Bill Kislingbury recalls exciting Dependents Cruise in August 1964

Since 10-03-04

Story:

I tried to tell the story of the dependents cruise as best as I can remember, but if anyone can add to or correct me, I’d welcome some more help.

August 64 Dependents Cruise:

The “Exciting” Diodon dependents cruise mentioned by another shipmate is quite a personal memory. On that day I was a TM2 on watch in the FTR and I had a TM3 with me. I remember his last name as Mueller but his first name I can’t recall. We were allowing the dependents to fire water slugs. I was on the head phones near the sonar shack and Mueller was up at the tubes explaining and helping the dependents.

The first few slugs had been fired successfully. 

Now Mueller being single and having all these pretty daughters of our senior shipmates

all around him, became preoccupied and wasn’t watching when a lady was waiting her

turn to operate the vent. The next water slug was fired and this lady opened the vent and

waited for instructions to close it. When I noticed that my fellow torpedoman was not

paying attention I ran up to the tubes and closed the vent.

By then we had taken on a lot of water and were on a downward plane. I can’t remember

how long it took to trim the boat and level out, but it sure seemed to be a long time. There

was a whole lot of yelling over the headphones and I can’t remember who I was working

for then, but I’m sure there was some butt chewing from the top all the way down the

chain, including myself.

The reason I remember this incident so well is simple, the lady at the vent was my wife.

[Web-Master's Note - Below is a photo of Bill's wife, Joyce, on a duty day, in either the FTR or the ATR]