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Employment History (Last 20 Plus Years)
William E. (Bill) 'Smokey' Stover
wstover@vvachapter1004.org
wstover@trabzonairstation.com
wstover@ussbrinkleybassdd887.com
wstover@smokeystover.com
wstover@bellsouth.net
Married
180 Pounds / Excellent Health / Mature / Competent / Confident / 30+ years in Computer Industry / Industrial / Financial / Business / Educational / Medical / Always Employed / Leader / Motivated / High Energy / Self Starter / Productive / Ability to Finish / Thoroughly Equipped / Abundant Work Space
Employment History
October 2005 to Present: Web Manager - Function as Web Manager for a number of Web Sites. Sites are as follows: http://www.trabzonairstation.com - http://www.smokeystover.com - http://www.smokeystover.net - http://www.ussbrinkleybassdd887.com - http://www.vvachapter1004.org . Keep watch for a number of new Sites to be announced soon.
January 2006 to Present: Chief of Operations - Stover's Enterprises - Function as Service Manager, Support Manager, Electrification Technician & Consultant, and Financial Officer.
July 2002 to Present: Sole Proprietor - Smokey Stover's Place - Build, Configure, Sell and Maintain Computer Systems and Small Networks.
January to June 2002: Consultant / Contractor - SmokeyStover.Com Computer / PC / LAN Administrator / Help Desk / Training Advisor / Plant Maintenance / Instrumentation / PLC / Control Systems Maintenance.
Aug 2001 to May 2002 : Taught night school in Bakersfield, CA. The Class was the Fourth Year, First and Second Semesters, Electrical Apprentices from the IBEW Electrical Apprenticeship Program. The Course was Advanced Electronics, Process Control and Instrumentation. Taught Basic PLC Programming (Allen-Bradley SLC 5/xx), 4-20ma Current Loop, Standard Instrumentation, Including Sensors, Transmitters, Calibration, I/P, P/I, and usage of Test and Calibration Equipment. Taught Basic Computer Maintenance, Programming, and Operations including Hardware and Software, Operating Systems, Networking and Applications.
June 2001 to January 2002: Control Systems Technician - State of California - Department of Water Resources - Maintain Process Control Systems / Instrumentation / Analog / Digital. Install / Maintain SCADA (Secure WAN/LAN) and all duties of LAN Administrator and PC Support.
January 2001 to June 2001: LAN Administrator - State of California - Department of General Services - Office of Fleet Administration - Install / Maintain Windows NT and Windows 2000 Domain Controllers / Servers and Applications Servers and Work Stations. Provide Support to all users, computers, networks, and applications.
June 2000 to June 2001: PC Support / Help Desk - State of California - California Energy Commission - Install / Maintain / Upgrade Workstation Hardware and Software. Provide Helpdesk Support. Provide Training in the use and Operation of Upgraded Hardware and Software.
Jan 2000 to May 2000 : Taught night school in Bakersfield, CA. The Class was the Fourth Year, First and Second Semesters, Electrical Apprentices from the IBEW Electrical Apprenticeship Program. The Course was Advanced Electronics, Process Control and Instrumentation. Taught Basic PLC Programming (Allen-Bradley SLC 5/xx), 4-20ma Current Loop, Standard Instrumentation, Including Sensors, Transmitters, Calibration, I/P, P/I, and usage of Test and Calibration Equipment. Taught Basic Computer Maintenance, Programming, and Operations including Hardware and Software, Operating Systems, Networking and Applications.
May 1999 to June 2000: LAN Administrator - State of California - Department of Water Resources - Install / Maintain 250 Networked NT Workstations. Systems include Unix / Linux / NT Servers and all Infrastructure Equipment.
December 1987 to May 1999: Control Systems Technician - State of California - Department of Water Resources - Maintain SCADA / Process Control / Instrumentation / Analog / Digital. Install / Maintain SCADA (Secure WAN / LAN) and all duties of a LAN Administrator and PC Support.
December 1986 to December 1987: Process Control Manager (Plant) - Training Manager (Division) - Georgia-Pacific Corporation - Maintain Process Control / Instrumentation / Analog / Digital Equipment. Set up and implement the Paper Products Division Training Program. Train the Trainers. Train / Educate all personnel in plant and division to maintain and operate all office and plant equipment.
