Subject: Short words on Seabats
   Date: Fri, 10 Jul 1998 11:10:39 -0500
   From: Michael D. Snyder
   To: Destroyers OnLine

   Date: 10 July, 1998
   From: Mike Snyder
   Gunnery Officer
   USS Glover (AGDE-1) 1972 - 1973

   SEABATS! 

   In an earlier letter, Steve Gottlieb mentioned "sea bats" on the fantail. I have to
   comment because there is one incident that needs to be recorded. 

   Glover routinely got underway with many civilian scientists and engineers aboard.
   I was never quite sure how they were selected but feel that, in addition to being
   principals in the current batch of experiments / tests, NUSC New London had an
   informal program of sending young engineers to sea for experience. Some of
   those boarding for a cruise were old hands that appeared over and over again, but
   many were new folks, never having been aboard a ship or never aboard Glover. 

   In a quiet period, within a few days of getting underway, the bridge would
   announce that a sea bat had been captured and could be seen on the fantail.
   Grins went up all around and a small crowd casually gather on the helo deck and
   01 level to watch the activities. Often sooner than later, in ones and twos, new
   young sailors and first-time-at-sea engineers would drift aft to view the sea bat.
   Upon arrival they, invariably, would find one of the crewmen down on his hands
   and knees looking at the bat through a hole in a medium sized box. Sometimes the
   box moved and the sailor drew back to avoid being bitten or scratched. Uttering an
   exclamation or making a comment, he moved aside for the next viewer. Slowly, the
   new men were sucked in! When they bent to look into the hole they were soundly
   smacked across the backside with a broom handle. Everyone had a good laugh
   then quieted until the next one came along. The initiate was embarrassed at being
   taken, generally joined in the joke, and stayed to watch the next round. 

   Obviously, you can get away with this only once if there is a group of newbies.
   When the new hands appeared there was a general agreement as to who should
   be allowed to go first. The civilians were always given head-of-the-line privileges.
   Most were good sports when it was over. 

   In one unforgettable instance a young, serious Ph.D. came aft, was brought into
   the con and took his shot across the ass. He jumped up, looked around and
   muttering something about trying to see the bat, bent over, and got nailed the
   second time. He rose, angrier this time, and demanded the sailors stop hitting him ,
   , , , , then bent over to look into the box a third time. Of course he was hit again,
   this time with real vigor. His face got red and approaching rage shouted, if he
   wasn't going to be allowed to see the thing in peace, then he didn't care about the
   damned bat, and stormed forward. It was hilarious! Everone broke up! 

   I'm sure, no, I hope that someone clued him in later. It would be sad to think that
   someone could go through life that naive. 

   So much for sea bats. 

   Mike Snyder LCDR USN (ret.) 








Subject: Glover Sea Story (All truth)
   Date: Tue, 07 Jul 1998 13:14:25 -0400
   From: Michael D. Snyder
   To: Destroyers OnLine

   From: Michael D. Snyder
   Gunnery Officer
   USS Glover (AGDE-1)
   1972 - 1973

   Eric, 

   This is a long one. 

   USS GLOVER (AGDE-1) 

   PORT VISIT AZORES 

   Operating independently, Glover was enroute from Newport, RI to the
   Mediterranean Sea to rendezvous with a Guppy Class submarine for bottom
   bounce tests and, I suspect, bottom contour mapping across the north coast of
   Africa. We met several tankers in the Atlantic but had to refuel one final time to
   complete the crossing. Our port of call was Ponta Delgada, Sao Miguel Island,
   Azores, Portugal where, in addition to refueling, we were scheduled for a three day
   port visit. The commanding officer was Cdr. Ben Simonton. The XO was an Army
   retread, Lcdr., whose name I cannot remember. 

