On this date 50 years ago, Biddle tied up alongside Pier 23 at Naval Base, Norfolk, returning to the same pier from which it had left 210 days earlier. Most of us weren’t actually home for Christmas, but Biddle was in her home port.
Lots of family members of the crew were in attendance and our arrival was a special Christmas/holiday present for them.
Considering the presence of heavy coats, including CAPT Olsen in his bridge coat, it must have been cold that day. It might well have been the first cold day we had experienced since we left in May.
Personally, I had no family members greeting me that day. Two good friends, one of whom had been a college roommate and was serving in the Navy, the other his wife, were there to welcome me back.
Being single, I’m pretty sure I stood duty that first day. I think those of us who were single stood duty a little more than normal during that Christmas week. If we did, I didn’t really mind. Married guys deserved that time at home, and I was likely glad just to be staying in one place.
Leaving San Francisco on 8 December, we spent 16/17 December in the Panama Canal, anchored for a time in Gatun Lake. There was an attempted coup in Panama at the time, and perhaps because of that some canal locks were inoperable. Biddle got through the canal around 2100 the night of 17 December. Because of the delay, we expected to go about 25 knots the rest of the way home.
I reported in my journal for 18 December that we were pitching and rolling in somewhat rough seas. “Some people have been sick already.”
During our last night at sea, we were to round Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. I knew that the area was known as the “Graveyard of the Atlantic,” because of the number of shipwrecks occurring there. I remember feeling a bit uneasy about the prospect.
Here are statistics of our deployment, as reported in the cruise book:
- Miles steamed — 55,000
- Gallons of fuel oil consumed — 4,625,540
- Gallons of fresh water made — 3,987,260
- Tons of laundry washed — 504
- Number of individual meals served — 206,400
- Total value of meals served — $116,350 (that comes out to $.56 per meal)
- Total sales in ship’s store — $49,163
- Number of soft drinks sold — 140,432; drinks per man — 351
- Number of candy bars sold — 18,615; candy bars per man — 46
- Gallons of paint used — 961
- Square feet of deck chipped by deck force — 25,000
- Number of babies born — boys, 4; girls, 8
- Number of helicopter landings — 439
- Number of replenishments at sea — 37
- Number of messages handled — 28,110
- Number of sheets of paper used — 885,000
- Number of days in port — 42
- Number of days at sea — 167
We didn’t keep any stats about things like “number of beers consumed on liberty,” etc. Too bad.
So, we’re back. Deployment’s over, and soon 1969 would be. I’m going to post a lot more pictures from the cruise book and perhaps the entire cruise book as well. But I’m going to take a little holiday break.
Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah to all my shipmates and to Biddlemen all!
Thanks