Sorrells, Roger, GMCM

Best Friends
John Wilson GM2 (Deceased)
Darel Harmon GM2 (Deceased)
Hendrix GM1
King (Ski) GM1

Best Moment
Advancing from 3rd class GM to 1st class GM in three years.
Getting orders to Gunnery B School at Great Lakes, Ill. and then training for Guided Missile Launching System MK-10.

Worst Moment
After loading about 50 tons of dry milk , in Alexandrea Egypt, destined for Mombassa Kenya, we tangled with a cargo ship in preparation to transit the Suez Canal. Our starboard screw traveled up several feet of the cargo ships port anchor chain, when the civilian pilot onboard ordered full speed ahead when we were drifting toward the cargo ship. We were lifted out of the water as our starboard screw walked up the chain until it broke. The loose chain slammed back onto our faintail where the sea and anchor detail were standing. Fortunately no one got hurt. As a result of this misshapp, we had to remain in the straits until a sister ship came up from the Red Sea so we could transfer all the dry milk to it. Enough anchor chain was pulled up by using our after 5"/38cal twin gun mount as a winch, and civilian divers cutting with torches underwater, and laid onto the fantail, so we could transit to Malta using ony one screw, to replace the damaged starboard screw. I think we were there about two weeks in a floating dry dock.

Other Memories

The Cold War Years
1959 To 1962

1959

On May 8 Soley began a two-week operation with USS Essex and USS Saratoga off the Florida Coast returning to Norfolk in mid-May. Soley then participated in INTEX exercises in the South Atlantic with a visit to Mayport, Florida for the Memorial Day weekend. The ship returned to the Norfolk area in early June to participate in TRAMIDLEX, an amphibious exercise involving midshipmen. During this period Soley was involved in a collision with a whale which severely damaged her sonar dome, requiring replacement at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard beginning on July 1st.

On August 15 CDR Richard Flournoy, Jr. assumed duties as Commanding Officer of Soley.

On September 11 Commander Destroyer Flotilla FOUR presented Soley with the Battle Efficiency "E" for 1959. This was the second consecutive year that Soley received this award. At the same time the ship received the DESLANT Operations Department "E" and the Communications "C" for excellence.

The remainder of 1959 was devoted to Hunter-Killer ASW operations along the Atlantic Coast until December when the ship returned to Norfolk for the holiday period.

1960

April and May found Soley conducting operations in the Virginia Capes area with Task Group 83.4, one of the COMASWDEFORLANT anti-submarine warfare commands. Following this tour the ship took part in the 1960 Midshipmen Cruise with port visits to Halifax, Nova Scotia, and New York City.

August found Soley along the Atlantic Coast developing hold-down tactics in anti-submarine operations, again operating with Task Group 83.4, USS Lake Champlain (CVS-39), and USS Wasp (CVS-18). The ship also underwent an INSURV inspection during this period.

During the remainder of 1960 Soley operated in the Cape Canaveral area with USS Patrick Henry (SSBN-599) conducting Polaris missile tests. She witnessed the first successful firing of four Polaris missiles from a submerged submarine.

1961

On January 9 Soley was underway for Operation Springboard 61 during which she visited ports in San Juan, Puerto Rico and Port Everglades, Florida. Upon return to the Norfolk area in February, Soley entered the Norfolk Naval Shipyard for her regularly scheduled overhaul and was fitted with new air search radar, torpedo tubes, and sonar gear.

With overhaul completed in May, Soley was enroute to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba for refresher training when her Division was ordered to the Dominican Republic area on June 3rd for possible evacuation operations resulting from the assassination of Rafael Trujillo, longtime dictator of the Republic.

During 1961, CDR Oscar N. Hibler, Jr. assumed command of Soley. CDR Hibler was a native of Houston, Texas, a graduate of Rice Institute, and attended the University of Texas. Recently was assigned to the Office of Legislative Affairs in Washington.

The ship returned to Norfolk on August 1 for a pre-deployment tender availability and inspection before leaving once again for the Mediterranean Sea and duty with the Sixth Fleet on September 8. Enroute to the "Med", Soley visited Ponta Del Gada, Azores and a long list of ports in the Mediterranean including Crete, Malta, Naples, Genoa, Athens, and Alexandria, Egypt.

1962

The beginning of the year found Soley deployed to the Middle East for a two-month tour. A visit to Massawa, Eritrea gave the Soley the opportunity to participate in ceremonies honoring Emperor Haile Selassie during his visit to attend graduation exercises at the Ethiopian Naval Academy. While in the Persian Gulf, Soley received a distress call from the S.S. Prima Maersk that had sustained a flash fire in her engine room. The ship responded to the call and was alongside the stricken vessel within two hours. An injured crewman of the merchantman was taken aboard for transportation to medical facilities in Bahrain. The Middle East tour was completed in March after port visits to Saudi Arabia, Iran, Aden and Das Island, Trucial Oman.

Upon returning to the Mediterranean, Soley visited Golf Juan, France before returning to Norfolk with other ships of Destroyer Squadron TWO. After only a week in her home port the ship was underway to participate in a review by President John F. Kennedy, followed by gunfire support operations during amphibious exercises on Onslow Beach, N.C.

Throughout the ensuing summer of 1962, Soley operated in the Virginia Capes area and also participated in a special NASA operation in connection with LCDR Scott Carpenter's earth orbit. The ship made a visit to Providence, Rhode Island on July 4th and later had twenty-day shipyard availability for installation of new equipment.

I departed for my next assignment to Great Lakes IL. for advanced Gunners Mate School.