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At this point JR asked for a break, he wasn’t feeling very good. A corpsman was right there and helped him to his office. The Skipper dismissed us and told us to make sure the ship stayed clean. “I don’t want to see one drop on any deck”. He laughed as he left, everyone saluting him and our other new officers. One of our Warrant Officers became the new engineer. Unheard of but no one knew the engines better than he did.
JR became seriously ill, and we hightailed it to a base, the Admiral (Former Skipper) met us there with an escort. JR had a gallbladder issue and needed surgery. After several days of I guess detoxing, he was given surgery and released back to the ship a week later. Our time was coming to an end and the Skipper was concerned we would not perform if needed. So, we had three very long days of drills. He was very pleased with the performance when he sat with the officers who each gave reports on their divisions. Two days later we would be very happy he did this. A radarman made a sight report, we were at battle stations. Sure, enough we had sailed right into a wasp nest. There was no report of this hiding place and boy was it a full nest. We were ready for a ship maybe two but a fleet. Sorry no way, we hightailed it, but in fairness to the enemy we dropped mines for them. Our fleet was made aware, and they were hours away, planes even closer. And I swear the sky went black as our planes hit those ships and the island. They had planes also, but I don’t think they were as ready as we were. We sat there watching planes crash by the dozen every minute for half an hour.
There was fire everywhere. We were now tasked with picking up survivors as well as a couple other ships. They may be our enemy, but they are human, and the US was not like China and Japan we took good care of prisoners.
In one day, we had destroyed this fleet, not one ship survived. Thousands of prisoners. The Army was there and ready to feed and provide medical care in a day. Our skipper was awarded a few medals for his fast thinking. He sunk three ships, blocking the escape of the other ships. I guess they never thought that part out. But to give them credit, it was reported that from the sky they were very well hidden.
We were given liberty in Perth Australia, a much-needed break. For seven days the crew was able to stand their duty and still get out and enjoy themselves. We also had Marine security. Not to mention a few close by ships. Word was out we had to be sunk for our discovery. On our last night only, a few hands went on liberty. We had a guest on board, who was never announced because of security. JR was asked if he could finish his story in one night. He said he could. Then he was told who the guest was, he smiled and said he would be honored.
A few hours later JR was in his chair, there would be no microphones this time. Those that couldn’t be there could watch the tap. As we took our seats, we noticed a fourth chair, this one to the left of the skipper. I didn’t even know who it was for. The Skipper comes to the side of JR who was at attention as well as the rest of us. He smiled and said he had a guest on board for the finishing of JR’s story. Everyone was bumped to hear it was coming to an end. Then a man stood up in the back of the crowd, he walked forward we all cheered as we saw our former Skipper join us. What a way to end the story. He walked up to JR and returned his salute, thanked for everything, asked him how he was feeling. Then he took a seat next to the Skipper.