|
photo courtesy Ed
Grinter - USS Tidewater, 1970-1971
AD31's
Heavy Machine Shop - 1970
Ed Grinter Notes: This
is the 1970 heavy machine shop crew and a special cover
for the layout table. Photo was taken about 1 year before
the ship was decommissioned.
1st row left to right:
Bill Montgomery, Dan Edwards, Gillerto Perez and Wayne Rouston
2nd row: Jim Fiddler MR1 in charge of heavy shop,
Richard Cordell MRC in charge of heavy and light shops,
Ed Grinter and (?) Hill (sorry, don't remember 1st name)
3rd row: (?) Mullenex (?sp), Jim Wormwood, John Sealy,
Al Outsen, (?).
From an E-mail from Ed Grinter:
Dear Bill,
I'm happy to see that you
and Bob Hall are working to keep the memory of the Tidewater
alive. I spent my last year in the Navy aboard her. It was
good duty. I especially liked the summer of 1970 which we
spent in Charleston, SC. The navy base was more laid back
than Norfolk. We went down there to cannibalize an old tender
with everything useful we could find for the Tidewater.
When we returned to Norfolk we got our orders to mothball
the Tidewater. That order was stopped because Indonesia
wanted her for their fishing fleet repair ship.
The Navy was getting rid of a lot of ships and sailors and
I had about 10 months to go on a 4 year enlistment. I had
the choice of a 1 year extension or 10 month cut. I had
gotten married in August, 1970 and my wife liked the Annapolis
Navy but didn't care for the Norfolk Navy. I went back to
my Schenectady, NY General Electric machinest job upon discharge.
I learned a lot about machining on the Tidewater. My "tin
can" sailor machining was limited to making the best
out of what you had until you got into port or to a tender.
The layout table was the place for shop meetings and socializing.
We put a lot of work into the layout table cover. We used
all new black floor tiles with brass trim and letters.
I'm looking forward to joining the Association and receiving
more news about the Tidewater. About once a year I visit
the Slater DE 766 tied up on the Hudson River in Albany,
NY. A bunch of vets put a lot of love and hard work into
her. The Greek Navy let her sit around for years and finally
were going to scrap her, before the Albany Vets had her
towed over.
Jim Meara lives about 10 miles from me. I'll give him a
call sometime. Like Jim, I made thousands of gallons of
water on evaporator watches. I stood my engine room watches
on the USS Borie DD 704.
I was on the Tidewater's last cruise to Bermuda. I got out
a few weeks after we got back to Norfolk.
Yours Fraternally,
Ed Grinter
|
