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Clear the Bridge! |
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While attending Sub School, in 1959, we had our maiden voyage as soon to be unqualified pukes. We were shown how to clear the bridge and allowed to practice. Well, as I dropped down the hatch into the control room, I hit my knee on one of the ladder rungs. I was ok, but the knee was sore for a few days. After graduation I went to Pearl Harbor and was assigned to the Sabalo SS302. The boat had just returned from depth charge training. Myself and a young radioman were greeted as “New Fresh Meat” My early days on the Sabalo was interesting because I was the only black to be assigned to the boat for a long time or in fact maybe the first one. (I never checked that point out). I did not have anything to prove, I just did my jab and worked on my quals as I was supposed to do. On my first trip to sea, I was assigned as a lookout and helms man. Once we were at sea the COB wanted to ensure that the New Meat knew how to clear the bridge. He one of the seasoned lookouts explained the maneuver and the COB warned us about the closeness of the plotting table to the ladder. A Chief engineman said “Don’t worry I have never seen anyone hit their back on the table” We proceeded to the bridge and were given the order to clear the bridge. I was the last one off of the bridge and went smartly down the hatch into the conning tower. I spun to my right, bent down and grabbed the rail and then proceeded to slide down the ladder into the control room. Shortly after making this fine maneuver, my downward motion stopped and I was still looking into the conning tower. I then looked down and saw my size 12 shoes on top of the plotting table. Steve Shelby IC3, 8/59 – 6/60 Sabalo SS302, Retired LCDR Email sshelby_hi@hotmail.com Want to submit a humorous story? Email
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