Crew Unrest

When Michelson took on a new merchant marine crew in Brooklyn and Bayonne earlier in '64 they expected that they were signing on for a trip to San Francisco. Instead, the ship began an unexpected period of sea trials in the Bahamas with its departure for the west coast put off again and again. All of these seamen had flown to the east coast from MSTS Pacific (Military Sea Transportation Service) in Oakland. One by one, both licensed and unlicensed, most of them quit and were replaced from MSTS in Brooklyn during our Florida port calls. After three or four months Michelson had mostly a bunch of New Yorkers for an operating crew. One of these replacements was our former chief electrician from 1963.

If they were just aboard for one short trip the west coast sailors picked the wrong ship. Michelson, like sister ships Bowditch and Dutton, went to sea for three to four weeks at a time when conducting ocean surveys. MSTS crewmen, even unlicensed seamen, were largely permanent employees rather than hired from the union halls.