WRITTEN FOR ALL WHO UNDERSTAND THAT...FREEDOM ISN'T FREE...
While penning these paragraphs about my experience on board the great ship USS Cape Esperance, I thought of my shipmates and other sailors who served on board the good ship after the Cobra and Viper typhoons.
Threatened by onslaughts of wild wind and pounding water, none of us on board realized what a seaworthy chunk of steel was holding us up. Hearing eerie sounds from steel bending, twisting, snapping, and watching air- planes being swept across the flight deck and into the sea plagued us with fear. Sudden thrusts of the entire ship by megatons of water made us wonder why this top-heavy rig didn’t capsize. Through the most powerful storm on record she showed her stuff, giving the ship’s company reason to thank God and the shipyard workers who glued her together.
Some of my shipmates didn’t have a birds-eye view of what was happening above decks, as did the few of us who were stationed on the open bridge. Below decks the main concern was to cling to something—beams, pipes, or stanchions to avoid being slammed onto the steel deck or tossed against bulkheads.
I’m sure every sailor on board during those violent hours has different stories to tell about the storm, and will see things in my book that differ from their experiences. I’ve read everything I can find written by navy officers, and quotes from enlisted men who served on board the Cape Esperance and other ships during the battles with wind and waves. I found that some of their opinions, descriptions, and measurements are not synonymous with each other. This is to be expected. It would be well for my readers to jot down their own experiences while serving on board our ship as memoirs to leave with their family and friends.
Paul L. Schlener