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USAF - 1960/1963 **
USAFSS - 1962/1963
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Trabzon Turkey - TUSLOG
Det 3-1
July 1962 – October
1963
We were young patriots whose lives merged at a
very special time in the history of the United States of America. We were asked to serve during the ‘Cold War’ which was
not really a cold war at all. After
being trained in all of the necessary disciplines, we were transferred
from all over the USA and the World to Trabzon, Turkey.
The new station was given the name TUSLOG Det 3-1 which is an
acronym for Turkish United States Logistics Detachment 3-1.
We came by ones and twos to this remote and isolated Air
Station which was situated atop ‘Boztepe’ Mountain.
Many of us knew absolutely no one else when we arrived.
Some were fortunate enough to know others who came from the
same training class or school back in the States.
Although it was a 15 month tour of duty (457 days) which was
designated ‘Remote’ Duty, we were truly isolated, in that we were
completely separated from our country, our families, our value system,
in most cases our religion, our way of live and from the protection of
our government and our justice system.
We were given very little training as to how to deal with or to
react to the environment and society of Trabzon, Turkey.
Each of us lived two lives while at ‘Trab’.
We did our ‘Top Secret’ jobs day by day and night by night
as USAFSS Airmen. When
not on duty, we tried to be normal young men by passing time at the
club, in the barracks day rooms, or in Trabzon and the surrounding
countrysides and towns of northeastern Turkey.
TUSLOG Det 3-1 was located on ‘Boztepe’ Mountain between
the Black Sea and the Mountains, about 100 miles or so from the
Soviet, Georgian, and Armenian borders.
We were ‘Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea’.
The people there were fundamental Muslim and mostly uneducated.
Because their religion restricted relations with foreigners, we
interrelated only sporadically with the local people. We were very vulnerable to abuse by locals, therefore we
usually traveled together and in numbers of 3, 4, or more when moving
about in the towns and countrysides.
Only the very adventuresome, very ignorant, and very brave
airmen traveled the back streets alone.
Because we relied heavily upon each other, most of us aligned
with one or a number of ‘buddies’, in order to survive the
‘Trabzon’ experience. We
counted the days until we could be called short timers.
We celebrated each milestone as we passed the time (457 days).
The 60’s were the most dangerous of times in
the history of the World Community.
The two superpowers had amassed great numbers of nuclear
weapons. USAF Strategic
Air Command B-52’s were flying high flight missions all over the
world. They were in the air 24 hours a day. Each one carried 2 nuclear bombs. USN War Ships were cruising every ocean and at ready to
launch Aircraft in retaliation for potential Soviet attack. The US had Missiles in the US, Turkey and other countries
with nuclear warheads pointed at the USSR while the USSR had missiles with nuclear
warheads pointed at Turkey and Europe.
The US had been flying recon flights over the USSR for many
years. A number of these
aircraft were shot down over the USSR and at least one pilot had been
captured. The Soviets
were busy installing Missiles of all capabilities in Soviet controlled
Cuba. As this buildup
escalated, our intelligence community advised President John Kennedy
that Cuba was installing Soviet built offensive and nuclear capable
missiles. The ‘Cold
War’ became very ‘Hot’ in October 1962 when JFK commanded the
Naval Blockade of Cuba. The
two Superpowers came face to face with potential nuclear war when the
US Navy started to turn back the Soviet Ships which were delivering
the missiles to Cuba. The
Soviet President ‘Blinked’ when he commanded ships to return home.
He then commanded the de-installation of missile launch sites
in Cuba. Most people who remember those days, simply refer to the
period as the ‘Cuban Missile Crisis’.
We remember those days as 13 days of destiny, because we were
in the crosshairs of Soviet nuclear missiles, migs, warships,
submarines and other weaponry. On
November 22, 1963, those who were on the ‘Mountain’, gathered at
the radio to hear that President Kennedy had been assassinated by an
ex-Russian citizen.
The 60’s were the most dangerous of times in
the history of the World Community, and we were pulled together at
Trabzon in order to provide eyes and ears to the Free World.
We are proud to have served as we provided early warning for
defense as well as intel for potential offense.
We quietly arrived by ones and twos.
We silently lived under the threat of attack with no visible
means of protection and we did it because we were patriots.
