SMALL OVERHAULS

We pulled into the ''yard'' in Portsmouth Naval Ship Yard for some repairs. They parked the Norton under the ''hammer head'' crane and yanked the barrels out of the five inch thirty eights for exchange and or repair as necessary. Since they were going to be doing a lot of welding on the Norton we had to remove all ordnance from the Norton. This included about a gillion 3 inch 70 ''fixed'' ammo shells. Now for you civies ...''Fixed ammunition'' is ammo that is all one piece in that the ''bullets'' look just like regular ''bullets'' except a lot bigger. In fact, these ''bullets'' looked pretty much like 30/30 ammunition you use for deer hunting except they were about 3 feet long as I recall and they were a variety of types. Some were AP.... ''armor piercing'' Some were ''star shells'' .. The type that exploded in the air and they had a parachute and glowing core that floated down and illuminated targets etc. Some were AA..''anti aircraft'' … These were the ones with a ''timer'' on the tip that is adjusted as the shell comes up the ''chain hoist'' and is loaded in the gun and it will travel so far after being fired and then explode. These shells had a ''rubber tip covering'' over the ''timer''.. We were instructed to carry the shells like a baby. One hand on the ''tip'' and your other hand over the ''butt'' of the shell and ''NEVER EVER TO DROP THEM OR BANG THE END OF THEM AGAINST ANYTHING'' because they could explode and mess up your white hat and your day for that matter.
Anyhow. We were unloading the shells as they were passed to us from the back of the gun tub below deck. The shells would come up in the ''shell hoist'' and be handed out thru a hatch way and we would carry them back to the fantail where they were loaded into protective cases and lifted off the ship for stowage. All was going well until they handed me a ''anti aircraft'' shell. As I stepped thru the hatch and out on to the main deck my hand sorta slid down from the tip of the shell and I kinda bumped the rubber tip ''thingie'' against the side of the hatch and sorta knocked the rubber thingie off the end of the shell. I froze for just a second and then decided that it would be best to ''chuck the thing over the side'' and that is just what I did. It made a nice splash into the bay as I stood gawking over the side. A big burlie gunners mate roared up to me and politely told me that I was a ''Stupid S^$ )% ! @ B*^(* '' and he would see that I was court marshaled for deliberate destruction of Navy property. I tried to explain to him what had happened but he would not take a breath so I could talk.. He ranted and raved and stormed around like a rooster cursing and threatening me with death and dismemberment and being ''keel hauled'', drawn and quartered, shot at sunrise and castrated. In his tirade he accidentally stepped on the rubber tip off the end of the shell and did a ''full twist with belly flop'' fall on the deck. Everyone standing around watching burst out laughing as he wallowed around on the deck... he finally re gained his composure long enough to comment ''Why the F&$*ing H@$$ I didnt warn him about the rubber tip on the deck. I finally stopped laughing long enough to explain that he would never take a breath so I could warn him about the danger of the rubber tip...'' What the pluck is your name sailor''? He shouted. I remembered that my work shirt did not have my ''name'' stenciled over the pocket so I thought quickly and shouted ''Peters, I.C. Sir''... He mumbled the name and assured me that he would find me and ''write me up'' as soon as he got out of sick bay after having his foot x rayed. I quickly scooped up the rubber tip as I ducked out of line and went below and shaved off my mustache that I was so proud of and put on another work shirt with ''Cecil C. R.'' over the pocket and joined another work party in another part of the ship.
Luckily, we were in Portsmouth shipyard and we were taking our meals over at the mess hall on the base and there were literally jillions of sailors in chow lines over there. I saw this Gunners Mate guarding the chow lines and looking for ''Peters, I.C.'' on work shirts. He actually looked me directly in the face once, grabbed me and said ''Peters, I.C...... Is that you''? ''Nope Gunnie. If you see Peters you should look at faces instead of crotches''...... everyone laughed and he turned me lose. I bet he is still looking for me
I kept the rubber tip hanging in my locker for my duration on the Norton….
So it went on the Norton in Portsmouth Naval Shipyard …...
Seajay the sailor man