Fleet in California. Fog. Intermittent fog. Continuous fog. Continuity overshadows intermittency. A bold assertion. Some opinion to the contrary. Wardrooms on foggy days. Officers draped over transoms. Contorted over chairs. Feet higher than heads. Uncomfortable postures oftentimes the more comfortable. Filipino boys doing things. Doing things in disorganized manner. Bridge. Gunnery. Acey deucey. Damage control. Continuous supply of the drug caffeine. Ambitious youth. Middle-age complacency.
“Boy. A cup of coffee, please.”
“Make it two.”
“When I was in the Pampanga on the Asiatic one time, we had an ... ”
“Commander,” and an orderly stands rigidly at attention. “The Captain wishes to see you.”
“Very well.”
“Wonder what the Old Man wants with the Exec.?”
“Oh! Something about next week’s schedule.”
“Off San Clemente again?”
“Always off San Clemente.”
“Boy. Watch boy!”
“Suh.”
“Wake up. What have we for lunch?”
“Don’t know, suh. Maybe meat.”
“What kind of meat?”
‘Fish. Maybe cheez and cracks.”
Boggy in California. Long deep swells. Ship rolling quarter booms under. Sirens and bells. Wet paint work. Rust forming on angle irons. Wardroom Airedale scratching. Fleas. One flea has varicose veins. Walks stiff legged. Irritates Airedale no end. Irritates much more than normal flea. Dental officer helps Airedale scratch. Airedale thankful. Not entirely satisfied.
“It was on the Isle of Capri that I met her,
Beneath the shade of an old banyan tree—”
“There goes that ensign singing that again. Anyway it wasn’t a banyan tree. It was a walnut tree.”
“I was in Capri one time. Dirty place.”
Union Oil tanker stands in. Knifes way up channel. Siren somewhat wheezy. Plenty room. Misses battleship by 3 fathoms. Misses navy tug. Misses by 2 fathoms. Keen competition. Commercial vessels in today. Gone tomorrow. Sometimes they go to Davey Jones’ locker. No key to that locker. And they wonder what becomes of old sailormen.
“The gunnery practices aren’t competitive this year.”
“That’s what you think.”
Bluish gray. Dull gray. French gray. It’s clearing. Hazel blue with patches of white. Slate and blue. Patches of blue. Patches of white. Sunshine. Men at work around decks. Bright-work gear. Planes warming up. Men smiling. Turrets being trained. Boats alongside. Mail. Good news. Bad news. Bills. Advertisements. Advertisements predominating. Bugle calls. Loud speakers.
“Say, when does the class of nineteen-ten make captain?”
“What do you care, you’re in, thirty!”
Wardroom scene shifting. White cloths on tables. Mess boys chattering. Pigeon English. Tagalog. Second-grade Spanish. Norfolk English. Norfolk colored boy balancing pitcher of water. Shuffles Portsmouth water-front hoedown. Never spills a drop. Head boy straightens glass. Glass slightly out of line. Salt and pepper shakers missing. Napkin rings from Singapore. Several from Crabtown. Two from Chefoo. One from Caimanera. The one from Caimanera could tell a tale.
“Fifteen two, fifteen four and three are nine.”
“And three are seven you mean.”
“Excuse me.”
“Twelve o’clock, chronometers wound.”
What would happen if they weren’t wound? Pipe to dinner. Forty officers sitting down at tables. Six hundred men below decks doing likewise. Uncle Sam feeds the men. The officer buys his own. Same kind of food. One slightly embellished. Bean soup or Mongol delight. No difference. Beef stew or Hungarian rhapsody. Same thing.
“What? Rice and curry again.”
“Where’s the buck?”
“In front of the marine.”
“Pass it along. It was in front of him yesterday.”
“Boy, hurry. I’m going on watch.”
Seaman’s eye versus mooring boards. Personal equation. Smart ensigns. Irresponsible ensigns. Good watch officers. Unreliable watch officers. Tactical school. Lieutenants gloating. Junior grade lieutenants guessing. Ensigns worried. Navigator skeptical.
“I pity the captain that gets one of you birds for a navigator.”
Engineering competition. Weak flushing system. Full guard. Marine officer dashes for quarter-deck. Good paymasters never say “No.” Motor boat zigzagged through water. Motor boat should run straight. Motor boat bow. Gangway platform. Both damaged. Motor boat in skids. Motor boat coxswain at mast. Maritime justice. No politicians. No lawyers.
“Coxswain Jones. Three days bread and water.”
“Thank you, sir.”
Captain pacing quarter-deck. Communication officer nervous. Nervous as the nose of a rabbit. Executive dealing. Dealing out work to subordinates. First Lieutenant signing chits. Paint chits. One chit too large. Cuts chit in half. Engineer officer turning out lights. Lights use amperes. Amperes use fuel. Damage Control officer concocting casualties. Doctor concocting medicine. Paymaster concocting menus. Gunnery officer concocting alibis. Alibis include roll and pitch. Include poor visibility. Include short circuits. Better alibis include poor spotting. Sometimes include dumb training and just dumb.
“Acey deucey.”
“I wrote a book on this game.”
“Who hasn’t?”
Gunnery drills. Bag inspection. Emergency drills. Regulation haircuts. As last resort one sailor shaves head. Summary courts. Deck courts. Three boat gongs. Shortages in personnel. Two boat gongs. Mess bill too high. Chipping angle irons. Scrubbing paint work. Cleaning bilges. Midwatch coming up. Equal strain on all parts.
“For old sailors never die.”
“We had a blacksmith on the cruise around the world who could sing that better than anyone I ever heard. That was a cruise. We got into Puget Sound and the city of Tacoma gave us a bear. That sonofagun sure was cute. Ate apples and Frankfurters and scratched his ear with a squilgee handle. He fell overboard out in China and cried like a baby till we salvaged him. Then he went down in the engine-room and got tangled up in the reciprocating engines and that was the last of him.”
