FEBRUARY 25, 1927
U.S.S. MARYLAND FROM CAPT CRAVEN
TO
U.S.S. CALIFORNIA FOR CAPT STANDLEY
CONGRATULATIONS TO THE GREATEST FISHERMAN IN THE WORLD—THE WHALE SWALLOWED JONAH BUT YOU GOT THE WHALE.
SIGNED: CAPT. CRAVEN
The occasion: A typical early morning in the Tropics, the U. S. Battle Force in annual spring maneuvers, steaming lazily south along the Central American coast in a glassy sea undisturbed except for a long, low, almost imperceptible swell of the Pacific. One lone battleship, the U.S.S. California, flying the flag of the Force Commander, well towards the van of the fleet, about one thousand yards on the port beam, almost stationary, with an enormous dead whale, its body half out of water and in plain view of the Fleet, floating ahead of the Flagship, from the bow of which the whale had just been dislodged.
The story: The U. S. Battle Force, taking advantage of the cruise south, was engaged in division tactical exercises. For these exercises the Force Flagship operated with one of the Divisions on this morning, and was third ship in the column, which position she had held during the night. The distance between ships was 500 yards speed 12—under these conditions and particularly with the keen competition in engineering efficiency, position keeping was a most important factor in the race for the “meat ball” (battle efficiency pennant). On this morning as was my usual custom while waiting for my early morning breakfast, I left my emergency cabin and went to the bridge directly above. The officer of the deck seemed quite disturbed, he reported that since early in his watch he had had difficulty holding the ship in position. The revolutions had been increased to the limit of the combination in use, and the ship was steadily losing distance; revolutions could not be further increased without going to a higher electrical combination, and this in addition to taking all power voluntarily off the ship, meant loss of engineering efficiency. I enquired and was informed that the engine room could offer no explanation, and reported that everything was working smoothly below. Much puzzled I walked to the opposite side of the bridge and casually looked down on the forecastle deck below. It was just after reveille and men were coming up the forward hatches to get some fresh air. Each sailor upon reaching the deck would go to the side, look over, look up at the bridge, then go to the other side, look over, and again look up at the bridge. Inquiring of the telephone watch on the forecastle brought the answer that the men were looking at a fish across the bow. My curiosity aroused I proceeded to the forecastle and found that a whale was actually resting across the bow, his head on one side, his tail on the other.
In war battleships at sea carry for protection against mines, streamed paravanes, sometimes called “fishes.” In peace times the paravanes arc housed on deck, and the lines for streaming are secured on deck and lead through a lug on the forefoot to the opposite side of the deck; thus a V-shaped opening between chains is formed on either side. This whale had evidently been engaged as we often see them sporting at sea in their own peculiar actions—alternate surfacing and dives. Their heads pop up first with the usual spout and as they turn to “sound” in a long graceful curvelike motion their tail lifts clear of the water, then reverses its motion into a graceful flop, as it disappears from view. It must have been on one of these flops that his tail slid into the V-opening between the paravane chains on the starboard bow of the California, then, unlucky whale, turned to port. If he had turned to starboard he would have swung clear, but when he turned to port the momentum of the ship swung his body across the bow where his side fin engaged the paravane chains on the port bow and thus in reality the whale was lashed across the bow.
Revolutions were increased and then reduced quickly in an effort to dislodge the whale without leaving formation. However, because of formation limitations these efforts failed to release the whale. A signal was sent to the Division Commander asking “permission to leave formation to clear whale from bow.” Permission was granted, and the California left formation and steamed up well to the van, then stopped and finally backed full speed before the whale was dragged loose and floated at full length dead upon the water. Thus came the message stated in the beginning of this story.