Captain Green 1958,1959

Sea Stories & Photos

Cmdr David H. Green, CO - 1958-1960

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NOTE: I contacted Captain Green and asked him for a few comments about his tour of duty as commanding officer of the Cecil during 1958 and 1959. The Captain, who is now retired, resides in Hertford, NC, graciously responded with a letter and a photo of he and his XO taken aboard the Cecil while he was in command. The following is my reading of Captain Green's letter to me. I take responsibility for any misunderstanding on my part.

                                                                                                                                       6/12/99
Dear Ed,
           Before I attempt to tell you how much I enjoyed my tour of dutry in the USS Charles P. Cecil, I must really acknowledge the fact that Mike Horrocks, my predecessor, had put together an extraordinary bunch of talent. With the upcoming Weseg tests and what they meant for the Navy in terms of the Washington Budget, the Navy had little choice but to staff all four of the ships in DesDiv 262 with an extra ration of talent.
           I'm hard pressed to explain how the rivalry between the four ships began unless it was born out of Mike Horrock and his "Second to None" motto. It began to appear to me as we were working our way through Refresher Training at GITMO. The ship riders from the Fleet Training Groub (FTG) would come to me at the end of each day and ask me how I got these guys to hustle so much. Cecil Patrick, SF1, the lead Damage Control man was 100% hustle. A carry over from my submarine days where the guy who was OOD put the ship alongside the oiler - not the skipper. I think that set us apart from the other three ships. Then the thing that really put us on the pinnacle was that the Com Fleet Training Group himself rode us for the final battle problem. Again the shipriders told me that he wouldn't believe the reports they were turning in. He had to see for himself how good we were.
           I also think Alan Register the DivCom, had a lot to do with promoting the competiveness between the four ships. Unfortunately he was relieved by the guy who died in the plane crash flying back from St. Thomas and the guy who finally came to take over from me as temporary DivCom just didn't have the talent of Alan Register.
           The tricks we used to pull on the OHare stemmed mostly from the fact that the OHare's skipper was a classmate of mine at the USNA in 1942 and he was against letting submarine people invade the world of destroyers.
           This picture of me and Lt Don Foulds, who was exec, I'm sending under death threats from my wife, so please send it back when you're finished with it.
           I had what the doctors call a mild stroke on Wednesday evening, 6/9/99, so that's why my usually flowing hand is kind of scratchy.
                                            With best wishes
                                            David Green

NOTE: One of the "tricks" the Captain talks about I remember vividly. One day we had gone alongside the OHare to highline observers and just as we dropped the highline to complete the transfer, the skipper of the OHare tossed an orange at our skipper on the bridge. Revenge was the order of the day. When we rendezvoused to return the observers, Capt. Green ordered all uninvolved personnel to retrieve overripe fruits and vegatables from the galley and assemble out of sight on the port side of the superstructure. We were under instructions to open fire on command from the bridge. After we executed the highline transfer and dorpped the lines, the command was issued on the 1MC to "Open fire to starboard". That's when we targeted the OHare with a barrage of fruits and veggies.

Here's a short sea story I received from Capt. Green the other day (7/10/99). I'm sure he'd like to share it with you all.

Memories are funny things, especially when you get to be our age - almost 79. For some reason I got to thinking about a spare parts transfer we made by light line from our bow to the stern of the O'Hare. It was special for Lou Croneberger and was originated by Andy Jernee, the Engineering officer. We could see Lou back on O'Hare's stern as we came close enough to put a heaving line across to carry the jar with the part in it. It was a piece of cooked kielbasa Andy had sent to replace Lou's missing finger. We thought it was hilarious but it went over like a lead balloon with "Fingers" Lou.
Lou Chroneberger was a contract Field Engineer that often rode on the ships in the squadron during evaluation of the new electronic data system (AN/SPA 26, AN/SPA15). Lou actually had a finger missing.

Photos

Click on the links below to see photos

Captain Green on the left and his trusted XO,
Lt Don Foulds, on the bridge of the Cecil

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