When
I tell people about being in the Navy, they almost always ask about getting
seasick. I am not going to lie; I was worried about this a good deal. While in
gas turbine school, several of the instructors talked about getting sick and
puking in the engine room.
We
had an instructor who had a nickname, “The Green Hornet.” This was because he
was known to get sick any time the ship left port. Since I had initially
planned to stay in for a career, 20 years, I did not want to have a moniker
like that stick.
When
I reported to USS Scott, she was in a
maintenance period, so for two months, we were tied to a pier at a small
shipyard. Every once in a while, the ship would move because of the tide or a
large container ship passing. The day came for us to actually leave and head
out to sea. That morning I was a nervous wreck. The rest of the engineers were constructive
with suggestions. Mostly keep busy and keep a full stomach. Then the most
prominent advice, don’t eat the greasy lunch the cooks were making.
Other
than some initial movement, it was hard to actually tell that we were moving. Once
we made it out of, the harbor things did start to happen, but I was too busy in
the engine room to notice much. Also, the engine room is below the waterline,
and it does not move much. Later that day, the ship did do some full speed runs
with maximum rudder turns. That was rather interesting.
I
never did get sick any time we went out. I would feel a little uneasy each
time, but the feeling passed, and everything was right with the world. Once I
was close to getting sick, but as luck would have it, mid rats were being
served. Midrats is a late meal for those on a watch. They had cold cut
sandwiches, so nothing heavy. That did the trick, and I was right after that.
Things
did get a little interesting on our North Atlantic cruise with rough water.
Probably the wildest thing that happened on that deployment was taking my
advancement exam while the ship rocked and rolled. We slid around the deck a
little in the crew rec room while taking the test. But, I did pass, so that was
the important thing. We did hit a bad storm while leaving Norway; pictures below.
Yes,
looking back, I can say I was definitely glad I never have an issue. We did
have one young engineer who was flown off the ship to the carrier because he
was sick. He eventually was flown back to the states. I never did hear what
happened to him, but he was no good to us in his rack.
Many
years later, on a cruise, I was internally laughing at the people complaining
about being seasick on a smooth day. It was amusing to me, but hey, I get, not
everyone can hack it.
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