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Other Memories
1966 LOYALTYNEWSLETTER The USS LOYALTY (MSO 457) is back in Subic Bay after her second patrol along the coast of Viet Nam She now has 6 days to get ready for a shorter third patrol after which she will head for dry dock and some well deserved extended beach timeo LOYALTY'S most recent patrol lasted exactly one month from the day the ship left Subic bay to the day she pulled in again, and although there were not as many' junks encountered as on our first patrol, the men of the LOYALTY were never at a loss for things to do to keep busy. The patrol was memorable for many reasons. It was the last patrol for two "old vets LTJG Satterthwaite and LTJG Jamison It was the first patrol aboard the LOYALTY for two new officers, ENS McGRUTHER and ENS Whitman both of whom reported aboard only hours before the ship got underway. Mr.McGRUTHER relieved as the Supply Officer and MR.ABBATE moved from Supply to Operations Officer. Mr. Whitman relieved as Engineering Officer Upon our return to Subic Day both Mr.Satterthwaite and Mr. Jamison were piped over the side as they retired from active duty andreturned to the US. LOYALTY hit trouble within hours of the time she left, as the winds blew aan the seas rolled, and many of the crew headed for thegunwales and were sea sick in a very unroyal and unsalty manner Naturally those who lasted the storm had the delight or jeering the rest, and such hardy souls as GIBSON SN, WHITNEY BM2, and KENNEDY EM2 were noticed leading the chorus of catcalls Northway EM2, complained that the weather was to rough Unfortunately this weather was the straw that broke the camels back, and the red-bearded STODDARD CS2" had to be transferred off the ship due to chronic sea sickness The entire crew joined in wishing him good luck, and all aboard shall miss him most sea sick of all was not any man however, but our mtotor Whaleboat The MwB perked up on occasion but usually picked the most embarrassing times to get sick, inc1uding the time which left the Captain stranded ashore for hours after a liaison meeting" The boat took a severe chewing-out for that one After three rough days in transit across the South China Sea, Most of the crew had regained their sea legs and the sight of land again was reassuring. even if it was Viet Nam. We were all set to dig in and board junks By the hundreds, but junks were simply nowhere to be found' this time Scattered fisherman Who ventured out far enough to be picked up were stricken With fear at the sight of the ferocious...looking DAVISON DC2, leaping aboard cormplete with 45 and flak jacket Others of our crew waited armed along the sides ready tor any suspicious move by the fishermen, but the most menacing move any or them ever made was to reach out gratefully for cigarettes offered them The lack of junks to board gave us a chance to catch a full night's sleep on occasion, but never did we really relax" Loyalty Newsletter Page 2 BURRIS BM2, and his band of deck seamen showed the seventh fleet how as on three successive occasions LOYALTY broke her own record of best time rigging to fuel from the USS CHIPOLA. NORTHWAY EN2, complained that the engineers were doing all the work and the deck hands were getting all the credit But, the engineers got their chance when LOYALTY carried out her 4-hour full power run Credit was due all down the line for an outstanding performance, and the hard work of MillER EN3, HARRIES FN, ENGLERT ENFN, and PETERSON FN, was as important as the planning at the highest level ORNELAS SK3, proved himself a jack of all trades as he switched with ease from Boatswain's Mate of the watch to a regular CIC watch stander, while still keeping up his primary duty as assistant storekeeper ROBERTS SN, assumed in fine order the work and responsibility heaped upon him by the loss of STODDARD CS2 and PETTERs SN, showed noticeable improvement as a helmsmen. WEST STS2, claimed thet title of RT King of the Pacific and MURPHY RD3, turned in an excellent job in CIC. PURRCELL QMl and BURRIS BM2, proved themselves excellent ship-handlers in their somewhat navel roles asenlisted underway OOD'S FLEETWOOD RD2, when asked if he would like any- thing put in this release said, "A'aaaaaaah, wait one." , The campain for "Mr Beautiful Beard" continued, hotly contested