VISITORS ABOARD THE ''NORTON''

In another post I talked about being in Sweden for at least a week and I really think everyone fell in love at least several times and I personally lost about eight pounds while we were there. Case in point......

While we were there we had ''Welcome Visitors Aboard'' and the response was almost overwhelming. They put up a special gang way for the civies to come aboard the ship for a look around. We closed off restricted areas on the ship to limit the roaming around of the civies but there was still scads of them that came aboard. The cooks and bakers prepared all kind of sweet treats for the visitors including coffee, juice, co co and all the finery that the ship could come up with including ice cream (we had a ice cream machine on board)
It didnt take too long for the ladies to figure out that this was a good way to meet sailors. If we were between watches we could kinda stand around in the passage ways and prop against the bulkhead and sorta smile as they went by. Some would smile back and stop and talk. A few of them spoke good English but most just ''smiled''. We would escort them down to the mess hall and treat them to ''sweets''. Sometimes if they smiled just right you could take them on a special ''tour'' of the spaces that most did not get to go but you had to be very careful doing this because that ''special place'' may or may not be already occupied and busy.
In the radio gang we had several ''outlieing spaces'' that were ''closed down '' while we were in port because they were not in use. One of these spaces was radio six up in the secondary conning tower on the stern of the ship. Way back and way up six decks and not used in port...(for communications)........

Anyhow. You would roam around the ship with your ''visitor'' and kinda ease under the restriction rope and scurry up six decks to the secondary conning station for a good look around and to ''test the waters'' so to speak with the ''visitor'' and to see if you had a ''fair wind or foul'' with possibilities of a close encounter of the ''fun kind'' with said visitor. Most of the time it worked out well but the comforts were lacking as there was only a single blanket in radio six and the decks were steel. Remember, all is possible if you are a sailor with determination and you remembered to lock the door on the inside of radio six. We tried and tried to figure out how to get a mattress up there with out anyone noticing but it never worked out .
ENOUGH ABOUT THAT FOR NOW...

On a Navy ship you have things called ''Light Locks''..... This is a devise where you have two doors. One inside the ship and one on the ''outside'' of the ship. They functioned like this. When we ran ''dark ship'' both of these doors were closed and when you went outside the ship you went thru the inside door and closed it. To have enough light to see the other door or hatch there was a ''lo lite'' red light that gave just enough light for you to see how to get to the outside door and go out of the ship without spreading white light during the night and giving away the position of the ship at sea...
Usually when we were in port the inside door was latched in the open position. Here is the story I heard that caused a lot of restrictions as to ''visitors aboard the Norton''......

It was told to me that a senior officer was walking down a passage way (hall way) and noticed one of the ''inside light lock doors'' was closed. Hummmm? Seems he went up to the door and put his ear to the door and listened....... Hummmmmmmmm? Without warning he burst into the ''light lock'' and caught this sailor and a beautiful Swed lady in a very compromising position engaging in an activity best reserved for a more comfortable place. In her haste to re arrange her clothing to a more presentable face she managed to damage a portion of the sailors body in a manner that I will not reveal here. The sailor in turn leaped to a position of, shall we say ''attention'' , slipped on the steel deck and fell against the forward wall of the light lock with his ''yard arm'' fully exposed. This seemed to embarrass the officer as much or more as the couple and he quickly closed the door and stood in the passage way shouting orders to the sailor telling him that he was ''on report'' and to present himself as soon as he got his uniform back in ship shape order and to do so immediately. The sailor asked for a minute to compose himself that he may be presentable in a more ship shape manner and he would come out forthwith and face his punishment. The officer said Ok and waited in the passage way.. Time passed and nothing happened...... More time passed.... nothing.... finally the officer opened the inside door and found the lite lock EMPTY. Seems the sailor and the lady had sneaked out the outside door, she disappeared in the crowd and the sailor went down to his quarters and changed into his dungarees and went to join a clean up crew. The sailor figured that the officer was so busy looking elsewhere that he did not even notice the sailors face or anything about him except the beautiful lady arranging her clothing and the ''Yard Arm'' fully exposed as it were on the sailor.

They restricted visiting aboard the Norton from then on and it really cut down on all our fun and the officer never did recognize me...oops the sailor......
So it went in beautiful Stockholm in the land of the beautiful blonds that just loved sailors......

for all you ''Doubting Thomas's '' this is a true story as I remember it.

Lets all thank a military person for their service to this great nation.

Seajay the sailor man …..