From all the posts above, one Golden Rule emerges: When your ship starts to go down, first, have a drink!
:yep:

Drink Before The Drink
 

Well, Being we never got served any alchahol on the US ships....EXCEPT BEER DAY!!!:()1: , if, god forbid, she was going down we would have to raid the ships fridge (huge fridge, real cold) where they store the beer for those wonderful BEEEEER DAYS:D. They are few and far in between though:roll: . The first place I would hit up while everyone was raiding the big ole fridge is the captains booze cabinet. I'm guessing cause it's reserved for those foreign dignitary types there's gotta be some good stuff in there.

Great Screen Shots!!!!!!!!:cool: :cool: :rock:

That was a really interesting story about Charles Joughin Frank, good work!

Nah, in most of the Pacific it was usually exposure, sharks, or storms. Freezing to death was in the Northern Pacific.

Steve, my father was on the Astoria at the battle of Savo Island. The stories from the survivors from the ships that sank in that battle are pretty grim. (He was also on her at Coral Sea and Midway).

I have been fascinated by his story ever since I read about it. If you watched "Titanic", his character is standing on the rear of the ship along with "Leo and Kate" as the ship begins it's slide. And, I believe the film "A Night to Remember" features quite a bit of his story inclusive of the drinking and the dispersing of the deck chairs. Amazing to have been in those water for close to two hours without freezing, good "antifreeze" he had there...

Quite the heroic guy in what was a little-way-to win situation. :up:

It always surprised me how many senior college's on board the ships i served on couldn't swim at al in the 70's.

wait? isn't being able to swim like an entry level requirement of the navy?
pete

Wow! That was quite some story! I've never seen any of the Titianic movies but I just might watch one now. And not that there is a pleasant way to die, but I think one of the more horrific would be going down in a sub, where you know there is no way out. That in minutes the hull is going to be crushed like a tin can and not a thing you can do about it. The week following the Kursk disaster had me praying for those poor guys.