We celebrated for days as we readied to leave.
We quietly left the ‘Mountain’ just as we had arrived 457
days earlier. Most of us
returned to the United States to continue our lives as civilians,
while many reenlisted to go on to other assignments in the silent
world of the USAFSS. Because
of the ‘Top Secret’ and ‘Delicate’ nature of the information
we shared, we very seldom talk to ‘outsiders’ about what we saw,
heard and felt, while on ‘Boztepe’ at Trabzon, Turkey, in TUSLOG
Det 3-1.
My name is Bill ‘Smokey’ Stover. I arrived in Trabzon Turkey in July 1962 via THY and departed on THY
October 27, 1963. I was
Honorably Discharged at McGuire AFB, New Jersey November 15, 1963.
I arrived home in Phoenix, Arizona late on the evening of
November 21, 1963. My
mother woke me late that next morning to tell me that JFK had just
been assassinated in Dallas. I
was awaken my first day home from Trabzon, Turkey, November 22, 1963
to the news that JFK was dead.
I had lived for 15 months in the shadow of the
Soviet nuclear threat. I
was very aware of the world situation.
I was especially aware of the struggle against Communism and
the absolute threat of Soviet World Domination.
I had made the transition from an 18 year old vagrant to a 22
year old Patriot. During the period from November 22, 1963 to February 24,
1964, I made the transition from Patriot to an 8 hour a day job, part
time college student, and basic goof off and I did not like what I was
becoming. I decided that
I was yet a Patriot and three months after returning home from Trabzon,
Turkey, I reenlisted in the US Military.
After completing a battery of Tests and a
Physical Examination, I was offered good electronic and computer
training by Recruiters of the US Navy, the US Army, the US Marines and
the US Coast Guard. The
US Air Force was angry with me for not re-enlisting in the Air Force
and they did not offer any incentives to re-enlist.
Because I evaluated the Naval Training to be the best offering,
I enlisted in the United States Navy.
After a year of training in electronics, radar, computer,
radio, gyro, and crypto, I found myself on the USS Brinkley Bass DD
887, a Destroyer and Fighting Ship in the Pacific Seventh Fleet of the
United States Navy. After
more training in San Diego, CA, the Bass set sail and in a short time
was stationed in the Viet Nam War Zone.
After two cruises, many battles, and wartime incidents, I was
Honorably Discharged from the United States Navy in February 1968.
I retired from California Civil Service in the
year 2001. I started a
small company in 2002. I
shut the company down at the end of 2005.
My wife and friends have been telling me for many years that I
should write a book about my life.
I am finally semi-retired and have committed the time and
energy to producing my life’s story. I started writing a book which will probably end up being as
many as four short stories or one very long book.
The second and third parts to my book, or the second and third
books will cover life in the USAF and USN from 1960 to 1968.
More specifically, life at Trabzon and aboard Brinkley Bass
will take most of the paper of the book.
Although the ‘Cold War’ and the Viet Nam War will be the
stories behind ‘the story’, they will not be the focus of my book.
Any information about the ‘Cold War’ will be general
knowledge or de-classified. Individual jobs will not be described unless specifically
named persons request coverage. Names
will be used only when permission has been granted.
Information about the Viet Nam War will be general knowledge
which was never classified and most will come from my own Viet Nam
experience. Stories from
any and all who were ‘there’ will be used.
The stories will be as deep and wide or as shallow and narrow
as collaborators request. If
you want to be recognized, give your name.
If you want to protect your past, be anonymous in your gift of
information. Because we
were ‘there’ together, we were ‘buddies’ together, we were
‘afraid, brave, proud and sometimes ‘crazy’ together, we respect
each other and will protect each other in this life against those who
may not know about our status as ‘Patriots’, ‘Warriors’, ‘Heros’,
Airmen and Sailors. I
will use any and all information which anyone may share with me, be it
newspaper news, magazine stories, letters, pictures,
personal stories, documents, fragments, dated material, and
anything which may establish connections and timelines.
I started research for this series of stories in
October 2005. I launched
two web sites to facilitate information and data collection and
gathering. I have
communicated with hundreds of people from my past.
Many people have collaborated in this book project.
By way of the internet, I have gleaned the Public Domain for
storylines, datelines and timelines.
I will use any and all resources to fill in the gaps of time.
