Liberty
After a few days, Sea Poacher, another sub and the sub rescue ship Penguin went 60 miles up the Charles river to Georgetown, SC for dispersal reasons. The good citizens of Georgetown opened up their Moose Club for our recreational use. The Club had a few slot machines and of course , beer , so we were happy sailors.
On the way back to Key West , the Navy had us go to Fort Lauderdale
, Florida by ourselves. We tied up to a pier at the end of a railroad line.
The US Army's 2nd Armored Division , from Fort Hood , Texas, was
off-loading at this site from the railroad and re-loading on Invasion
craft. We had over 100, 000 US Army troops ready for the Invasion, as well
as 40, 000 US Marines . The US Navy had completely blockaded the seas. We
had the Russians and Cubans right where we wanted them. It was up to
President Kennedy to decide whether or not to use us to eliminate that "
nest of vipers".
The last US Army tank which was off-loaded from the train main
diesel wouldn't run. A separate gasoline engine ran the fuel pump for the
diesel. A poor US Army Lieutenant was supervising one skilled tank mechanic
and two tool passing helpers. Of the four of them , only the skilled
mechanic knew what he was doing. Of course , 100 submarine sailors
couldn't help but point out to our Army brethren how pathetic they were!
Eventually , the Army Lieutenant had had enough , and made a call
over his jeep's radio. Soon , a Sergeant Snorkel look- alike showed up .
He was pot bellied , and wore no specialist markings. His pants were WW I
style cavalry , that is , with wings at the mid leg position. His hash
marks indicated 20 plus years in the Army. It turned out his speciality
was " Motivation via four letter words". He started barking out orders, and
the tool helpers rapidly assisted the mechanic. Soon the main engine was
running , and then the tank 's turret rotated and pointed their main cannon
at our sub! Point well taken, we subs sailors stopped harassing the tank
crew!
Right after arriving at Fort
Lauderdale , 3/4 of the crew were granted Liberty and took off. I had to
stay several hours waiting for one of the main motor's auxiliary fan motors
to cool down. After cool down , I had to repair this motor and replace its
brushes. I then cleaned up and went topside to catch up with the rest of
the crew. Our Captain was also just leaving and he asked where everyone
went. I told him the " Peppermint Lounge " , and he said let's go. We
shared a cab to the Lounge.
Senator Claude Pepper ( he might have been a Congressman in Nov
1962 ) was there, and he bought our Sea Poacher crew a round of beers. The
Peppermint Lounge had Go-Go Girls in cages , and lots of Twist music from
the band.
Our Captain observed the method of proper "Twisting " and went to
the far reaches of the dance floor. Several of us sailors spotted him and
joined together in shouting and clapping " Go Captain Go !". The lounge was
full of college students , and they were amazed to see that the submarine
crew , officers and enlisted , were so close..but that's how it is with
shared danger.