USS MULLINNIX DD-944

Valparaiso, Chile 1962

Valparaiso, Chile (unknown year)

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Excerpt from "The Last Gun Ship - History of USS Mullinnix DD-944"
A Historical Novel By Frank A. Wood

Valparaiso is a beautiful seaside town. It is a jumble of pastel buildings and spontaneous architecture covering 41 hills that jockey for attention with its beaches, crescent-shaped bay and rocky cliffs that melt into the sparkling sea. The city is known by international sailors as "Little San Francisco" or "The Jewel of the Pacific."

Spring time in Valparaiso was bustling and the beaches were filled with local residents and vacationing families from Santiago. Very few spoke English.

Navigating through the town requires passing narrow serpentine roads that snake above the coastline. Or if you didn’t suffer from vertigo, you could choose to use the unusual system of funicular elevators (near-vertical cable cars). Fortunately, most of the sailor-friendly hangouts were near the water's edge.

Near the top of any of the hills, the crew could look below and see Mullinnix tied to the military-only pier, boats bobbing in the harbor, and the stunning turquoise harbor's coastline.

To be continued...

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