Every item and incident that finds its way into the storyline
is a true event that really happened.
The timeline and names is sometimes vague because most of the
events took place 40 plus years ago.
I am very happy that I have the opportunity to put these rich
years to paper. I will
not apologize for content or possible errors in dates or anything else
in the timeline or story line. Anyone
with contrary information can and should make that known to me by way
of email addresses provided and if there are subsequent printings,
errors will be corrected.
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US Navy - 1964/1968 ** USS Brinkley Bass DD-887
Viet Nam War Zone - 1965/1967
  
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Collision at Midnight
From the Viet Nam Era
A Story About The Crew of USS Brinkley Bass DD-887
February 2,3,4,5,6,7, 1966
Just a few pages from my Book. Six amazing days in February 1966.
From:
William E. Stover – USS Brinkley Bass DD 887 – 12/1964 to 2/1968 – FTG2
To:
Anyone who may remember the darkest days in February 1966.
My name is Bill Stover. I served the USA for 8 years during the ‘Cold War’ in the USAF and during the Viet Nam War aboard the Destroyer, USS Brinkley Bass DD 887. I served the last 15 months of my AF duty on a ‘Spy’ base at Trabzon in eastern Turkey near the Soviet Georgian border. I spent the last 3 years of my USN duty aboard Brinkley Bass of which 13 months were spent in the War Zone in the South China Sea, near the coasts of South and North Viet Nam and the Southern border of Red China.
The 15 months in Turkey was Isolated and Remote and the entire tour of duty was served during the most dangerous of times in the history of the world community. I was ‘there’ during the ‘Cuban Missile Crisis’. I could talk about the Nuclear Threat and the real dangers we faced but that’s another story.
Service on any ‘Fighting Ship’ of the U.S. Naval Fleet is given while living aboard the worlds best ‘Prisons’. We stood watch at ‘Port and Starboard (6 hours on watch and six hours on other duties)(24 x7) while at sea and at ‘GQ’, at ‘Battle Stations’. All personnel in the Weapons Division were involved in handling explosives and firing big guns during all kinds of confrontations and Incidents of War. We can only speculate as to how many other human beings we killed with the ‘Big Guns’ of Brinkley Bass. Most of our first West Pac Cruise, my duty station was Trainer and ‘Trigger Man’. For 12 hours a day, months at a time, I pulled the Trigger which fired salvos of our four, 5inch/38caliber guns. Again, there is no way to calculate the thousands of rounds of explosives which were delivered to the enemy from the squeeze of my finger on the ‘Trigger’.
I remember many of the young heros who were stationed on the Brinkley Bass during the hottest days of the Viet Nam War. Jerry Kiser is just one of the many Weapons Division Petty Officers I remember. Most of the sailors I remember were Fire Control Technicians, Gunner's Mates and Boatswain's Mates who were a team within the Weapons Division. I will write about a number of 'Team Mates' as I put to pen the Brinkley Bass 'Story'. Although I haven’t heard from or about him for 38 years, I remember Jerry. He was about my age, mid 20s, during the Viet Nam experience. Jerry was BM2 and Lead Petty Officer in the Weapons Gang and Deck Crew while I was FTG2 and Lead Petty Officer in the Fire Control Gang. Because of War, many young men were promoted quickly. Those with intelligence and ability were quickly elevated to Lead Responsibilities. It was unheard of for a Boatswains Mate to make BM2 in just one enlistment. Jerry was young and cocky, sharp and responsible and he was promoted quickly to BM2 (Petty Officer 2nd Class). If I remember correctly, Jerry spent many hours as Weapons Lead in a Gun Mount Gunnery/Loader Crew. As Deck Crew Lead, He also spent many hours in Refueling and Replenishment Operations where he was responsible for dangerous and tricky operations, all of which were carried out under ‘Red Light’ usually between midnight and 2 o’clock in the morning. All ‘At Sea Operations’ in the War Zone were conducted under ‘Red Light’ and darkness in order to cut down on the vulnerability of attack during daylight hours.
