Hector was in WESPAC on its '73-'74 cruise. I was now a third class Petty Officer, which meant I no longer had to stand hole watches underway, but it DID mean they would find other odd crap for me to do.
One day, I was told I had to take driving lessons in JAPAN! I thought, "Yeah, RIGHT!" but NO, they were serious! I figure it must have been because I had a valid Stateside drivers license and that was why I got nailed into this. So off to school I went.
I had to learn all about Japanese driving laws, road signs, how to drive on the LEFT side of the road in a LEFT hand drive vehicle. I also heard rumors that they had a truck with a brake pedal on the right hand side for the instructor, and if he used it, you would fail the driving test. Made me wonder about that a bit.
Lots of guys had failed the test at the same spot. It was because they didn't remember that Japanese stop signs don't look the same as American stop signs. It was also a weird intersection that could mess up anyone's thinking patterns.
The day of the big test arrived and I got into the pick-up truck. Sure enough, on the right side floor was just a brake pedal. No other controls. So maybe the rumors were true!
I began driving off base and around town. Everything seemed to be going fine. Then I came to "the spot". I saw the stop sign and I was ready for it. I stopped, then glanced down to the right side brake pedal. Sure enough, the Japanese instructor had his foot on the pedal, but he did not use it. He didn't need to. I passed the driving test!
Duty Driver was GOOD duty! It wasn't too hard, I had to stay neat and clean, and it gave me another way to upset Charlie Whiteside. For some odd reason, I was always in the same duty section as Charlie was. And as such, he expected me to work in the shop and do my job. The foundry was THE DIRTIEST SHOP ON THE SHIP, no matter how well it was cleaned.
When Charlie wanted me to go down in the shop and do molding work on a duty day, I said, "I'm Duty Driver. I have to be ready on a moment's notice to go drive officers some place, and I can't look like I just crawled out of a shitcan to do it. I have to stay CLEAN!" Charlie didn't like that. I stayed in the upper shop and did paper work or made cores, which wasn't so dirty.
The USS Hector had a stubby little 1972 Dodge van with three rows of seats. Pretty cozy for more than four or five guys, but it was not hard to handle. Most times I just had to take Officers to the O-Club or over to another part of the base, or maybe another ship. Easy duty.
One morning as reveille was sounded, I was just getting out of bed. It was my duty day, so I had to be nice. I was just going to get dressed, head for the head to take a pee, then up to the mess decks for some breakfast.
Then: "Duty Driver...Lay to the Quarterdeck!" came over the 1MC. Golly gee, I wasn't even dressed yet! The word even sounded a bit urgent, so I put a bit of speed on.
I went up to the forward brow, got the keys and down the brow to the van, started it up and three officers got in. I said, "Where to, sir?" and they told me to go to the other side of the base to the small boat docks. So away we went.
As we drove I listened to the Officers talking. It seems something had happened during the night that was causing a lot of commotion with the Japanese and it somehow had been caused by a Hector sailor, or a couple of Hector sailors and a Hector boat.
We arrived at the small boat docks and an LCM was already there and was warming up its engines. I bet that guy didn't get any breakfast either. I asked, "Mind if I come too, Sir?" They said, "No, it's OK."
All right! A boat ride too!
We shoved off and headed out across Sasebo Bay. I still hadn't been to the head, so I did my business off the back of the LCM. You know, the motion and optical illusion of the prop wash while standing on the back of a moving LCM taking a pee can ALMOST make one lose one's balance. Over the years, I still think about how embarrassing that would have been if I had fallen off that damn LCM!
We went way out to the north side of the bay and then we saw it. One of the Hector's big fifty-foot boats was all tangled up in a pearl farm! There was no one aboard, and the prop was all wound up in the nets and frames of the oyster beds where the Japanese cultivate pearls.
This was a SERIOUS thing! Those pearl beds are closely guarded and are worth many thousands of dollars! Who ever put that boat in there was in DEEP DOO DOO!
We never got close to the boat. The officers took some pictures and we headed back to the dock. I never did find out who the culprits were. The fifty-footer was unfouled and returned to the ship a couple of days later.
Being a Duty Driver had some fun and interesting moments.
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