“Who, the blacksmith or the bear?”
“Oh! leave him alone, he’s been telling that same yarn for 28 years.”
Preparations for a Hawaiian cruise. Pearl of the Pacific. Home of Ah Fong’s daughters. Home of Oo bird. Oo bird now extinct. Playground of kings and tourists. Former preceded the latter. Latter outlasted the former. Many kings. Mostly Kamehamehas. Many tourists. Mostly broke when leaving. Wives must stay in Long Beach. Some wives refuse to stay. What should be done? Get another wife. Theoretically sound. Practically quite speculative. Provisions. Fuel. Guard mail. Hoisting boats. Sailor whistling “Aloha.” Propellers churning. Heading west. Hula dancers get in shape.
“Three no trumps.”
“I’ve heard it said that when you leave Hawaii you die a little.”
“Double.”
“Pass.”
Quartering sea. Twenty degree roll. New draft of apprentices. Apprentices seasick. Chief Bos’n’s Mate smirking. Nineteen years ago Chief Bos’n’s Mate seasick.
“Were those fresh eggs or Paymaster’s eggs?”
“Why?”
“They didn’t taste so good.”
Rugged peaks. Misty canyons. Golden mists. Shadows of Tantalus. Kona winds. Oriental fantasies. Waikiki sands. Romantic sands. Brilliant stars. Subtle moon. Sparkling eyes. Black eyes. Brown eyes. Few blue eyes. Almond eyes. Hawaii. Alex Young’s place. Royal Hawaiian. Steel guitars. Useless ukes. Beach sheiks. Lei on neck. Grease on hair. Bell-bottom pants. Nine o’clock. Girls fairly good looking. Ten o’clock. Girls good looking. Eleven o’clock. Girls beautiful. Honolulu. Spirit of romance. Spirit of Hawaii. Spirits.
“Boy. How much go Aiea landing?”
“Feefty cents one people.”
“How much two persons?”
“All same. Feefty cents one people. Also feefty cents one more people.”
“Let’s go.”
Grinding of gears. Backfire. Greeting to bystander. Greeting apparently in Chinese. Maybe Korean. Off. Off unlike train. Off more like catapult. Missed street car. Missed by inches. Wet pavement. Change in course. Abrupt change. Change followed by skid. Feet braced on floor boards. Knuckles white. Heart in mouth. Missed oriental debutante. Missed by halfinches. Driver has queer eyes. One eye on rear view mirror. One on scenery. None on road. Missed truck. Missed by quarter- inches.
“Boy. How long you been driving?”
“Long time now.”
“How long?”
“Three maybe four hours.”
“Oh! Forget it. Ask him what his name is.”
“What’s your name?”
“Wong.”
Aiea. Navy landing. Brown boys. Brown girls. Both curious. Cane fields. Dogs barking. Mongoose in cane fields. Can’t see mongoose. Hot dogs. Pineapples. Kona coffee. Alert patrol. Sailor in clutches of patrol. Sailor singing. Singing “The Last Round-up.”
“Here we are. By the way what was your father’s name?”
“Lai Chai.”
“Ah! Chinese. What was your mother’s name?”
“Smith.”
“Well, well. Your mother was an American.”
“No. Hawaiian.”
“How come?”
“Englishman poppa.”
“Was her mother English too?”
“No. Porcheegeese.”
“So your mother was Hawaiian?”
“Sure.”
Motor boat bells. Boat hooks out. Boat hooks in. Under way. Missed channel buoy. Missed mooring buoy. Missed destroyer putt-putt. Coxswains exchanged greetings. Greetings not complimentary. Alongside.
“Returning aboard, sir.”
“Say this wardroom looks good to me.”
“So his mother was Hawaiian.”
Zero nine hundred. Under way. States bound. Misty canyons in distance. Misty eyes on board. Flower of Hawaii on pier. Aviator on board. Aviator contemplates suicide. Contemplates future duty Hawaii. Contemplates living. Last contemplation wins. Junior Marine leans on rail. Looks far away. Thoughts similar to aviator’s. Eats lunch. Forgets suicide. Wardroom Airedale still searching. Searching for flea. Flea with varicose veins still active. Two new napkin rings on table. Both from Oahu.
“Who’s got the deck?”
“That new jay gee from the cans.
“Boy. Get my life preserver.”
Ships of war. Ships of peace. Long gray ships. Short stumpy ships. Pipe down aired-bedding. Regular sea detail. Navigators scanning heavens. Captains scanning formations. Darken ship. Full moon. Darken ship good practice. Sailormen thrive on practice. Practice known as drills. Everyone drills. Shore-going drill most popular Navy drill. Shore-going drill promotes morale. Nine more days before morale promoted.
“Nine more days.”
“And then we settle down.”
“Not me, I’ve got a girl in Hollywood.”
War game. Watch and watch. Eyelids heavy. Midwatch. Longest four hours known to man. Coffeepot in every compartment. Canned cow. Slop chutes not working. Sea gulls disgusted. Turrets manned. Foretops manned. Lookouts manned. Everything but bilges manned. Seaman second class looks over rail. Thinking of Texas. Abilene, Texas. Marine shining bayonet. Thinking of Wisconsin. Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. Buzzers. Seaman jumps for turret. Marine leaps for gun platform. Sherman was fairly conservative. Planes flirting with stratosphere. Smoke screen curling upward. Sea pigs waiting beneath. Surface ships plowing ahead. Game. The game of war. And old sailors never die.
“You know that redhead I had in Crab- town?”
“Yes.”
“She wanted to know what I did at sea.”
“What happened?”
“I took back my ring. She’d never make a Navy wife.”