I can’t swim 9 knots per hour !!
During a WESPC tour the LST 1126 was involved in some ORI exercises somewhere off the coast of the Hawaiian Islands.
During a phase of the exercise the inspector onboard indicated the ship was declared battle damaged and dead in the water. As the ship "supposedly" lay dead in the waters a shipmate decided to take a dip and cool off. He dove off the stern by the stern anchor and was swimming around when suddenly, the engines began to churn the props, and the ship began to get underway.
Fortunately Dave Bellmard was nearby watching this shipmate swimming and tossed him a line.
I know there’s a moral to this story, but can’t quite put my finger on it.
Always have a shipmate watch you swim? Good idea, but doesn't apply here.
Always swim close to the ship … say within arms reach? Nope.
Tell the Captain you’re going for a swim and don’t leave me? Not suggested.
It’s better to be hot on the ship than left in the cool waters? Maybe a more feasible answer.
Well, I doubt this shipmate had to be told the moral of this event because he apparently figured he would never try something like that again.
