Navy Stories

Captain Llewellyn Gavin Crayford — “Captain Crayford” to many, “Cap” or “Cap’n” to most of his crew, and “LG” to his friends — disembarked from his ship, Running Light, with a sigh. Most of his crew were already off the ship, glad to have some shore leave. His ship was now officially down for maintenance for at least a week, with just a rotating skeleton crew for the duration. The Chief Engineer and he had agreed that the...

They were sailing in the Gulf of Aqaba with the fleet, supporting the super carrier George H. W. Bush. They were aboard an LHD amphib with a contingent of over one thousand fleet sailors and about 1,600 Marines. Gunny Atwater was responsible for a rifle company of Marines, with usually about 80 to 100 Marines under her supervision. She had been aboard for six months now and was starting to feel as lonely as she had ever b...

JDS Azumaya Kongo-class Destroyer Japanese Territorial Waters CO: Captain Shinsui Hirayama 1500 hours Lieutenant Commander Tadayuki Nomata looked around the CIC with pride, allowing himself a small smile at the air of efficient, purposeful activity around him. Even though the bridge was thought of as the most important part of the ship, the Combat Information Centre was the nerve centre of the Okikaze. Using data gathered...

I finished my noon chow, and was walking back across the drill field towards the school, and smoking a cigarette, when Doug Holmes came running across the field toward me. “Hey man, they just shot the president!” “You’re shitting me, right?” “No! Seriously! Com’on! Cronkite’s on the TV in the staff lounge, but if we hustle, we can get to the doorway and watch it from out in the hall.” We double-timed it to T-1 Admin Build...

When I was in the second grade, I said, “I want to be a geologist.” The other kids in the class, who wanted to be firemen, and policemen and doctors, and brick layers looked at me. Mrs. Callahan looked at me, one eyebrow raised questioningly. “A geologist?” “Yes. Either that, or a musician.” From that day on, I knew I was different. I didn’t want to play kickball in the playground; I wanted to look for druzy quartz sample...