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February 23, 2004

On Deck

Years ago while on vacation in St. Thomas, I was taking an after-dinner stroll and found myself headed toward the pier. Earlier that morning I looked out my hotel window and saw a ship in the distance. I didn't think much about it at the time, but soon found that the same ship I'd seen earlier was now at the pier in front of me.

I'd never seen any type of ship before and immediately wanted to get closer to it and take pictures. After snapping a few photos, I looked up and saw someone standing on the deck looking down. Without hesitation I yelled up, "hey, can I board?" The guy on the ship's deck told me to wait while he asked his commanding officer. He soon returned with his CO, and I was summoned to come up. I was thrilled. I wanted to see what it was like up there, I couldn't inhale it all quickly enough and my curiosity was in high speed mode. I flew up the gangplank in my dress and heels (I'm sure that was an entertaining view from below) and was really excited to see everything.

Since it was evening, they couldn't give me a tour of the ship. I was disappointed yet still surprised that they even let me come aboard the ship, even if it was limited to the ship's deck. They didn't tell me much, except that the ship was a destroyer, and that I could stay up there a few minutes at the most.

I wanted some sort of souvenir before leaving, and asked my host where I could get one of the caps he was wearing. He told me the ship's store was closed, but that didn't deter me. I managed to talk him into a barter. I happily walked back down the gangplank of the destroyer with his cap and his address, and in exchange I sent him some magazines and calendars to distribute on board (I was working at Sports Illustrated at the time, and the bathing suit issue had just come out.) Months later, I received a letter from the guy, telling me all about the mission of the destroyer he was on and how long they'd be out to sea. I still have that letter, and in re-reading it, found that the guy's specialty for the Navy was computers. (Gee, no surprise there, eh?) When I googled the destroyer, the USS John Hancock, I found that it was decommissioned, but that it took part in the International Naval Review in NYC in 2000 (DUH. Who knew?)

For those of you who live near ports-of-call, seeing these ships is nothing new. For my friend Henry who's been a Navy man for many years, he's probably sitting back and laughing with the rest of you who have seen it all before, wondering what all the fuss is about. For me, this was a big deal and an entirely different experience. I wanted to see everything on the destroyer -- inside and out. I wanted to know how everything worked, I wanted full descriptions, I was a sponge waiting to fill up and overflow with facts. I have no idea where this curiosity and desire came from; after all, most women usually aren't interested in ships. And though I could easily get a quick fix by visiting the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum, it's just not the same thing. Perhaps one day I'll have the opportunity to tour a destroyer ... that would be really, really cool.

Cindy

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Comments

Brain matter deposited by: zed on February 23, 2004 12:32 PM

Brain matter deposited by: The Gray Monk on February 23, 2004 5:05 PM

Brain matter deposited by: Ted on February 24, 2004 1:48 PM