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Master and Commander
Posts: 1814
Location: Boydton, Virginia | Subject: Rat guards.
Who remembers using rat guards on mooring lines? We used them on DL that I rode early 60's. Don't remember if we used them on the boats.
Steamboat sends |
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Old Salt
Posts: 272
Location: Vista, Ca. | Subject: RE: Rat guards.
When on Gudgeon we used them. I hated putting them on and taking them off. On Barb we didn't use them. I sort of would have like to see if they would work. Barb's nose was so close to the pier that if one was insalled it probably wouldn't do any good. A rat gould leap from the pier right over and onto the boat. |
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Plankowner
Posts: 9164
Location: Upper lefthand corner of the map. | Subject: RE: Rat guards.
I seem to remember that we had them at EB but I can't remember at Pearl. |
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Master and Commander
Posts: 1454
| Subject: RE: Rat guards.
We didn't use them on 599 or 600. I think the Tender did but not positive, The rats would be afraid of us anyway. |
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Plankowner
Posts: 9164
Location: Upper lefthand corner of the map. | Subject: RE: Rat guards.
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Master and Commander
Posts: 1814
Location: Boydton, Virginia | Subject: RE: Rat guards.
Ha! Ha! That is kinda what I was thinking, Tom...The rats didn't want to come aboard and join the rat race. We would be taking bets on them instead of cockroaches!
Steamboat sends |
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Master and Commander
Posts: 1796
Location: Albany, GA. | Subject: RE: Rat guards.
Never saw any on the Nuke Boats. I did stand many a rat guard with a Remington Model 6 and rat shot at the corn crib. |
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Master and Commander
Posts: 1603
| Subject: RE: Rat guards.
I'm sure we had them at Pearl, but I don't remember putting rat guards on, or taking them off handling the lines. I never saw a mouse, or rat on the boat. I'd see them every once in a while bloated to the size of beach balls bobbing in the water next to the boat - maybe our qual cockroaches barred them from boarding. |
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Master and Commander
Posts: 2253
Location: Foothills of the Ozarks | Subject: RE: Rat guards.
On Skipjack we only used them if we were tied up to the pier; when tied up outboard the Tender or other boats we didn't use them |
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Senior Crew
Posts: 225
Location: San Diego, CA | Subject: RE: Rat guards.
I had topside watch on the Barbel in Pearl in 67. I was told about huge rats that could come on board, so I was keeping an eye out.
About 1:00 am, I saw a rat as large as a possum starting accross the brow. I couldn't believe a rat could get that big.
A yelled at it and it went back on the pier. Never saw one again. But I did become a believer. |
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Master and Commander
Posts: 1603
| Subject: RE: Rat guards.
Chris, I was at Pearl in '67 and '68 also. Honolulu had the biggest cockroaches and rats I'd ever seen. I remember waiting for the bus on Hotel Street more than a little pie eyed. I'd see 4" cockroaches slumber in and out of the storm drains barely able to fit between the grating. I use to wonder how many it would take for me to be dragged of for their next meal. My only salvation was I couldn't make it past the grating.
On the boat the roaches were small - that was only because we had the Pickerel sprayed for them routinely. I was told their eggs were not affected by the insecticide.
My shipmate Dozier would not only swallow them, but make a point of chomping into them when we had visitors. I watched a family of four scurry out of the AB when one fell from the overhead into his cereal while I was giving them a tour of the boat. George just said goody and ladled a roach and milk in his spoon as he chowed down - I doubt if that than man ever took his family on a submarine tour again. |
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Senior Crew
Posts: 217
| Subject: RE: Rat guards.
Well, I see that Gil is back to repeating his imaginative tale about me, cockroaches, and cornflakes. Don’t believe a word he says about this so-called incident! I’ll tell you why. I’ve explained all of this before on this Board, but perhaps the time has come to do so again.
The Pickerel had an abundance of cockroaches. Quite simply, they were everywhere— the overhead, the decks, and particularly in the bread box. It was considered to be poor manners to simply reach into the breadbox for a slice of bread without knocking politely on the box beforehand. After all, even roaches are entitled to at least a modicum of privacy. And, there was another reason for knocking. The cute little rascals were given to almost constant propagation. What a life! A few sharp raps on the breadbox gave the little guys ample warning that they were about to be interrupted. Being sensitive sailors, we were loath to catch them in compromising positions.
Our roach infestation may sound bad, but it truly wasn’t. As a matter of fact, the cute little critters provided us Deck Apes with an endless source of amusement. We had roach races. We conducted roach beauty contests. And, some Apes even became so fond of individual roaches that they adopted them as pets. I well remember one bout of fisticuffs that occurred when a clumsy oaf squished a shipmate’s beloved pet roach. Gil conducted a tasteful and touching interment service, and we buried the little guy at sea.
