with her old steaming mate USS Randolph CVS-15. The surface ships were exercising with USS Grampus SS-523 while conducting sonar searches.

Mullinnix exercised with USS Sam Houston SSBN-609 on 1-4 April. Sam Houston, an Ethan Allen-class submarine, was the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for Sam Houston (1793–1863), President of the Republic of Texas.

On the afternoon of 5 April, she entered Wilmington, North Carolina. At 1600, the Mayor of Wilmington made an official call on Captain H. S. Graves, COMDESRON 32, and the Commanding Officer, William Shaw.

GO TO Liberty Call Wilmington, North Carolina 1962

The ship steamed from Wilmington on 9 April, in route to Norfolk, arriving at 1057 on 10 April. A few days later, she entered dry dock for routine maintenance. The following report was provided the CO on 16 April:

"The underwater body paint appears in good condition, only a few areas are peeling away in the vicinity of overboard discharges. The paint on the rudders is almost entirely removed. All spots left by the previous docking will be touched up and the defects noted will be corrected during this availability. There are several bolts missing from the retaining rings around the port and starboard rudder posts. These will be replaced by the shipyard at this time. The cavitation previously noted and repaired by the shipyard during the interim availability is again present but does not seem serious enough to warrant additional expenditures for repairs at this time. The fairing strip on the sonar dome is being renewed by the shipyard. All sea valves and sea chests appear in excellent material condition and no work will be done on these at this time."

At 1400 on 18 April, flooding commenced in the dry dock. By 1637, the ship’s stern passed over the sill, steaming towards D&S Piers under power from 1B and 2A boilers, #2 ships service generator, and under the watchful eye of Navy pilot W. D. Rice. After refueling at D&S Piers, the ship loaded 4 Mk. 32 Mod 2 warshots and 3 Mk. 32 Mod plus 2 exercise shots from USS Shenandoah.

The next day, the ship set off to sea for the coast of North Carolina to rendezvous with Task Unit 81.8.2 in accordance with COMASWGRU ALFA Op-Order 5-62. She exercised with ships from COMDESON 32 including sister ship USS Jonas Ingram DD-938. The Jonas Ingram has the distinction of being sunk by the first live fire test of the Mark 48 ADCAP torpedo during a SINKEX on 23 July 1988.

Saturday, 21 April, found the ship performing sonar calibration exercises with USS Sirago SS-485. During ASW exercises on 24 April, the ship fired hedgehogs and torpedoes. The ship returned to D&S Piers on 3 May.

On 17 May the ship was underway for Baltimore, Maryland in accordance with CINCLANTFLT Deployment Schedule 03120, arriving at Anchorage "C", Annapolis Roads, Annapolis, Maryland later in the day. On the morning of 18 May, she made her way to Broadway Pier, Baltimore. Other ships present included USS Vulcan AR-5 and USS Threadfin SS-410.

GO TO Liberty Call Baltimore, Maryland 1962

Early on the morning of 21 May the ship was making preparations for getting underway though she was a bit undermanned. At the 0730 muster a total of 10 sailors were AWOL. A few minutes before the ship got underway at 0758, four seaman and 1 fireman managed to stagger on board. What a night it was in Baltimore.

She made a brief stop at Bloodsworth Island, Maryland at 1309 to take on gun fire support observers. Once at sea, the ship commenced firing to port for calibration. With the calibration completed, the ship commenced firing competitive shore fire support exercises expending 49 rounds of 5"/54 AA common projectiles with no casualties.

On 22 May Mullinnix was steaming with Task Unit 83.2.4 consisting of USS Stormes DD-780 and USS Norfolk DL-1.

Maybe a sign of things to come, Mullinnix made radar contact at 1048 on 26 May. At 1127 the contact was identified as being of the registry of the Soviet Union Auxiliary Navy with the name "SHTRM" in Russian and "STORM" in English painted on the pilothouse. The ship was observed with 39 persons on deck with some taking pictures of Mullinnix. The vessel was configured as a trawler but outfitted with many high and medium frequency antennas plus three direction finding antennas. The Navy's evaluation was "electronic intelligence gathering ship." The vessel flew an ensign with a blue field with an upper left hand corner being white with a red star and a hammer and sickle inscribed. There appeared to be a white ball and the design of an oil derrick in lower right hand corner.