Toward the end the first cruise the Bass was assigned ‘SAR’ Duties off the coast of North Viet Nam. SAR is an acronym for ‘Search and Rescue’. Congress had just enacted the Tonkin Gulf Resolution in response to North Viet Nam Swift Boat attacks on the USS Maddox and USS Turner Joy of the US Fleet in the South China Sea. President Johnson had escalated the War to a ‘Fever Pitch’. We were engaged in heavy bombing of Hanoi and Hiphong Harbor. Pilots from the Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps were flying hundreds of sorties each day. They were flying low altitude bombing runs from Carriers on ‘Yankee Station’, and Bases in Thailand and South Viet Nam. They flew A1s, A6s, and F4s and other ‘Fighter/Bombers’. B52s were flying ‘High Flight’, Saturation bombing runs from Guam. Many years later it was the B52 crews who paid the price for coming up against the improving Soviet SAM Missiles. These young Pilots and Navigators of the Fighter/Bombers of the mid 1960s who were bombing Hanoi and Hiphong were in harms way each time they were catapulted from the Carrier’s Flight Decks and every time they were wheels up from air fields in Thailand and South Viet Nam. Too many of these aircraft were shot down by SAM Missiles and Anti-Aircraft Guns. Too many of these aircraft fell from the skies because of mechanical fatigue. Some were lost to human error and personnel fatigue. Others were lost to malfunctions on Carriers and miscalculations by support personnel on the bases throughout the region. The Brinkley Bass together with USS Waddell DDG 24 spent the last few months of their first Wes Pac Cruise of 1965 and early 1966 in ‘SAR’, Search and Rescue of these ‘Downed’ Pilots and Flight Crews.
I am writing these pages on the 40th anniversary of the beginning of the worst 6 days of my 8 year military career. February 2nd is my mothers birthday. It is also Ground Hog’s Day. It is hard to forget these days. I remember these incidents as if they happened yesterday because I have, as many others who were ‘there’ have, replayed and revisited this experience many times over the last 40 years. The chronology of the six days is entirely from my memory. Although others may have seen it from other vantage points or from other perspectives, all who were there will never forget those few days in February 1966.
The USS Brinkley Bass DD 887 was ordered from R&R in the Port of Hong Kong back to ‘SAR’ duties, arriving on station February 2, 1966, and on February 3, 1966, together with USS Waddell DDG 24 was on duty off the coast of North Viet Nam. As on previous SAR duty we operated with a number of Helicopters from carriers and land bases. The choppers on this day were from the carrier Ranger. We had been warned previously that big shore batteries in North Viet Nam were very active, that we should be ready to engage if ever called upon to get close to the shoreline. At about mid-day the two destroyers received the call that a pilot was down very close to the borders of China and North Viet Nam. We were south of this area when the call came in. Choppers were called and we proceeded at ‘Full Speed’ toward the downed pilot. We pulled in close to the harbor. This harbor was very close to Red China. I was Trainer in the Gun Fire Control Director. I had a small radar monitor to my right. The Train Control Wheels were between my knees. My fingers were tightly fixed to the left and right triggers and my eyes were glued to the eye pieces which provided the best view of any target from the range finder’s powerful binoculars of the director system. We had pointed and trained the director system toward the harbor and the downed pilot. Pilots normally approached the Northern Targets at a high altitude from the south. They descended quickly from the east, dropped their armament, quickly ascended toward the South China Sea and evasively maneuvered to avoid SAM Missiles and Anti-Aircraft. They were trained to ascend ASAP so that in the event they were hit, they could eject over water. Most pilots who made it out over water were successfully rescued by “SAR’ destroyers or Helicopters assigned to ‘SAR’ duties. This downed pilot had apparently been hit at a low altitude because he had, of necessity, bailed early and had come down in the very center of the harbor. I could see that the pilot was alive and staying afloat. He was only about 800 yards from the shore, and he was in very dangerous waters. The assigned helicopter was delayed some minutes in arriving. The Bass was pointing in from the north and the Waddell was pointing in from the south. The very big guns from gun emplacements above and behind the harbor and inland on the mountain side, began to fire at Bass and Waddell. Two large Chinese Junks began to approach the pilot, one from the north and one from the south. Bass and Waddell began to return fire and fire upon the junks which were moving slowly toward the downed pilot. The chopper arrived and we thought we would recover the pilot, but as the cable was lowered toward the pilot, the chopper took a direct hit in the middle of the fuselage. The pilot of the chopper reported that his technician was hit and that he must retreat because his ride was falling apart. He quickly pulled back and headed to