   Ponta Delgada is a beautiful little port, emphasis on little. The city, established in
   1444 lies in a low area between the islands two inactive volcanoes. The volcanic
   island falls steeply into the sea providing only a small shelf on which to build a port.
   The commercial harbor is formed by a man-made mole extending seaward and
   arching left along the shelf for about a half mile. Perhaps two hundred yards of
   open water exist between the mole and the shore. Ships moor to the inside of the
   mole and wooden hulled, multi-colored fishing boats drew up on the pebbly shore.
   There is no room inside the harbor to anchor a ship. The water is air clear with
   anemones on the sea wall and fish along the bottom 40 feet down clearly visible.
   The mole's outer protective wall is constructed of poured concrete fronted by
   monstrous boulders and those giant concrete "jacks" so common in Europe. Two
   ships were in port moored port side to the mole. 

   Our berth was between the two with virtually no room to spare fore and aft. As
   usual, I was the safety officer on the fantail for sea and anchor detail. The OOD
   made a shallow approach intending to put the bow in and pivot on the big
   AN/SQS-26 stainless steel sonar dome to work in the stern. It is tough to parallel
   park a single screw escort without tugs to push. It was worse in Glover with her
   kort nozzle restricting astern power. Inevitably, the mooring went bad. An off shore
   breeze set us onto the ship furthest out along the mole, a French cable layer about
   the length of Glover but with much higher freeboard. The ship was painted many
   coats of white that had been stained and faded to a cream or off-white color. We
   first contacted the cable layer with our hull amidships followed immediately by life
   boat racks and life rails on the 01 level above the hangar bay. We struck the cable
   layer just under her bridge. Large flakes of thick white paint rained down on us.
   The French crew, immediately manning the sides, attempted to get fenders
   between the hulls with little effect. Our own fenders, large rubber things about the
   size of 50 gallon drums, horribly compressed, had their cores torn out and fell into
   the water or they rolled out from between the ships as we scraped forward. Raking
   along to our berth, our main deck life lines hooked on projections extending from
   those high white sides. Stanchions bent and cables carried away with a snap. For
   safety, I cleared the fantail to wait for things to settle down. Amidst this slow
   motion chaos a picture remains in my mind of the executive officer single-handedly
   pushing against the Frenchman in an attempt to keep these two 3000 ton ships
   apart. Fortunately he was not injured. Glover suffered most from the encounter.
   The French cable layer lost several pounds of paint and a few hogging-in eyes.
   After we moored, the CO paid their master a visit with the result that our deck crew
   cleaned and painted the damage to their sides, leaving large bright spots against a
   faded background of dirty white paint. Our Damage Controlmen (now called Hull
   Technicians) repaired our topside damage in less than a day. So began our visit to
   Ponta Delgada. 

   The small city is arrayed along the shore and up into the hills behind. Roadways
   curved to conform to the topography. Stairways sometimes rose between the
   houses and businesses where cross streets would have been in a less vertical
   community. Ponta Delgada is immaculate. Everything is bright, clean, well
   scrubbed and well maintained. Its plants are deep green and lush, nourished by
   plentiful rain and sub-tropical sun. There are limited ship services here, however.
   We were able to take on fresh water and fuel, but had to steam to maintain power.

   Steaming alongside the pier in a Garcia Class escort is not the innocuous event
   you might expect. These ships, Glover included, are powered by two pressure
   fired boilers. They are powerful, 1200 PSI boilers with an accelerated firing rate
   maintained by automatically controlled, steam powered turbine blowers. Outside
   the ship, in the confined bowl of Ponta Delgada, our single steaming boiler
   sounded like a Boeing 707 revving up for take-off. The noise was semi-acceptable
   during the working day but when night fell the wind died and the city quieted for a
   typically relaxed evening. Our "jet" engine cycling through its screeching octaves
   became an intolerable nuisance. The ship was visited, in turn, by the port
   commander, the police, and the mayor, each with the request or demand,
   depending on his position, that we reduce the noise. Of course, it was impossible
   because they had no power to provide and we could not maintain the entire ship
   on diesel generators. 

