Some photos I took 40 years ago are for sale on ebay but not by me.

[cyberdan]

Some photos I took 40 years ago are for sale on ebay but not by me. I hope this is OK on this particular forum.

When I was in the Navy, in the early 1970's, I was a photographer. One of my jobs was to record life on my ship and put out a Cruise book (just like a high school yearbook) The first book I worked on is for sale on ebay. Three of us put it together.

USS Camden AOE 2 Westpac Deployment Cruise Book Year Log 1970 71 Navy | eBay

I took most of the photos in the auction, but my favorite shot ever is also shown. A collision at sea. I was one deck down and heard the collision alarm so I grabbed my camera and ran up to the main deck as fast as possible. I was on a huge ship and this little ship came along side for fuel and got sucked in by our wake. As you can see in one photo two guys on my ship just watching the ship ram us. What you can't see in the auction photo are the guys on the other ship holding on for their life. In another shot I show the damage. Our ship took their anchor and punched it into their hull and broke the anchor chain.

This is the 1970-71 book. They do not have the 1971-72 book, I did that one completly by myself.

 

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[dieselram94]

That is cool! Sounds like quite an adventure aboard those ships!

 

[diggummup]

Cool! My dad was on the Intrepid in the mid 60's. He used to tell me stories of the hazings that took place when they crossed the equator. You know, pollywogs to shellbacks.

 

[cyberdan]

Cool! My dad was on the Intrepid in the mid 60's. He used to tell me stories of the hazings that took place when they crossed the equator. You know, pollywogs to shellbacks.

He wasn't fooling either. I crossed the line twice. The first time I decided not to go thru hell/hazing. Changed my mind the 2nd time. Just last month I was going thru some old paper and found my "shellback" card. They gave out cards telling when and where people became a Shellback, and it was signed by King Neptune too.

 

[CladSpends2]

The King Neptune signature should bring a pretty penny on Ebay.

 

[cyberdan]

The King Neptune signature should bring a pretty penny on Ebay.

Nope, not selling.

 

[TheMcs]

That's neat. Got me looking for my Dad's cruise book. He's a plankowner for USS Decature DD-936. They did a shakedown then the Med cruise '59-60.

A few years ago the DD 31 (post-conversion DD 936) was decommed and sunk outside Hawaii. A few of the crew were able to go aboard and retrieve some items beforehand. My Dad was in fire control, one of the guys took a brass barrel brush with him and sent it to me for my Dad. That was a cool Christmas present.

 

[SilverForBrains]

He wasn't fooling either. I crossed the line twice. The first time I decided not to go thru hell/hazing. Changed my mind the 2nd time. Just last month I was going thru some old paper and found my "shellback" card. They gave out cards telling when and where people became a Shellback, and it was signed by King Neptune too.

Hazing across the equator is still going strong in science and industry, I'd imagine the navy too! haven't been myself yet, but I know many others who have. I think they've make it easier over the years though, but it still sounds rough.

Very cool photos and great story