sea. We heard that the chopper fell about 5 miles to the west and eventually heard that the pilot and co-pilot were rescued by our second ‘SAR’ chopper. We cut our gun mounts loose to take different targets. The forward gun mount was firing at gun emplacements while the rear gun mount was firing at the junk which was approaching from the north. The Waddell was firing at the second junk which was approaching from the south. The ‘Big Eyes’ of the Gun Fire Director were trained on the downed pilot. I watched the entire operation, up close and personal. I watched as a huge hole and ball off flames appeared in the fuselage of the chopper. Our rear gun mount placed some very impressive rounds upon the junk. That junk flamed out and a few minutes later it sank. The second chopper became involved in the rescue of the crew of the downed chopper and they could not respond immediately to our operation. As both ships were dealing with shore batteries and self defense from those big guns, we witnessed the junk coming from the south pull the downed pilot aboard. He was captured, alive. After about 15 minutes of trading fire with shore batteries, commanders decided it was time to retreat to safer waters. As we fell into column with the Waddell, and commenced zig-zag maneuvers, we could see that the big guns were becoming more accurate as we came into their best range. They were most effective as we reached 11 miles at sea, and then we began to move out of their effective range. We called for air support and before we lost sight of the harbor, I counted 80 aircraft dropping bombs on the gun emplacements and on the back side of the harbor.
We spent February 4th at sea on ‘SAR’ duty. It was a tense and nervous time because commanders were trying to decide whether or not we would return to that harbor and go in close for a recon run. We operated with choppers in a number of ‘SAR’ missions during the day of February 4, 1966.
We started a normal refueling and replenishment operation about 10 o’clock on the evening of February 4th. These operations had become tricky in the recent past. Many operations were being disrupted by Russian Trawlers (Spy Ships) who were operating in the South China Sea. On more than one occasion we had called for Sea Going Tugs to engage these Trawlers and physically bump them out of the way of our sea operations. Our Fleet had kept an eye on two of these Russian vessels for many days. We knew that they were too far away to interfere so we started our ‘Normal’ Operation. We had accomplished these operations about every 3 days for the passed number of months. We expected problems because each refueling and replenishment operation presented it’s own unique problems. All operations at sea are dangerous, especially in a War Zone. That is the nature of Naval Service. This particular operation was rather uneventful. As in all operations, the two destroyers pulled alongside the replenishment ship. They each refueled and took on stores. The Bass finished first and as usual, remained alongside until the Waddell finished operations. The Flotilla Commodore was resident on Waddell and therefore the Bass always traveled in column behind Waddell. As in all previous operations, the Bass and Waddell pulled away from the replenishment ship at full speed in anticipation of a command to column up before heading for assigned duty station. It was midnight and all of the Brinkley Bass Crew was in motion, moving about the ship in relieving watch and assuming the mid-watch. We don’t really know why disaster struck at this moment. We do know that lives were lost because of a series of events which were far from normal.
I was on watch in the gun fire director, just to be relieved for the mid-watch by another Fire Control Technician. I had on a headset which allowed communications with the bridge. I heard the commands to cut speed to 2/3rd and to bring the ship to the left to start a column maneuver. Apparently the Officer of the Deck thought he had heard the column command. We were far too close to Waddell and these commands put the Bass on a Collision Course with the Waddell. The captain was apparently in his sea cabin just behind the bridge. A lookout (Seaman) yelled that we were on a collision course. Others were screaming. The Captain heard the noise and came running onto the bridge. He ran to the wing hatch and immediately began to take action. He screamed very loudly a series of commands. He yelled, ’This is the Captain, I have the Con, Right Full Rudder, All Emergency Back, sound the Collision Alarm, and brace for shock. At this same time, my watch relief had just climbed upon the top of the director. The hatches on the top of the director were open. He put his head inside and calmly told us that we were going to collide with the Waddell. I stood and looked out of my hatch and then braced for shock. I watched in amazement as the Bass collided with Waddell. We hit at mid-ships. The Bass rode up and down as the collision was in progress. A rooster tail of sparks 100 feet high emanated from between the Bass and Waddell. As the Bass pulled away from Waddell, I could see light coming from the holes just ripped into the hull of Waddell. The Bass drifted to a stop and then began to sink in the bow area.
