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Riding out Hurricane Hazel October 15, 1954 |
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| USS Haynsworth DD700 |
| * Scuttlebut & Memories * |
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Riding out Hurricane Hazel October 15, 1954 |
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Does anyone else remember riding out hurricane Hazel in the Chesapeake Bay on Oct 15, 1954? Boy what a ride, once it was over and we were given clearance to proceed to Norfolk, all hell broke loose. As we upped anchor we found we had miles of steel cable down to the water level entangled on the anchor. The anchor would barely clear the water. As damage control, my section was ordered to clear the entanglement. We spent the entire day in doing this task. One by one we were held by our feet and lowered head first and lowed down to water level. Once down we used a cutting torch and cut the steel cable one strand at a time. You could only stand the pressure for a few minutes, so they raised you up and replaced you with another shipmate. It was a harrowing experience as each strand you cut through would snap very loudly as it found its way back into the water. Could have lost your head or been cut in half as pressure was taken off the cable strands. It took most all of the day to clear the mess. We were the last ship to return to Norfolk. Can’t help but wonder, does anyone else share this memory? Hurricane Hazel Path 
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I was an ET on the Haynsworth, spent most of my time in CIC and thought the storm was interesting. The ship was listing and pitching so much that a two foot square safe came rolling across the deck. Then I got called to the bridge, the radar repeater had died, and for the first time I saw those waves.
I didn't know waves could get that big. This nearly 400 foot vessel was riding those waves like a rowboat. When the ship was on the crest of the wave the screws would come out of the water, the whole ship would shake, then it would surf down the backside of the wave and bury the first 50 feet of the ship in the trough, fight to get its nose above the water and work its way up the front side of the wave and repeat the process, again and again. After we got the repeater working I went back down to CIC, put on a life jacket and sat near an exit hatch. I did not think the ship could survive. It did, we did, and after the sea calmed down it was just another experience in our lives. |
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Author of: Phalanx Against the Divine Wind Son-in-law of: John McAllister RM3c 44-46 |
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William and Sam's tale reminds me of the USS Haynsworth 72 years ago, January 1945, when it was caught in winter storms in the South China Sea.
Pharmacists Mate Ken Jones PHM3 44-45 told his family that the decks were slick with vomitus. Ralph Aakhus RDM3/c 44-45 (who is probably wintering in AZ right now) wrote home about this storm: "It's been rough but this is the roughest yet. Half the time we are standing on our heads and the other half lying on the deck. We had a 45 degree roll once that evening. When the seas are that bad you strap yourself in your bunk and tie all furnishings to the bulkhead." Bill Morton SOM3 44-45 wrote on his website "Battling heavy seas on the edge of a hurricane. High winds and swells forty to fifty feet high. Took a 56 degree roll last night. Didn't get much sleep because it was so rough. Do not know where we are going now. The Haynsworth lost its motor whaleboat and all the life line stanchions ripped from the deck perimeter. It was rumored three destroyers turned turtle and all hands were lost.* We started splitting with a break from the main deck aft of the quarter deck extending across the first superstructure deck and down into the main deck. After the storm subsided a bit I walked out there and when we would plow into a wave it would gap at least 6 inches. For several days you ate standing up in the mess hall with your arm around a stanchion and a cup of coffee in one hand and a sandwich in the other...every time the screws came out of the water I thought we would shake apart. We were lucky to come through." *'Halsey's Typhoon' had occurred just one month earlier on 17 Dec 44. Three cans were lost. Halsey returned the Fast Carrier Task Force to Ulithi for repair while a board of inquisition was held. DesRon 62 arrived at Ulithi on Dec 28. Its crew was mostly teenagers who had never encountered a severe storm. The past six months had been spent off Long Island Sound, Bermuda, and Hawaii. The Fast Carriers TF with DesRon 62/Haynsworth departed Ulithi on 30 Dec 44. As the Navy never released information about the destroyers lost in the December storm, it became part of the scuttlebutt lore so it was no surprise that sailors thought that the cans lost in December had sunk in the Jan 45 storm. |
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Bill Hanna's "riding out hurricane Hazel" brought to mind the following.
As I remember the prediction was that the hurricane would proceed up the east coast, and as a result, many Norfolk based ships were ordered to proceed to the "safety" of the "Hurricane Anchorige" up the Chesapeake Bay towards Baltimore. Ships departed from NOB and the Des/sub piers and proceeded up the Bay to predesignated anchorages as assigned,and upon anchoring the bow faced into the wind. I as a newly assigned Ensign (reported aboard June of 1954) I was on watch as JOOD on the bridge AT ANCHOR as we maintained underway watches. On rader it appeared as a fleet of ships just going nowhere. Everything appeared normal for awhile and as the winds increased we were "all ahead with turns for 4 knots" just to keep station while AT ANCHOR. CIC reported the ship anchored ahead of us was closing our anchorage position, and the Captain was called to the bridge. He imediately ordered "ALL STOP", we quickly notified the ship drifting down on us and those astern of our actions.. Distances were maintained and the ship ,ahead, adjusted speed to maintain station. All ended well and we returned to Norfolk. However, there was a second Hurricane that year, I believe, and all ships were ordered to Sea to "ride it out". |
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