we saw that...

m/v antalina crew safe; reportedly returned to port arthur, texas

when we first learned of the plight of the m/v antalina, a freighter ship stranded at sea without power and forced to ride out hurricane ike, our thoughts and prayers immediately went out to the crew.

it brought back to mind our u.s. navy days when we were returning to our homeport at naval station norfolk, virginia from naval station guantanamo bay cuba. at gitmo, our ship and crew had just undergone intensive eight week refresher training (reftra) which was pretty awful itself.

somewhere between cuba and norfolk we went through a tropical depression or tropical storm or hurricane dont remember which one, (probably tropical storm andrew) but even it it was just a 'mere' tropical depression or disturbance -- that was more than enough to make you never want to experience anything like it again.

despite the fury of the sea, we never were in fear for our lives in that our ship was going to fail us by capsizing or breaking apart and sinking. our ship an 11,500 ton, nuclear powered guided missile cruiser which had just undergone an 18 month long complex overhaul (coh) by the good men and women at the norfolk naval shipyard, portsmouth virginia, (hence the reason we were undergoing reftra) was at the top of her game. we were at the top of our game back then too.

one of the necessary precautions that the old man ordered was material condition zulu set throughout the ship. this meant that all of the watertight doors and hatches had to be shut and dogged down. this made it even more of a challenge to get around as you had to stop and open a watertight door then close it and dog it down behind you. try doing this about every thirty feet whilst enduring heavy pitches and rolls.

what was most interesting about the whole experience was going up and down ladder wells. when the ship heaved upward you would feel heavy like a weight was pushing down against you. then when the ship came crashing down you would feel very light and could almost fly up the ladder. this effect was most pronounced the more forward you were.

so while our experience riding out a storm at sea was harrowing, we could only imagine what the men of the m/v antalina were going through. especially, with it being reported that their ship had no power, propulsion and loss of steerage.

that storm wasnt the most frightening experience we had in the navy. the most frightening event was a flood and fire in the number one emergency diesel generator room. the no.1 edg was a rather large space slightly forward and below our berthing compartment. it contained a huge diesel engine perhaps, the size of a diesel locomotive engine.

late one night a hatch or valve or something broke down there and the flooding caused a class charlie fire. a shipmate, a turd chaser from new jersey, nearly drowned making repairs. he had to be medevaced off the ship. the next time the eagle shit his division officer was on the mess deck taking up a collection for his family who had came in to be with him. his d.o. told us that due to the extent of our shipmates injuries and oxygen deprivation he was reduced to a comatose, vegetative state.