CHAPTER EIGHT
USS Halibut – Mare Island
“Set the Maneuvering Watch!” Speakers blared throughout the boat. “Set the Maneuvering Watch – underway in thirty minutes!”
My watch read 0730. I dropped my pen, folded up my small stateroom desktop, grabbed a life vest, and headed for Control. I shared the small stateroom with Ops Officer and Navigator Lieutenant Commander Larry Jackson and Chris Barth, Com & Sonar officer. Since I was not part of the regular crew, I ended up with what was left – the bottom bunk in the three-tier. Ops had the center, of course, and I guess Chris just liked to be on top of it all.
So I arrived to the controlled mayhem that is Control as the Maneuvering Watch is being set. I donned my life vest, pulled my fore-n-aft from my belt and put it on, and climbed up the l
