"The
Mighty A"
The history of a Navy ship, is known to but a
precious few,
Most of us take it in passing, but most of us
weren't crew.
For this particular ship, her career would not
mean much,
Unless you had walked her decks, and felt her
tender touch.
An oiler of the fleet, not known to great
acclaim,
With the name of ASHTABULA, a river of Ohio
fame.
Built to serve the fleet, and commissioned in
'43,
She'd never be the star, among the warriors of
the sea.
Always in the background, to ships of greater
luster,
But when push came to shove, her crew stood tall
at muster.
While over in the Philippines, in the fall of
'44,
She took a torpedo amidships, that didn't put
her on the ocean floor.
Her crew rallied around her, and brought her
back to life,
To survive this fearsome war, of such tragedy
and strife.
She finished out the war, pumping that precious
black crude oil,
As the world settled down, amidst much tension
and turmoil.
But peace does not come easy, in this world of
conflicting thought,
So she sailed for Korea, to stop the Red
onslaught.
Again in the background, as she pumped her
priceless fuel,
The blood of the warships, for without they
could not duel.
Tragedy struck again, when explosions ripped her
hold,
An accident while at Sasebo, but her crew didn't
fold.
A different crew then rallied, to take her back
to sea,
To refuel the fleet on station, so that others
could be free.
Ten years of relative safety, as she steamed
from shore to shore,
She was in the Gulf of Tonkin, at the start of
another war.
Throughout the entire conflict, from the
beginning to the end,
She maintained that ROMEO corpen, with her bow
into the wind.
Peace again prevailed, over the intervening
years,
But her useful life was ending, and her future
was unclear.
On the last day of September, in the year of
'82,
Her colors were hauled down, before a tearful
crew.
Towed to the Reserve Fleet, over in Suisun Bay,
She was moored with her older sisters, all who'd
seen a better day.
For many years she laid there, as her paint
turned into rust,
The salt spray washed over her, to build up a
briny crust.
It looked like her life was over, when she was
sold to be taken apart,
But that company wasn't solvent, and their
efforts soon lost heart.
Her decks had been cut down, she was minus forty
feet of bow,
The Navy needed to get rid of her, the only
question how?
Unbeknownst to many, planning was in motion,
A Royal Navy task group sailed, upon a different
ocean.
As that group traveled east, and moved from port
to port,
ASHTABULA was prepped for sea, her days were
running short.
U.S. ships joined the task group, with USS CURTS
as OTC,
As final plans were made, for a rendezvous at
sea.
The task group cleared Hawaii, and ASHTABULA was
underway,
Towed behind the SIOUX, across San Francisco
Bay.
Again she went unnoticed, amidst that city's
busy Fleet Week,
No crew manned her rails, her hull no longer
sleek.
Ignobly towed stern first, beneath the Golden
Gate,
She disappeared into the fog, to calmly await
her fate.
Towed as a calculated risk, her last six days at
sea,
Her hull held together, until finally cast off
free.
Southwest of San Diego, two hundred miles from
shore,
She was to be the target, as the task group
practiced war.
She had fought the Japanese, North Koreans and
the Cong,
To be set upon by the Brits and French, surely
did seem wrong!
October the fourteenth, in the year of two
triple ought,
Wallowing in the seas, with one last battle to
be fought.
The order soon rang out, to let the missiles
fly,
OPNAV had decreed, ASHTABULA had to die.
First salvo away, with Harpoons in the air,
ASHTABULA took some hits, as if without a care.
A second salvo fired, to make its deadly run,
ASHTABULA still fought hard, beneath the Mexican
sun.
Away went salvo three, from three helos of the
Brits,
ASHTABULA isn't sinking..., we might be in the
shits!
Salvo four was three missiles, designed for
surface to air,
Built to shoot down aircraft, ASHTABULA didn't
scare.
Next came in the air wing, salvo five if you
will,
Weather forced them to leave early, ASHTABULA
they didn't kill.
Surface gunfire from two ships, made the final
sound,
When the ships fired their allowance, ASHTABULA
was still around.
The magazines are empty, the ordnance is no
more,
ASHTABULA is hard hit, but not on the ocean
floor.
No crew to rally around her, this final time at
sea,
The following morning she was put down, by the
efforts of EOD.
For 57 years, she had lived out of sight,
Who will now forget her, after this one sided
fight?
She never did flinch, at this modern war at sea,
She was serving a different role, for future
navies she'd never see.
She hoped the sailors that sank her, would
remember how she died,
Brits, French, and Yanks together, knowing her
faithful crews had cried.
For 57 years, seas had passed beneath her keel,
If one could only ask her, what did she truly
feel?
I suspect her answer, would always carry the
day,
All sailors should stop and listen, to what she
had to say.
"I was brought to life, to serve this mighty
Navy,
I couldn't be any happier, now that I'm with
Davy."
"For now my name is known, my crews hold their
heads in pride,
And I'm proud to say, none of them had to take
this final ride."
"I now live with legends, that ruled their naval
day,
They welcomed be amongst them, "Make Way for the
Mighty A""
OSCM(SW) Rick Dillard, USN
COMTHIRDFLT
18OCT00 |
