This one comes from personal experience, but I know a lot of you will understand too!
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Naturally this site was designed to be a place for MK's to pass stories, pictures, ideas, and study materials, but since Gallatin has undergone an overdose of restoration and rebuilding in the last year, she has taken over this page and it's photographs. While that's not always a good thing, it has provided me the opportunity to get emails from some folks that have sailed on her before. The thing that makes me laugh is that regardless of the dates people were onboard, the stories are starting to sound similar. One former engineer, Francis "Fran" Dietrich, passed this sea story my way earlier in the week:Hello,
I want to thank you for the photos of Main Prop from the Gallatin. I was on board from 1979 to 1980, and then was on the 378 MAT on GOVIS(Governors Island, NY). I left the CG in 83, and I left my heart in that big old ship. I reported aboard in the summer of 79, assigned to Main Prop as an FA, and it started there. Both mains were getting center sections at the time, wow what a mess. After Cape May's spit and polish to walk into that engine room was really something. Loved being a snipe, we pretty much ran the boat, from, hey the AC doesn't work, to what's up with the steam, the engineers did it all.
After MK school I worked on Dallas and Gallatin, center sections, Turbine change outs, a huge rebuild on #1 MDE on Gallatin after a crankcase explosion, and lotsa PMS. We called the diesels Bert and Ernie, and the turbines Heckel and Jeckel. A real tight crew, I still talk to many shipmates from that time. Your pictures are great, and the news of the fire just seems sad for an old girl that has gone too far. Thanks again.
Another former crewmember, Dennis Bulan, sent me a little slice of his experience onboard Gallatin:I saw your website on the Gallatin. Boy you guys are doing alot of work on her. My name is Den and I was on the pre-comp commissioning detail of the Gallatin in 1968. Went to Algiers LA to pick her up in December of '68. She was commissioned on the 3rd of January 1969. I was a GM striker and did sea watches at the same time. She's a great ship and I plan on seeing her when I retire in 2 years. I keep up on what is happening to her and I know she was in real bad shape as was the Dallas. When we were at Governors Island both the Gallatin and Dallas were moored together. I really enjoyed your site with with all the work your doing in the engine room putting her back together. I know she'll run great after you get done with her. Keep in touch. Semper Paratus
I emailed Den back, asking him a few questions about his time on Gallatin. He responded:The Gallatin was the only ship I was on, 3 years 7
months 21 days. I know she was beaten with everything she has been
through. We did our share of SARS and one with the Soviet Navy in
April '72. Almost got rammed but we stayed on station for an assist.
One of their nuclear subs caught fire and only a few years ago I
found out that 26 men died aboard her. I have my plank on the wall next to me and it brings back great memories. I'm a member of Fred's website for Coasties and I also have a website at the Coast Guard Channel Community for the Gallatin http://community.coastguardchannel.com take a look when you have time. Well, good luck to you and the guys putting her back together again. Till later
Den emailed me a picture of his plankowner certificate (pictured above or here)which I find very cool. I'm sure that neither of these guys would have ever thought that come 2009, these ships would still be in service. Thanks to both of you for your service and for your stories. Consider this site an open forum for anyone who has a story to tell about their time in the USCG. Feel free to email me and I will put it up on this site. Snipes have first priority! :)
Have a good 4th everyone.
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Now that I have gotten the green light to post these, you can find pictures from our fire in Central Supply on the FLICKR page. It's amazing to see all the damage and I'm sure it will give DCTT members on other cutters something to think about when planning their next drill. You can go here to read about the fire onboard USCGC Gallatin.
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Tonight I got to see the new Johnny Depp movie, Public Enemies. This movie is from Michael Mann, the director of Heat, Miami Vice (movie), and Collateral. It also has Christian Bale and a handful of folks that will make you say, "hey it's that guy." Be warned, this is not a action/adventure movie. It does not have a massive hour long shootout like Heat did. This movie is a drama. The previews hype it as a shoot em' out film, but it definitly is not. It is, however, a good movie. There are gun battles to entertain, but the film doesn't suffer from a lack of action. It has a good pacing to it and keeps you entertained. It's also a great biography on John Dillinger, with good acting from Depp and Bale. I liked it, thought it was damn good. Slow in parts, but worth the money. Let me know if you think other wise. Have a good July 4th everyone.
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About 2 weeks ago I posted a request for pictures of the Bertholf Engine Room. Well, naturally no one offered any up, but my Senior Chief informed me that you can go the the Bertholf's website and take a virtual tour of the entire ship. All the engineering spaces are included on the website. I have to say that I was extremely let down by it's design. I would have thought it would have been nice like the new Navy LCS design. but, It seems cramped. I really thought the crews lounge sucked, but they do have Rock Band to play, drums and all. I guess you don't really need a place to sit and watch T when you have berthing areas as nice as theirs. Head on over and check it out.
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I'm gonna hold off on posting any of my pictures from last weeks fire onboard Gallatin until next week, but I do have some you can check out. Released by uscgpress on Flickr, you can find a couple of damage shots here, here,and here .
The Commandant came by on Thursday to check out the space, look over the progress of the drydock work, and address the crew. He also commented on the fact that were getting the money we need to keep the WHEC's afloat until they NSC's are online.
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**UPDATE** - After talking with several co-workers about the movie, half of them said they loved the movie. The other half said it was entertaining, but disappointing. I decided to watch it again since I had annoying talkers sitting near me, a bad day at work, and I was tired. I figured that may have lead to my negative view of the film. Upon my second viewing I realized that my problem was that I expected the movie to be, well, to be good. It was not. Entertaining - yes. Good - no. Take it for what it's worth, but if you liked it better than the first one you should slap yourself in the face.
Tonight I went to watch Transformers 2 with a couple of friends from work. My spirits were high despite word of a very campy feel of the movie. Man was I wrong. This movie had so much potential, but I just left the theater pissed. I loved the first one, loved it. It was epic. Action packed, and funny. The 2nd one was just.......I don't know what word to use. The action was good, at times. A couple of cool fight scenes, but all around it was just simply...bad.
It was corny, long(2hr 30min)and could have been about 1hr 45 min and been much better. Plus there was about 25 minutes of slow motion running towards the end. **Oh look, it's slow motion, wow that explosion was really close to Sam, and that one, and that one, and that one, okay these decepticons are a terrible shot, i'm gonna run to the toilet real quick** I even dosed off for a few minutes. The camp killed it, the robots were stupid (hot female hybrid) and the plot/story was retarded. Just wait till you see the theory and name behind the "key". It's like some lame LAMS scenario. The first movie was produced by Steven Spielberg, this one was not. Perhaps he was the magic. I'm sure Speilberg would never had Transformer testicles in his movie. Anyway, maybe I'm just getting old, but the other guys I saw it with were disappointed with it. If you saw it, let me know what you thought. Add a comment on the bottom of the page. I know you'll go see it regardless of the word of mouth, but i'm pretty sure most people will agree with me. However, Meagan fox was HOT!!!
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