Toward
the end of August of 1964 Michelson returned (again!) to Bayonne after
several months of Bahamas sea trials and Florida port calls. Tied up at
the east end of the supply center, a/k/a Military Ocean
Terminal, we were, once again, a very long walk to the front
gate and from there to Ziggy's bar on 32nd street.This was a time for more crew changes, with the MSTS Brooklyn merchant mariners being replaced with west coast crewmen sent from Oakland. The morning after our arrival we had no cooks or mess stewards pending arrival of replacements. Breakfast was available on a US navy ship that just happened to be across the pier. This was the only real navy ship I had ever been aboard! Salute twice when boarding, stand in line, eat breakfast off of a steel tray then salute twice to get off the ship. Even had to put on a uniform! Bummer.
There were questions. "What kind of cargo do you carry?" We were now the Bayonne Mystery Ship, incapable of carrying anybody's cargo since the original booms, rigging and the king posts were long gone, except at number four hatch.
While at Bayonne some new navy detachment people reported aboard and some left for their next assignments.
 |
| One of the shipyard cranes adjacent to the drydock at Bayonne. |
The tech reps from Sperry set up a theodolite aft of survey control on the 03 level. Bearings were taken on the Empire State building and other landmarks to help calibrate the new SINS inertial system and perhaps their new gyrocompass as well. Back in its transit cases, the Lorac radio navigator equipment we used in the Bahamas was shipped home to Oklahoma.
Michelson took on fuel and provisions for the trip to California by way of the "big ditch", the Panama Canal, with no port calls planned along the way. I had my supply of gin, purchased in Florida, where it was cheaper and easier to smuggle aboard. We got underway at about the beginning of September '64.
I had less than four more months of active duty. This was called "getting short".
