Hammond was amused at the confusion he could just make out on the OOD’s face. He couldn’t blame him. That ship was older than his father. “The Rooks was probably built in 1943. At the time, she probably had the most up-to-date equipment in any fleet. As a matter of fact, her design led the way in Navy destroyers for decades. That, sir, is a Fletcher class destroyer. She’s one of our generation,” he said referring to the Iowa’s age.
They both watched as the old destroyer silently made her way down the starboard side of the ship and then suddenly turned 180 degrees, ending exactly on the Iowa’s starboard beam at 1,000 yard’s distance. The young OOD had never seen such a cool maneuver and Hammond simply stared in admiration. He then wrote something furiously on a piece of paper and called down the signalman. The young seaman took the message up to the signal bridge and handed it to the petty officer in charge. The petty officer read it and grinned. He took the signal light, swung it around, and began sending the message: CO TO CO. GOOD TO SEE THE NAVY STILL HAS STYLE. HAMMOND.
In a minute, a reply was sent back: CO TO CO. ALWAYS WANTED TO FETCH A BIG STICK. DANDRIDGE. The petty officer grinned. This is all right, he thought. He took the message down personally.
The Captain almost howled. He rose from his chair and walked out to the bridge wing looking over at the Rooks. He saw a lone figure step out of the Rooks’ pilot house. Hammond raised his hand and waved. The other figure did the same. It was a simple moment, the connection between two professional men of the sea. Unfortunately such things were too often ignored, so when it did happen, it was to be prized. The two men shared the moment though 1,000 yards of water was between them.
Hammond came back in and sat back in his seat. “God, this is what the real Navy is all about,” he said. He sat back in his chair and let sleep fall over him a little longer. It seemed like just a moment before he felt a tug on his arm and he drifted out of his sleep. A new OOD was standing before him. The early morning light was bright enough to read without a light. “Sir, we are coming into the rendezvous area and have multiple contacts out here. I have been able to make some of them out. You need to see this, sir,” he said nervously.
Hammond sat up and looked around. The Rooks was still glued to her position on their starboard beam. Everything appeared normal, but as he stared out the bridge windows he could see dark spots on the horizon. Hammond grabbed his binoculars and scanned the area. True enough. This was something he needed to see. The spots were far away, but different from what he expected. He could see the tall towers on at least five very large ships and just make out smaller ships around them. The ships were spread out and covered almost thirty degrees off either side of his bow. A report from a lookout sighted another ship on their port side, just coming out of the morning haze. There was no mistaking this one. Even at the 10 miles separating the ships you could make out the silhouette of a battleship. They could make out the three gun turrets on her decks and the tall tower for her fire control directors, but she was different from the Iowa class. There was only one stack joined to the forward tower. It was as if someone had squeezed the ship shorter and everything had bunched up in the middle. The bow wave was considerable as she muscled through the water towards the rendezvous. After a quick exchange of light signals, she identified herself as USS Alabama.
The Iowa stirred with excitement now as sailors came on deck and saw the other ships. Most had never seen a destroyer like the Rooks. Within the hour the men could also clearly see the Alabama making her way to join the others. The replenishment ship Spica was identified and after some signals altered her course to join up with the Iowa and Alabama, who would be unreping from the Spica’s port side.
Breakfast was a hurried affair and people were already at their various unrep stations readying equipment. Hammond grabbed a bite to eat sitting on the bridge. Things were happening too quickly now for him to go to his cabin. As she made her way toward the Iowa, Spica sent a message to prepare to receive the admiral and his staff.
Flight quarters was sounded and the crew donned their flight quarters gear. The repair locker team set up and the deck crew had everyone in place to land the helicopter. The ship cleared off the large helicopter landing area on the fantail and signaled readiness. In a few moments a CH-46 lifted off from the Spica’s stern and made its way towards Iowa. It paused just after takeoff to hook up to two large cargo nets full of materials. The big twin rotor helicopter with its cargo circled the ship once before drifting aft and coming in slowly. The controller began directing the helicopter in towards a spot for unloading the cargo. The helicopter swung across the stern and deftly placed the nets in a clear area on the port side before easing over to the landing pad on the stern. The petty officer used hand signals to direct the helo so that it had a clear landing area. The helo eased down until the wheels came to rest gently on the deck.
The engines of the helo remained at idle but the rotors slowed to a stop. An older man in a khaki uniform bounded out of the doorway followed by about ten other officers. The older officer made a beeline to the Captain. Vice Admiral Rich Thacke grabbed Hammond’s hand and shook it warmly.
“Damn it, Captain, you have no idea how glad I am to see you!” he said over the din of the helo’s engines.
“I had no idea it was you coming aboard, sir,” Hammond said smiling broadly. He made some introductions of his officers.
Thacke made the rounds then took Hammond by the arm, “Let’s get the hell someplace quiet so we can talk a little before the unrep,” he said loudly in Hammond’s ear. Then calling out to the others, “Finch, you and the ship’s supply officer get things on track. Let me know the status after the unrep,” he barked. By now the rotors of the helo were turning again and it lifted off for a second load of staff members. The ship’s XO remained behind to oversee the vertrep while Hammond and Thacke walked up the starboard side and up the ladders to the Captain’s stateroom. They both entered on the starboard side and the Captain sat down with Thacke in one of the lounge chairs. Hammond placed a call to the bridge to notify him when the ship made its way toward the Spica. Once done, he turned back to Admiral Thacke.
“I had no idea you left the Navy Yard,” Hammond said.
“Roger, you have some powerful friends. I got the word the same day you were sent to take command and have been in briefings ever since. Then they put my ass on that USNS and I have been going crazy just to get off of it,” he said almost in a growl.
Hammond chuckled. “I bet. I don’t think I could stand being a passenger either.”
“Well, it’s over with now and I am glad to be here. You have any idea what’s happening?”
“Not really. I got to Vallejo and have been either in training or onloading ever since. There are still parts of this ship I haven’t seen, but that should be done within a week.”
“What do you think of your crew?” Thacke asked, his eyes focusing in on the answer.
“I was a little worried at first. Half the ship’s crew are old — some older than I am — but from the minute I stepped aboard they proved to me they know their stuff. In just these few days I have seen these older guys teaching the younger ones things I’ve rarely seen in my career. They aced out the training exercises and the gunnery was something out of a dream. Right now I wouldn’t trade ‘em, Admiral. So just stand by and watch.”
Thacke sat back and grinned. “That’s the best thing I could have heard. Some of the other battlewagons are experiencing some teething problems, and they didn’t do as well in the gunnery training. I got a message with all the scores from the guys in California. You and your guys were at the top. So when they asked which ship I would ride, I picked yours. You have a habit of getting good ideas and getting the job done. So between you and your crew we’re going places.”