It was in 1950, when I was a newly qualified officer on the USS Irex
(SS-482), that we made an unusual landing at S/M Base NLON pier. It
was a late Friday afternoon return from sea, and we were given a pier
opposite Squadron 8 Headquarters, where Commodor Triebel ruled
as our boss. When the bow was approximately halfway up the pier, an
all back two-third
bell was ordered but misunderstood and all
ahead two-thirds
was answered. The OOD did not catch this error
until the ship—which already had considerable headway, picked up
even more speed. I had the anchor detail, but there was little we could
do at this point but to look on helplessly. A last minute back
emergency
bell was too late, and Irex's fleet bow plowed into
the concrete at the end of the pier with a resounding crash!
It seemed that every window in Squadron Headquarters opened as
heads appeared to identify the culprit. After another ten minutes
the ship was secured, the brow put over, and the Skipper went over
to the pier to look at the damage to the bow. As he stood looking
at the good sized hole in the bow buoyancy tank, a sailor came
dashing down from Squadron Headquarters. He rushed up to the Captain
and handed him an envelope. A message from the Commodore, Sir
.
The Skipper gingerly tore open the envelope, opened the sheet of
paper therein and read the following message:
Jesus!Triebel
My note:
Crashing into the pier was apparently a regular occurence. Usually, however, it was the wooden pier itself that was hit, and the sharp bow could slice far into it without serious damage. One time, however, the Irex did hit the concrete at the end, although this time far less dramatically than described by Captain Brittain above. However, in the first parking spot at the head of the pier was the luxurious car of one of the crew, perhaps that of Stan Wishnafsky, [this identification has been challenged] who took the style of his off-duty life very seriously. I don't know if memory is playing me false, but I recall that the fleet type bow that projected forward just managed to touch and break the car's windshield. I've always chucked when thinking of the insurance claim that suggested the windshield had been broken by a submarine!