T&T: Southbound News..

[Rich Gano]

It's of small importance here, but in the Navy "touching ground" is death to
a career.  Touching includes clipping the ground with propellers or your
sonar dome, etc.  Usually, the resulting damage is not something you can
hide, but in 1972 I was on a destroyer that I am sure had its prop tips (you
could feel bumping where I was on the bridge) in the mud one night while
dodging around a dredge in San Diego Bay.  The brand new skipper gathered a
number of us "responsible" officers (I was Junior Officer of the Deck but at
that time not conning or navigating - just responsible for monitoring the
10-12 enlisted people on watch) in his cabin afterward to read us the riot
act.  Never heard another word about it.  That was one lucky skipper.

When I had command of a towing and salvage ship later on, I was the only one
of eight such skippers in the Pacific Fleet that year not to get some
derogatory comment (pretty much career ending) in his service record due to
one sort of mishap or another.  I'll never tell why I might have....

Now I routinely "touch ground" (but not with props due to a deep keel) as I
poke around the shallows of our bays and bayous, and all are pretty well
anticipated and approached in a drift vice under power.  I never explore
shallow areas on a falling tide.

Rich Gano
CALYPSO (GB-42 #295)
Southport, FL