The ship’s crew was quick to respond. Within a few minutes we heard that there was no loss of life. Everyone brought mattresses, wood and tools including pumps. Within a few minutes the decision was made to ask for assistance because we were loosing the battle with inflow of water. We had completely destroyed 40 feet of the bow. The gash was about 20 feet high. Although most of the damage which provided holes and allowed inflow of water was above the water line, water was coming in from the ship’s bobbing in a heavy sea state. The USS Navasota responded to our call. They put a big boat in the water with timbers, pumps, tools, other materials and a Damage Control Team of 16 Seamen. The helpers were Ship Fitters(Welders and Pipe Fitters) and Damage Controlmen who were Builders and Welders. Together with our crew this Damage Control Team fought water inflow through the night. By morning they had saved the ship. The Bass was afloat.
It was February 5, 1966. The sea state was a 5 (very high waves) by morning. It was decided that the Damage Control Team should be returned to Navasota by chopper. The chopper arrived about 9 o’clock or so. The Ship Fitters gathered on the deck of the fantail because ammo and stores were removed from the lower decks and all decks except the fantail were burdened with materials from below. I believe that Jerry, the BM2 was the Lead Petty Officer in the Deck Handling part of that airlift operation.
All of those being taken aboard the chopper were outfitted with kapok life jackets and were lifted by cable to the chopper. I was positioned on the ECM Deck which was physically located above the location of the chopper. I was not involved in this operation, so I had gone up to the ECM Deck to get a good view of the transfers. The last of the personnel to be lifted onto the apron of the chopper was the SFC, Chief Petty Officer. It is military protocol for the Ranking Person to Lead into any Operation and to follow on the way out to be sure that the path is good going in and that all personnel exit OK.
Disaster struck again, just when the Chief was being brought on board the chopper. The chopper lost stability, turned at least 180 degrees and flipped upside down. In the process, I stood in amazement as I helplessly watched while the Chief fell from the chopper as it flipped. The chopper hit the water, exactly on the Chief, about 10 feet from the fantail of the Bass. I slide down the ladder to the deck below and again fixed my sight on the chopper. Personnel on the fantail and the main deck and our own dash flight deck were throwing life jackets and life rings into the water. I found life rings where I was, and heaved them into the water. The sea state was high and the Bass was basically dead in the water. As the chopper crew and those of the Damage Control Team began to surface, they looked like corks or fishing bobs, popping up from the water. The Bass and these men began to drift apart. They were grabbing life kackets and life rings which would support then if they remained in the water for a prolonged period.
Three Seamen were lost at sea that day. The Chief and an SF1 and an SF2 were lost. They went down with the chopper. Another chopper came to rescue the survivors. Other tragedies which occurred that day will be told about on another day.
The Bass pulled into Da Nang, South Viet Nam the next day. Navy UDT guys went down and checked out damage below the water line. They welded chain in strategic places and advised the Captain to proceed to the Philippine Islands at 5 knots. We proceeded to Subic Bay, Philippine Islands arriving sometime on February 7, 1966.
What a STORY – You think !!!! It happened pretty much that way – February 2,3,4,5,6,7, 1966.
I tracked those lost during those days. I watched every POW return from captivity in 1973. They came off the planes in Manila and again in Hawaii. They were repatriated in order of capture. Those captured first were repatriated first. I remember at least 1 returning POW who had been captured on that day. When the Internet matured, I found the names and home towns of those 3 Ship Fitters who went down with the chopper. Their names are registered in two different logs of the USS Navasota.
Although some of the second cruise was spent on ‘SAR’ duties most of the Bass’s involvement was in Night Shore Bombardment which was usually Harassment of the Viet Cong, we did get out a few times for ‘Plane Guard’ with various Carriers on ‘Yankee Station’, just off the coast of Viet Nam. During this cruise we encountered ‘North Vietnamese Swift Boats’ and “North Vietnamese Piloted Migs’. We responded with deadly force in every situation. We were at War and as a Patriotic Crew, we took care of duty as ‘Duty Called’. I will record some of the incidents encountered by the Bass on the second cruise at another time and in another venue.
This is the story from my point of view and from my unique perspective,
William E. Stover – USS Brinkley Bass DD 887 – 12/1964 to 2/1968 – FTG2
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