   Late in the afternoon of the second day in port Bob Lloyd (Chief Engineer), Dave
   Kimball (ASW Officer), Chris Kohlmeyer (Operations Officer) and myself were
   leaving the ship to take in the sights and have dinner ashore. We were actually on
   the pier when the quarter-deck watch officer called to the chief engineer saying
   there was a problem with the refueling that had been ongoing for several hours.
   We made arrangements to meet in town and Bob went back aboard to investigate.
   We three walked off the pier and into the business area at the foot of the city.
   Hours later after having had a wonderful meal with good Portuguese wine we made
   our way back to the ship. Our taxi was stopped at the head of the pier by a police
   barrier, flashing lights and fire trucks. Paying off the cab driver, we passed through
   the security barriers and went down to the ship. A heavy odor of DFM (diesel fuel,
   marine, the fuel used in the boilers) permeated the previously sweet air. Glover's
   crew was on the pier. Intense portable white lights shined overhead bathing the
   now quiet, darkened ship in a brilliant glare that emphasized the black-shaded
   interior. The ships fire party, dressed in OBAs (oxygen breathing apparatus),
   moved in and out of the superstructure with battle lanterns and head lamps lighting
   their way. There was an immense pile of material on the helo deck consisting of
   fuel sodden clothing and dry stores such as paper products and flour and rice in 50
   pound bags. The ship was surrounded with a fuel containment boom with several
   inches of DFM glistening inside. 

   The fuel farm feeding the ship was located well up the mountain. Gravity operated
   the refueling system and communications were poor. A tank in the after part of the
   ship had been pressurized, suctioned clear and repressurized twice. On the third
   and final filling the combined forces and circumstances got it right! A welded seam
   in the tank split simultaneously flooding the sea bag locker and a dry stores
   storeroom. The duty section had declared an emergency, requested assistance
   from the port authority, secured steaming and power, put the crew on the pier and
   initiated clean up. Boundaries was set inside the ship and all the soaked material
   taken to the hangar deck. After hours and hours of cleaning and blowing
   compartments clear of fumes the ship was declared habitable and the crew
   allowed to return aboard. 

   Limited power for lighting was restored by starting the diesel generator and
   bringing it on line to carry the electrical load. In this class of ships, the diesel
   exhaust exits the superstructure through a very large muffler just above the port
   quarter-deck. In Glover, this silver painted, running-rust, eyesore had been cut off
   leaving straight pipes extending skyward. The noise from the diesel was so loud
   that telephone conversation on the quarter-deck was impossible and voice
   communication nearly so. A deafening roar had replaced the jet-like screech! 

   In the very early morning, the still dark skies filled with stars, Glover returned to
   some semblance of normalcy. I was taking air on outboard wing of the bridge when
   I noticed the wail of a siren moving rapidly down through the city toward the pier.
   Blue flashing lights approached with urgency. Suddenly a car crashed through the
   barrier at the head of the pier scattering the police, firemen and onlookers
   stationed there then raced down the pier sliding to a panic stop near the
   quarter-deck. The door flew open, an American-dressed young man ran aboard the
   ship and attempted to blow past the watch team. He was stopped and the
   command duty officer called. The police, in hot pursuit, ran from their car to the
   quarter-deck to apprehend the sailor. He had stolen a car to escaped from an
   altercation somewhere ashore. The wrangling that ensued involved the command
   duty officer, XO, CO, Chief Master at Arms, and later the American ambassadors
   representative to the islands. It went on for hours. Late in the morning an
   agreement was reached. Thanks to the UN Status of Forces Agreement the sailor
   would remain aboard in US custody, the US government would pay for damages to
   the Portuguese citizens and property and the ship would leave port as soon as
   possible. 

   Within hours we were ready to get underway. Both pressure fired boilers were lit
   off, operating noisily and apparently normally. The crew was all aboard. The fuel in
   the water alongside had either been scavenged off by suction devices or
   dissipated under the pier and throughout the pristine harbor. Large shimmering oil
   spots made rainbows on the pier and surface of the sea. The single tug, pulling
   with its single line, lifted us off the pier without incident and we backed out into
   clear, deep water beyond the end of the mole. Glover maneuvered to head out into
   the open sea and promptly went dead in the water, unable to make way. Under the
   CO's direction the deck force on the fo'csl walked out the anchor to ensure that we
   would not drift ashore. We lay there quiet, cold and dark for more than an hour,
   effectively blocking the mouth of the harbor. 