But, perhaps the most amusing activity was The Great Pickerel Roach Hunt. It was a contest to see who could bag the best and most desirable roach. We devised a complex system of scoring, involving both tangible and intangible factors, and we even enacted a series of hunting regulations, prescribing permissible roach seasons and game management units.
Well, suffice it to say, I won the contest! I bagged a true trophy roach— a magnificent animal that eclipsed all others. It was a thing of exquisite and sublime beauty. I’m proud to say that my roach was selected to be stuffed and mounted in a place of honor in the Crew’s Mess.
But, I soon learned that my triumph was a mixed blessing. Gil was a fellow competitor, but his roach, which was otherwise of trophy quality, was summarily disqualified by the judges. Apparently, Gil’s roach was taken out of season and in a closed game management unit. That is to say, it was a poached roach.
In retrospect, I have reluctantly concluded that Gil has always suspected me of ratting him out to the judges. I’m sorry to say that his crushing disappointment in the disqualification of his roach, coupled with his unseemly and unwarranted suspicion of my role in that disqualification, occasioned a great amount of jealousy, bitterness, and envy on his part. Perhaps a competent doctor can prescribe a curative potion. I certainly hope so, as Gil’s problem continues to this day, and that’s probably why he persists in repeating his fanciful tale concerning cornflakes and cockroaches.  |
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COMSUBBBS
Posts: 2672
Location: New Jersey | Subject: RE: Rat guards.
In the 3+ years I spent on Sirago, I never saw a roach, not one. My question is why some boats were overrun by these ugly feckers and not others. I don't think I would have enjoyed being on the Pickeral at all. Was it the west coast boats?Yuck!
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Master and Commander
Posts: 1269
Location: Hopewell Junction NY | Subject: RE: Rat guards.
On Sea Robin we had a "bread drawer" next to the rinse sink. It was common use to pick a slice of bread QUICKLY flip the slice in order to inspect both sides. Those roaches were FAST.
While in the yards for overhaul, everything was removed from the boat and the galley cleaned and de-greased. I was some time before we started to see roaches again.
They came aboard when we re-supplied "fresh' food, also in corrugated boxes.
Our Doc ordered that they had to be in full-dress uniforms for inspection. |
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Plankowner
Posts: 9164
Location: Upper lefthand corner of the map. | Subject: RE: Rat guards.
Can't say I ever saw a roach on Flasher but let me count the Fruit Fly Infestation.
Some time in 1967 we had loaded out for a patrol and all spaces and cubbies were stuffed with food and "goodies". We were to relieve a boat who's relief couldn't make it. After a few weeks the "other guy" shows up and return to paradise (Pearl). We finally get orders to go do our own real patrol and topped off with supplies. About a week out the chief Commissaryman tell the messcranks to breakout and peel up those potatoes we had brought aboard for the aborted run we had made so they would go bad. The cranks opened the locker and about 10 million could have bee 100,000 or a trillion) fruit flies swarmed out. They were everywhere mostly in the midship compartment (all 3 decks) but the whole boat wasn't immune. People we swatting them right and left 24 hours a day. Soon a big chunk of butcher paper appears on a bulkhead with everyones name on it and columns of boxes with the days of the month at the top. You were to make a hashmark for every fly you killed. Wasn't uncommon to see people lining up at the change of the watch to make their tally known. Everyone. Officers, Chiefs and Enlisted in true sub cooperative fashion eliminated the Great Fly Infestation of 1967. |
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Master and Commander
Posts: 1603
| Subject: RE: Rat guards.
Joe,I was told twenty years later the reason the boats had roaches at Pearl was they loaded stores directly in the boat. Boat sailors on other sites have told me if we had unpacked the cartons topside then moved the contents below deck roach infestation would have been eliminated. More than a few have claimed that was the reason for the infestation - the Navy could have saved a lot of money in roach spraying if that was the case.
I got in hot water my first day on the Pickerel at sea. I squashed one little roach that scurried across the flash cover. I was reprimanded for my temerity in squashing the little critter that had more sea time than me. |
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Master and Commander
Posts: 1603
| Subject: RE: Rat guards.
George,i do remember that bread box. The bread always looked like raisin bread, except the raisins kept moving. Funny thing was our roaches didn't go to Westpac with us - they waited with the wives and dependents until we returned. Now I wonder if they stayed with boat when it got sold to the Italians. |
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Great Sage of the Sea
Posts: 998
Location: NE Florida | Subject: RE: Rat guards.
We didn't bother them. If they wanted to get off, we let them go.
Coyote |
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Rat guards.