by RICHARDSON YN2, SHELL EMFA,' JOHNSON BM2, ROSENBERG RD3, and of course the Smith Brothers" DAVISON DC2 and PETERSN FN, The cruise was navel for another reason at 0012 on June the 2nd, Am RIGHT SN, was noticed not to have a smile on his face He quickly recovered. The usual strains of a long patrol told as fuel began to run low at one -- point, To our pleasant surprise Holiday Routine was called one aftermoon to slow down and conserve fuel. Who could complain? NORTHWAY EN2 could;he had the watch" JACOBSON EN3, kept the evaporator working like a champ and water hours were never near being necessary But the boilers were in an ornery mood all trip and several times just flat out refused to put out hot water NORTHWAY offered to trade both boilers off for a bale of clean rags several times but no one would take them A middle-of-the week HoLiday Routine in eary July was welcomed, and in recognation of his bad luck and hard work NORTHWAY was granted exclusive rights to 08:30 Holiday Routine Quote 'Luke' "Either they want something out of me or they're making fun of me, No matter; at 0900 we began an approach on an Oiler for fuel and Holiday Routine was Over "More Benefits Shortly after the arrival aboard of a new but over-Sized ship's bell, WATT the super-cook, was seen slinking around the fantail with possible ideas of using the bell for a oneway BT drop.. Leemsmen BELEW EM2 considered taking a refresher math course after the XO asked him to," 53/64 once during an UNREP. Mr JAMISON respectfully declined to give a lecture on safe shiphandling after almost shaking hands with the helmsmen of a Panamanian freighter one night in the middle of the South China SEA. The weeks at sea began to tell as more equipment went down and stores dwindled Subic BAY was a welcome haven, but repaired and replenished we are ready and anxious to go to sea again. Time passes quickly at sea and when our upcoming patrol is over our deployment with the Seventh Fleet will be more than half over. PRESENT MARKET TIME OPERATION LOYALTY has been on Market Time only two weeks and she has been working hard During her first two weeks at the Market. LOYALTY has fired 540 rounds of 40 MM, 1380 rounds of 50 caliber" and 83 rounds of 30 caliber ammunition at various targets., LOYALTY'S boarding and searching crews have detected 914 junks invetigated 401 junks.. and boarded 239 junks 84.7 hours ot these two weeks have been devoted to boarding alone" This is actual time on board the junks and does not involve time going to them or returning On 14 April LOYALTY detected 181 junks, investigated 72 and boarded 69 This involved 14 hours of boarding time. During her free time LOYALTY has been involved in 3 refuelings 1 rearming, 2 lightline transters, 2 boat transfers, and spent half a day in NhaTrang exchanging Laison Otficers., MIGHTY MINESWEEP SILLENCES VIET CONG GUNS -- On 6 April 1966" LOYALTY was patrolling approximately one mile off the beach inspecting junks., At 2055, LOYALTY attempted to stop a junk tor inspectionby flashing her signal light When the junk failed to stop, LOYALTY fired a few warning shots with one ot her fifty caliber machine guns. Immediately after the warning shots were fired, LOYALTY was taken fire from the beach by what was believed to be a thirty-seven millimeter gun LOYALTY answered this fire with her forty millimeter gun and one fifty caliber machine gun LOYALTY pounded the beach for about twenty minutes and the thirty-seven millimeter only fired a few rounds before it was silenced .The amount of damage done by LOYALTY was unknown. LOYALTY SUPPORTS ARMY -- On 8 April 1966 at approximately 1800 LOYALTY received a call from an Army L-19 spotter aircraft saying that she was under tire from four Viet Cong on the beach and requesting that LOYALTY assist her LOYALTY arrived at the scene 20 minutes later Four Viet Cong could be seen hiding behind some rocks at the waters edge and just above them appeared to be some camoflage netting" LOYALTY commenced fire with her forty millimeter, fifty caliber. and thirty caliber machine guns LOYALTY fired 20 rounds of 40 MM 850 rounds of fifty caliber and 750 rounds of thirty caliber., When LOYALTY ceased firing the camoflaged netting was destroyed three Viet Cong were confirmed dead and the fourth was probably killed FlNAL STORY FOR END OF LOYALTY'S