U.S.S. YANCEY AKA-93

Ken Grooms's Navy A story for the USS Yancey

The Tale of The Bail

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In the typhoon season, in southern Japan, the rains come at somewhat unexpected frequency. Sailors armed with only the issued and bulky raincoats are caught unprepared since their raincoats have long been discarded or stored away. It was one of these times that I did what most sailors did and bought a Japanese umbrella.

The inexpensive Japanese umbrella that was available in the early 50s was constructed of bamboo and a varnished paper. They were very well constructed and due to their strength and flexibility could withstand the gusts that came with the rains. The center pole was bamboo and at the top of the umbrella was a disc shaped wooden fixture that had rays of thin bamboo strips extending outward to support the otherwise fragile paper. The mechanics of the umbrella was so well constructed that it would make old men gasp at the very wonder of it all. It was an item that you could send home to mother to show her that her loving son was thinking of her.

When I was in Sasebo during one of the rainy times, I bought one of these umbrellas as I started for the Fleet Landing to catch the Yancey's "M" boat back to the ship anchored at buoy 22. The "M" boats would come along side of a floating dock; our ship's name would be announced followed by a mass of sailors running thru the steel gateways to the boat. Since the floating dock was in tune with the wave action, a miss step would send someone beyond the dock and "M" boat and into the water to be fished out by another shipmate.

Once the "M" boat was filled with a load of sailors, it would proceed to the outer harbor and Buoy 22. When we arrived at the ship the coxswain of the "M" boat would do his closely guarded routine of reversing one of the engines, advancing the other engine and cranking the rudder to its extreme position causing the" M" boat to literally walk sideways to the ship. This maneuver was an art and envy of wannabe boswains.

The "M" boat's exhausts exits just above the waterline and when they bob underwater it produces a sort of throaty sound which changes to a higher pitch as the engines are revved up. The whole maneuver is like a dance accompanied by the music of the "M" boat's engines interaction with the water.

As we started to exit the "M" boat, we made our way up the gangway. The gangway is supported by a platform that swivels from the ship's gunwale at one end and is suspended by an inverted "U" shape steel structure called "The Ball". The bail is attached to a block and tackle (rope and pulleys) so that the gangway can be raised and/or lowered to place the lower entry platform just above the water level.

When I purchased the umbrella I did not know if they came in various sizes - but I should have inquired. As it turned out the umbrella's diameter was larger than the bail's opening. As you might guess by now, the umbrella encountered the bail, reversed its usual shape and I now had in my hand a rain water catcher similar to a device that is used to remove light bulbs. Mother was going to be disappointed.

I have never fully recovered of this event that happened 50 years ago.

P.S. My shipmate, Dave Chestnut adds the comment that Walking the"M" boat is accomplished by the following -

'The trick of walking the boat is: walking to port; hard right rudder, starboard engine forward and varied speed for control; port engine reverse. Reverse the procedure for starboard landing'.

Ken Groom (K.D.)
Yancey Historian
(Owner of collapsible designed umbrella)
8/1/2005

Submitted 2/10/07
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