USS
Watts (DD-567)
Fletcher
Class
Destroyer
- Displacement 2924 Tons (Full), Dimensions, 376'
5"(oa) x 39' 7" x
13'
9" (Max)
- Armament 5 x 5"/38AA, 4 x 1.1" AA, 4 x 20mm AA,
10 x 21" tt.(2x5
- Machinery, 60,000 SHP; General Electric Geared
Turbines, 2 screws
- Speed, 38 Knots, Range 6500 NM @ 15 Knots
- Crew
273.
- Laid down by Seattle Tacoma Shipbuilding. March
26 1943.
- Launched December 31 1943 and commissioned April
29 1944.
- Decommissioned April 12 1946, recommissioned July
6 1951.
- Decommissioned September 26 1969.
- Stricken February 1 1974.
- Fate Sold August 16 1974 and broken up for scrap.
My Duties with USS
Watts
Sep 1963 -
Nov 1964
There
was a
military draft that was started during WWII and continued though
the Korean and the Vietnam Wars into the '70s. My
generation knew that basically we would all have to do some
military
time one way or
another. It was either military right after high school or right
after
college.
I grew up near Ft Lewis and McChord
AFB and
my
father was an Army Artillery Officer. I knew that I wanted
no part of the
Army. A classmate of mine told me that he was already drilling
with
the Naval
Reserve and after high school he would serve two years of active duty
and
that was it. It sounded interesting to me and I decided to join.
(It
was also a way to avoid being drafted.) I was 17 years old and
needed parent's permission so Dad came with me and counter signed the
endless paper work, however, I was sworn in the day after my 18th
birthday when Dad's signature was no longer required.
The
Naval Reserve Recruit Division in Tacoma was actually a detachment to
the
local reserve
ship, USS Watts (DD-567). Our drills were were every Tuesday
evening in the Reserve Center in Tacoma, WA, where we did all of the
marching and
classroom stuff that
regular recruits
did. We also go out to sea aboard the Watts for a couple of drill
weekends. My
first taste on the helm was on a mid watch with following seas off
the Washington coast in December '63 - I loved it. General
Quarters (GQ) was
another story. I was assigned as a powder passer in the
upper handling room of Mount 52.
It was "0" dark thirty as the ship was pitched and rolled in the the
rough seas off the Washington coast and the
thick smell of hydraulic oil and cordite filled the air. One of
the
fellows became very sea sick and couldn't take it. He just sat in
a corner with a waste can between his legs, so there was
that smell as well.
Ever
since then, whenever I smell cordite, it flashes a memory of that poor
fellow
heaving
up his toes.
I am fortunate having never been sea sick a day in my life.
In June of '94
I attended reserve Boot
Camp at NTC, San
Diego. It was sort of a compressed two week version of
regular Boot
Camp -
mostly the stuff we
couldn't do at the Reserve Center like, gas chamber drill, endless days
of PT
on the
grinder, etc. Upon completion of Boot Camp I was advanced to
SA.
In July of '94 I
officially joined the USS Watts Selected Reserve Crew and did my
first two week summer cruise. For some reason I was picked to
join the the
signal gang for the cruise. It was rather interesting. I
learned to read signal flags, but never got the hang of the signal
light. I
did learn how to recognize when some one falshed us and I knew how to
flash back "Alpha Sierra", which means "wait while I get some one who
can talk to
you." The signal gang were part of the "bridge coffee mess" which
was located in
the Sonar Shack which introduced me to the Sonar rate and it fascinated
me. With my musical training I had a good ear and perfect pitch
and I decided to strike for Sonar as soon as I made SN.
In Nov 1964 USS Watts was replaced by USS Marshal (DD 676)
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