This story begins some time before my arrival aboard USS Hector in February, 1972. It begins, as most stories do, with an innocent job being done by regular guys and they are not aware of where their toils and the fruits of their labors may lead.
It came to pass that the Hector foundry was ordered to create a billet of aluminum, of the specifications of eight inches in diameter and about twelve inches high, or long, as dimensions may go...
The mold was prepared as they do in foundry work and the metal was in the furnace being operated by one ML3 Tropp. Now as most of us who worked aboard Navy tenders in the foundries, we know of the optical and immersion type pyrometers used to measure the temperature of molten metal so we may ascertain its pouring or tapping point.
But Hector had another type of pyrometer that was used quite frequently...it was Charlie Whiteside. He would walk over to the furnace, and then he would form a little "window" using his hands and extended thumbs and look through this opening and determine the temperature by "eyeball", if you will. I watched him do this many, many times after I came aboard, so I can attest to the veracity of this statement.
As it was, the metal in the furnace for this billet was coming to be of the proper temperature to be poured into the billet mold.
Charlie does his "window" pyrometer technique and says, "Not hot enough." So the fire is once again laid on. Again, "Not hot enough.' and it continues. After a time, the metal is finally "Hot enough" and is poured into the afore mentioned billet mold.
Now, as we who worked in the trade have been warned, aluminum is not a metal to be abused with a lack of knowledge. It has a trait of picking up hydrogen gas if heated over 1400 degrees and can ruin a casting.
The billet was dumped out, cleaned and sent up to the machine shop to be made into whatever the machinists were capable of...But as they cut into it, it was discovered that the billet was riddled with the unmistakable signs of gas intrusion. It was worthless as to be used for what it was intended.
The machinists sliced off a one-inch thick slice and had these words engraved upon it, "SPONGE METAL by ML1 Charlie Whitesides"<(notice the "s") and a small flat spot milled on its edge and a threaded hole provided to mount it to a base....
Now it is here I begin MY side to this twisted tale...I came aboard Hector as an MLFA, fresh out of the States and A School, and was the "Lackey To Jour", and was doing all kinds of dirty, odd jobs as needed by, well, anyone with seniority over me which was...everyone.
I was told to clean out this old bin full of hoses, bits of rope, pipe and valve parts, and other odd junk. So I did, and as I did, I soon found this odd disc of metal W-A-Y down in the bottom. I picked it up and looked at it...Saw words inscribed and decided to take it to Charlie to determine what should be done with it. After all....His name was on it...
As soon as he saw it, he snatches it away from me and goes around behind the sand blast cabinet and squirrels it away, and all the while he says, "It wasn't MY fault. I didn't cause this." I began to have a small doubt as to what was really going on in Charlie's attic.
Later that day, on a break, I ask the other guys to fill me in on the story behind this odd little disc of metal. That's how I became aware of the earlier part of this story.
As time went on, the odd disc of metal was found, re-snatched away and re hidden. After a couple years, I was on board with "the Duty" but had no watches or fire party or other things to hinder my evening. I happened to reach into the rag bin to get a rag, and my hand hit something..Lo and behold, the odd little disc inscribed with those words of guilt...I looked it over. HMMMMM. Not to bad, I can do something with this, so I spent that evening cleaning it up.
Charlie had told me his name was "Whiteside" not "Whitesides" so the "s" had to go. It wasn't too deep, so a bit of emery cloth and the offending "s" was history. A bit of black spray paint was applied to get down into those little gas pockets and the lettering, then quickly wiped off so it wouldn't cover the other surfaces, then up to the pattern shop for a new black walnut wood base and a fresh coat of clear lacquer.
GAWD it was PURTY!!!!!!
When Charlie saw the "new and improved" Sponge Metal disc, he immediately wanted to once again take it away and hide it. I said, "No, not this time." He asked what I intended to do with it. I said, "I'm thinking of sending it to A School to be used as a training aid." He got a little mad, but we had been around each other enough that a bit of fun was tolerated...I put the disc in my locker and teased him about it from time to time...
After I got out, I actually brought the damn thing home! Don't ask me why, but I believe it was just because I had been handling it for so long, I just couldn't part with it. After many years, I was cleaning out the storage and came across it once again. Not seeing the need for it any longer, it went to the dump. I regret that now after finding both this site and the USS Hector site and all the reunions and crew still around. It was fun though.
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