   The Garcia Class escort was designed with a positive displacement fuel system.
   Theoretically, sea water was drawn into the ships tanks as fuel was consumed
   thus maintaining critical weight necessary for ships stability. In practice, the
   oil-water interface was unstable and had to be managed with care. Suction for
   boilers was not taken from freshly fueled tanks and near empty-of-fuel tanks were
   avoided during and after heavy weather. With the fueling activity that had occurred
   in Ponta Delgada and the shifting of fuel associated with the tank fracture and spill,
   we had taken suction on an unsettled tank and drawn sea water into the boiler fuel
   system. The oil-water separators were overwhelmed, fires went out and we went
   dead in the water. After all that had happened in the previous two days it was
   embarrassing to have to hoist the signal indicating "underway not making way". 

   Recovering from a casualty like this is not as simple as cleaning the filter bowl in
   your old 1952 Chevrolet. The water problem is fairly straight forward, but lighting
   off a pressure fired boiler is something else. High pressure air from flasks is used
   to initially spin up the boiler air compressor turbines. Hopefully you have high
   pressure air. (One time, off Newport, RI we did not) When up to speed, electricity
   is applied through motors to further run up the compressors to a point where they
   will supply enough air to support boiler combustion. A generator has to be brought
   on line to provide electrical power. Hopefully you have pressure in the diesel
   starter air flasks. (One time, off Newport, RI we did not) Switchboards have to be
   stripped and the power routed to the air turbines. After low level boiler operation
   for a while, steam becomes available. The turbines are then switched over to
   steam for continuous normal high volume operation. That's why we were dead in
   the water for more than an hour, bottom fishing with our ground tackle. 

   Eventually Glover regained power, was able to raise her anchor and steam over
   the horizon toward the Med. We jettisoned huge quantities of material from the
   mountain on the hangar deck, scrubbed, cleaned and ventilated spaces and in time
   returned to routine life aboard ship. The split tank was made gas-free, welded and
   returned to service later in the cruise. Despite this inauspicious start, the cruise
   was a success with the ship, crew and civilian scientists accomplishing their entire
   mission. 

   I don't know if or when another USN ship was invited back to Ponta Delgada but I
   will wager that old men in cafes along the waterfront there still talk about the crazy
   weekend when Glover visited the Azores. 

   Michael D. Snyder LCDR USN (ret) 









Subject: USS Glover (AGDE-1)
   Date: Wed, 01 Jul 1998 08:06:38 -0400
   From: Michael D. Snyder
   To: Destroyers OnLIne

   7/1/98 From: Michael D. Snyder, USS Glover Gunnery Officer 1971 -1973 

   To: Destroyers OnLine, Frigates 

   I ran into the Destroyer home page for the first time today and followed my mouse
   to Glover. I am excited and pleased to see all this information and interest. I had to
   write immediately. Later, when I pull out my "stuff" I'll be able to provide you with
   more information and a few stories. 

   I reported aboard in 1971 as Gunnery Officer when the ship was home ported in
   Newport, RI. Glover was my first officer assignment following OCS. I had come
   aboard "through the hawse pipe" , sort of, having enlisted in 1959, spent a number
   of years in the Navy nuclear weapons program, graduated from the University of
   Miami, FL as a GMT-1, and attended OCS. If I wasn't, actually, the oldest OCS
   acquired Ensign in the Navy, then at 31 I was damned close. 

   Cdr. Ben Simonton was the CO. He was a "Surface Nuc" having completed tours
   in Long Beach, Bainbridge and Truxten. He went on to become reactor officer in
   the first nuclear powered carrier, Enterprise. The executive officer was a "retread"
   Army officer whose name escapes me. In short order he was relieved by LCDR
   Ken Jacobson, formerly of an ATF command and later into Ainsworth as CO.
   Others aboard included Lt. Chris Kohlmeyer (Operations), Lt. Delano Turner
   (Weapons), relieved by Lt. Mark Unjum, Lt. Bob Lloyd (Engineering) CWO Dave
   Kimball (ASW and Electronics), STC Walters, and STC Bill Redd under whom I
   stood my first underway watch as JOOD, Ens. Richard Henry (Navigation) a
   former game warden from upstate NY, GMG-2 Reagan, straight from riverine
   patrols in Vietnam and more that I'll remember or look-up for a follow-on letter. 