DEPLOYMENT U.S.S LOYALTY (MSO 457) is heading home to her home port of LongBeach, California, almost ten months after her departure early last February, She will not be home for another two weeks yet, but the end is now in sight. In the time 'that she has been gone she has visited , the Philippines. Japan, Taiwan, Okinawa. and Guam, and has included Nha Trang, Da Nang, Vung Tau and An Thoi as her ports of call in South Vietnam. Most of her deployment was spent on patrol off the coast of South Vietnam as a unit of Market Time operations In all, from the day she left Subic Bay for her first patrol until her return to Subic after the last patrol. a total of" five, LOYALTY spent 84.3% of the days underway, spent 125 days on Market Time. travelling 20,160 miles during those patrols, and at one time or another was within view of the entire coastline of the Republic of Vietnam Also during that time she was involved in 107 underway replenishments of one form or another, making rendezvous with everything from Vietnamese Navy Junks and US Coast Guard Cutters to the big US fleet oilers, reefers, and cargo and ammunition ships" LOYALTY served in many capacities, delivering messages. shuttling personnel, relaying ammuniton and mail, ! providing stores and repair parts, administering aid to US and Vietnamese wounded, and contributing to the United States people to people program Operationally she investigated almost 1000 junks provided gunfire support, served as a communications command ship, chased down countless unidentified contacts, took part in one Fleet Mine Test, and as a grand finale participated in a dramatic but exhausting search and rescue mission From Long Beach to Long Beach LOYALTY will have spent 245 out of 309 days At sea from a total or 79.28% She wil have travelled some 41,653 miles She will have used 398,516 gallons of fuel worth $99,629. In the area of communications she will have received 3,718 messages and sent 1,553 Her crew will have seen nearly a 35%, turnover of personnel with 24 enlisted and 3 officers having left. Almost one half of her crew (a total of 30) have been advanced in rate. Along with hundreds of dollars of souvenirs and gifts, LOYALTY sailors will be bring home some memories to last a lifetime, The midnight GQs the successful firefight with the beach 'Which resulted in three Viet Cong kills, the "attack" when she screened junks, the hundreds or junks and trawlers inspected, the action filled patrols and the long lonely ones. They will remember the long hours and hard work, but they will remember too that LOYALTY always met her com-mitments, was always ready to go and had less equipment down for less time than any ship of her type. It has been a long and hard de-ployment, but one of which all aboard can be proud. Robert Gladwin RD3 I had been on the Loyalty about 6 weeks as the leading CS and aslo senior supply type, we were getting ready to deploy to market time and the skipper informed me that since we didnt have a ships bell, I should order one to be picked up in subic, needless to say I got right on that. If you knew our skipper it was the best thing to do. I found the description and ordering info for ships bells and fired off an order. After a lengthy Market time we arrived in Subic for upkeep and liberty. The following Sunday I had the duty as supply PO and duty cook, when the quarterdeck watch, (we were tied up Chinesee style so the QD was on the fantail.) said I had some stores on the pier. Since we had already loaded groceries and most all other parts and things I was curios as to what it was. When I arrived on the QD I found a small supply warehouse tractor and trailer with a crane waiting for me. On the trailer was a box about the size of a small car, after seeing this I called the OD and he (without looking at anything) told me to get it onboard and sign for it, which I did. After the tractor and crane left the OD came to the OD and said lets have a look. We took the top boards off and lo and behold it was our bell, from a ww2 cruiser. Had we tried to put it on the ship it would have tipped use over. To top it off the supply depot wouldn't take it back so we did our entire deployment with the da** thing on the fantail until we got back to Long Beach. BGWatt MSC RET USN
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