With the blue-black sky bruised with garish clouds, Mullinnix closed on the vessel to about 500 yards and circled once taking pictures. At 1141, Mullinnix returned to regain her previous station. Had Mullinnix uncovered a Russian mission in preparation for the Cuban Missile Crisis in October? With every modern aid to navigation the sea could be nearly as chancy as it was for Sinbad.

On 30 May at 1330, the ship experienced a casualty to its Mk. 19 gyro compass. She commenced steering by magnetic compass. Repairs were completed and the Mk. 19 was back on line by 1358. Having completed the exercises and training, under an iron sky, she moored at Pier 21, Beth 211, D&S Piers at 1639 on 31 May.

The ship spent some time in Norfolk. The sailors that were married, loved it of course. The singe sailors? Not so much. Locals viewed sailors on leave as marauding hordes, out to get drunk, start fights, wreck property, and despoil the womenfolk. An uneasy truce frequently existed, with the area’s permanent residents paying lip service to the military’s being a welcome addition to the locale even as they regarded its personnel with barely disguised suspicion and mistrust, and the military folks sensing, if not openly experiencing, this lack of hospitality.

Between getting drunk every night, the crew enjoyed horse-cock sandwiches - made with mystery meat masquerading as bologna, or the legendary 'tube steak', aka 'cylindrical sirloin' or 'fillet of mule tool'.

Mags wasn't immune to this pattern as he was missing Debbie in the worst way. Out on the strip, he felt something scraping across his tongue, but was unable to taste it. Is it possible to burn out taste buds? Sally, the beer maid, was standing behind him with fresh refills. This 300-pound woman was starting to look hot, just like the nuclear waste he was eating! Was it possible that chili was an aphrodisiac?

The Red Hart bar was packed as tight as Lucky Strikes. The place was like a cave, a dank grotto in the very bowels of the strip. The ceiling was 20 feet tall with not a breath of clean air. The air was heavy with cigs and the smell of women's perfume and hot bodies. It smelled like rock n' roll and sex.

I freshly minted Ensign poked Mags in the shoulder, "Hey sailor, do you have change for a dollar?"

"Sure, buddy."

"That's no way to address an officer! Now let's try it again! Do you have change for a dollar?"

"No, SIR!" answered Mags.

"I can't get drunk with you, but I can maintain drunk with you," offered his shipmate sitting next to him. Holly cow, did he miss Debbie.

_______________

On July 10th, 1962, the Soviet commander of all military forces in Cuba, and his entire staff, left Moscow for Havana. The senior officers are dressed in civilian clothing, all disguised as engineers, agricultural experts and drainage technicians in route to assist the Cubans in a massive humanitarian aid program.

In mid-July the dry cargo ship Maria Ulyanova slipped her mooring quietly and sailed from Murmansk for the port of Cabanas, scheduled to arrive on 26 July. She was to be the first ship of what would surge to a total of eighty-five cargo ships and transports to depart from ports all around the Soviet Union carrying medium- and intermediate-range ballistic missiles and other military equipment to Cuba. Operation Anadyr had begun.

_______________



The crew didn't know it at the time, but on 5 August, they'd lost one of their all-time favorite movie stars, pinup girls, and Playboy cover girls. Screen icon Marilyn Monroe was found dead in bed at her Los Angeles home. The 36-year-old actress' body was discovered in the early hours of the morning by two doctors who were called to her Brentwood home by a concerned housekeeper. The doctors were forced to break into Miss Monroe's bedroom after being unable to open the door. She was found lying naked in her bed with an empty bottle of Nembutal sleeping pills by her side. The local coroner, who visited the scene later, said the circumstances of Miss Monroe's death indicated a "possible suicide".

Her 1954 marriage to baseball star Joe DiMaggio lasted just nine months and on 29 June 1956 the star married playwright Arthur Miller. But that marriage ended in 1961. Miss Monroe's romantic life has long been the subject of speculation and she has been linked with President Kennedy. Millions of fans around the world were deeply shocked by the star's premature and tragic death.

An occasional first issue of Playboy would periodically appear somewhere on the ship - only briefly, only on rare occasions, but there existed 'more than one copy' stowed away in small safe cervices that only their owners knew where. Her likeness would appear on five additional Playboy covers in the coming years.

To be continued...

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GO TO Unitas III - 1962

GO TO Liberty Call Key West, Florida 1962
GO TO Liberty Call Wilmington, North Carolina 1962
GO TO Liberty Call Baltimore, Maryland 1962

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