Navy Yarns

By Captain Roy C. Smith III, U.S. Navy (Retired)
June 1998
Naval History
Volume 12 Number 3
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Early in the 1950s, Commander Worth Scanland (USNA ’34) was taking a submarine division west across the Mariana Trench and thought it would be a great idea if all hands had a swim call in the deepest spot of the ocean. After hoisting the appropriate signals, he led the way by stripping off shirt and shorts and doing a graceful swan dive off the bridge of his flagship the Florikan (ASR-9). Noting the Catfish (SS-339) only a few hundred yards away, he swam leisurely toward her. Suddenly there was a scurrying on her deck and swimming ceased in his immediate vicinity. As he reached the sub’s side, a line was thrown to him to scramble aboard. He was greeted by four side boys at the salute, the Chief of the Boat piping the side, and the skipper extending a hearty “welcome aboard, Commodore”—every one of them was as naked as he.

Captain Roy C. Smith III, U.S. Navy (Retired)

Captain Roy C. Smith, III, U. S. Naval Reserve (Retired), has been a frequent contributor to the pages of the Proceedings over the years. During active duty service from 1941 to 1946 and from 1950 to 1970, his sea duty included tours in the USS Plymouth (PG-51), USS Coates (DE-685), USS Humboldt (AVP-21), USS Cassin Young (DD-793) and USS Markah (AD-21). Shore duty included tours with NATO at Gibraltar and as Naval Reserve Area Commander and CO Naval and Marine Corps Reserve Training Center, Washington, D.C. Since April 1971, Captain Smith has been Director of Publications for the U. S. Naval Academy Alumni Association and Editor of its magazine Shipmate.

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