Rick

My first time at gunnery practice was in USS Mullaney, a Fletcher class
Destroyer,  in 1966.  I was first Ensign up as Director Officer in the 5
inch gun  control director.  Immediately below and just aft of that director
was a 3 inch gun.  Ship's crew was exercising the secondary, 3 inch, guns
while we gunnery students were given the main 5 inch battery.  Just as I was
about to give the "shoot" order to shoot at the target sled the 3 inch
opened up.  I very nearly lost control of my bowels as that 3 inch went off
about 10 feet from my ear with out even knowing that they were going to
shoot.  I never did like 3 inch guns from that day on.  One of the
Vietnamese ships I was an advisor in had a 3 inch as a main gun.  I was
never able to get use to the hard crack of that gun.

Rick Seddon
McIntosh, NM, USA
-----Original Message-----
From: Rickard Parker <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Thursday, March 29, 2001 12:16 PM
Subject: Re: TWL auditions?


>> Mind is fogged this morning,  probably advanced dissociated sensibility
>but
>> wasn't Leman or Lehman a Sec of Navy  years ago.
>
>Lehman I think.  I believe it was he and the Commandant of the Marine Corp
>who had a race along the Potomac.  The Commandant running along the shore
>and the Secretary in a one-man racing shell.  I forgot who won.
>
>
>> And of course Oscar is the man overboard dummy  a much abused creature
who
>> normally hides in the bosun locker but is brought out every now and then
>for
>> the amusement of Ensigns.  He has drowned more times than not because of
>the
>> general incompetence of those  children.
>
>Yep.  When a man goes overboard the ship hauls up the letter "O" (Oscar)
>pennet when they look for him.  Thus the name for the dummy.
>
>One Coast Guard officer of my acquantaince, a woman, was known in Officer
>Candidate School as Deadeye because of her sharpshooting ability (never
>having fired a gun before she listened to instructions.)  When she was on a
>training cruise they threw over a barrel with a radar reflector for
practice
>with the 3 inch gun.  "Who'll go first?" the gunnery officer asked.
>"Deadeye!" every said.  Forgeting exactly what to do she asked "What do I
>do?"  "Get the gun pointed at it and give the order to fire."  End of
>practice, there were no more barrels.  She got a direct hit and sank the
>thing with the first shot.  Of course someone like this gets the desk job
at
>HQ.
>
>Regards,
>   Rick Parker
>
>
>
>