   There was a Sperry representative permanently assigned to the ship, Charlie
   Brock I believe, who fed and cared for the Tactical Assignment Console (TAC).
   The TAC gathered sensor data and displayed it on three CRTs. It also provided
   sonar audio. This was the first attempt to integrate and correlate sensor
   information in a frigate, a feat not entirely successful until Oliver Hazard Perry, the
   first of the FFG-7s, got underway. Coincidentally, or maybe not so, the Perry
   combat system designer and integrator was also Sperry. 

   As told in some of the other correspondence, Glover was a frigate test platform.
   She took her operational orders from a committee that convened quarterly in New
   London, CT. The ASROC and torpedo magazines were converted into civilian
   berthing. The area occupied by mount 52 in other Garcia class hulls or the missile
   system in Brooke class was an electronics / sensor laboratory where data was
   collected from all over the ship, but primarily from her sonar suite. In the early '70s,
   Glover was probably the most advanced ASW platform on the face of the earth.
   She had an AN/SQS-26CX bow mounted sonar forward, a AN/SQQ-23 Passive
   array amidships and an AN/SQR-35 Variable Depth Sonar (VDS) aft. All these
   sonar systems acted as test beds for the production units that were installed in the
   FF-1052 class frigates. The modified stern, commonly called the "high hat"
   accommodated the VDS and simulated the hull configuration that would later be
   found in the 1052s. She was outfitted with Prairie and Masker, air bubble injection
   systems that decoupled engineering sounds from the water and reduced cavitation
   at the propeller tips. Propulsion was provided by two pressure fired boilers feeding
   a single steam turbine connected to a kort nozzle, essentially a shrouded propeller
   that further reduced cavitation. The nozzle or shroud was smaller at the rear than it
   was at the forward end to increase water pressure on the screw blades. She was
   quiet, but couldn't back down for love nor money. The reason her designation was
   changed to FF1098 when she completed her experimental role and was returned
   to the operational forces in the mid to late 1970's was that she packed all the
   same critical gear as the Knox Class. I was the Weapons Officer in USS Claude
   V. Ricketts (DDG-5) the day Glover put on her new numbers. She came to a stop
   in the bright, calm Mediterranean, put men over the side, painted out 1 and donned
   1098. We went 'round her several times to take pictures. 

   When all the ships were pulled out of Newport after candidate cum President Nixon
   failed to carry the Northeast, Glover transited to Norfolk as did many of the other
   frigates and destroyers. Upon her arrival, as missile officer and command duty
   officer in Coontz, I sent a flashing light saying "Welcome to Norfolk, Virginia is for
   Glovers", a play on the recently initiated theme, "Virginia is for Lovers". 

   The last time I saw the ship was, again, in Norfolk after I had retired and was
   employed by Sperry in FFG-7 Class combat system work. She had been
   transferred to the Military Sealift Command (MSC) and put back into some sort of
   test role. The barrel had been removed from mount 51 (MSC operates unarmed
   ships) but the gun house remained for weight and moment considerations. The
   blue and yellow stripes around her stack were not attractive to me and she was
   not as clean and ship-shape as she had once been. I recall reading, several years
   ago, that she was stricken from Navy roles. That generally means up for sale as
   scrap. 

   As others who have written, I thoroughly enjoyed my tour in Glover and would go
   back tomorrow if that were possible. This is a bit long for an e-mail so will close
   now. I will search my box of mementos and will write again with more names and
   Glover stories. 

   If any one has any information concerning the where-abouts of Rich Henry; please
   pass it to me. I've been trying to find him for the better part of 20 years.
   michael.d.snyder@lmco.com 

   I'm glad I found all of you. 

   Mike Snyder LCDR USN (ret)