Tales by James "Milt" Beard

Sake

The Spinax was getting ready to leave Yokasuka, Japan to head home and my buddy Jim Doherty IC 3 and I 'EM 2' decided to have a real Japanese dinner before we left. At the time I didn't drink and at the dinner they served us warm Sake. It tasted so good that I kept asking for more. Needless to say I got drunk and had the worst hang over when we got underway the next morning with rough seas.

Follow up on Going home turns;

I was senior controllerman in maneuvering room on my watch in 1962 and we were heading home from our WesPac trip. A lot of the time on the surface the ordered speed was All Ahead Standard on four engines. Each electrician fiqured standard speed differently, so each time the watch changed the speed changed( faster of course). The officer of the deck called down to maneuvering and said slow down number three engine was smoking. We had to back down a little bit. After three requests to change the ETA Chaptain Schlosser told us to slow down because he was not allowed to request a fourth change, we got home three days early.

Growing beards at sea;

After leaving Pearl Harbor in 1962 headed home from WesPac Captain Schlosser put the word out that if we wanted to we could grow facial at sea, which help save fresh water. When we pulled into San Francisco three days early with going home turns on ,the Captain put the word out that ther would be no beard's go ashore. My last name is Beard and I thought that wasn't fare to me. I shaved my beard off and dryed the whiskers and put them in an envelope and wrote on the front 'Beard's Beard' and put it on Captain Schlosser desk. Never heard anything about it so I went ashore when liberty went down.

Pecos as soon as I can find the pictures I'll send them to you to put on the Web. I also have some vedio us that WesPac trip if anybody would be interested in having a copy. I also have pictures of the Spinax when we went to Alaska with Sharks teeth and eyes painted on the bow.

James 'Milt' Beard