Fleet Timeline

Fleet Timeline

1982 SEP 19 - THE BATES ARRIVES IN SASEBO, JAPAN
19 SEP 1982
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by Brad Williamson
Sasebo, Japan. The middle of September. Maybe the 19th?
 
We were coming off our spec op. Or maybe we were going on spec op. Probably both.

We danced around the islands on the southern end of Japan, cruising along, trying to make sense out of landmarks on 500 islands, all of which looked exactly the same from the sea.

We were the first nuclear vessel to visit in the history of Sasebo, as I recall. The Japanese were a little sensitive to the whole 'nuclear' thing, it having been less than 40 years since we were lobbing uranium at them. We sure made the news. A dozen news copters circling while we transited in, and hundreds of Star-Wars-ish-trooper-looking riot police at the gate, in case the town held a riot in our honor.

We weren't quite welcome at the pier, or maybe they didn't have a deep draft spot for us, so we had to tie up to an LST anchored out in the harbor. What a treat. LST 1187, the Tuscaloosa, made us feel right at home. Tied to a buoy, swinging about 30 degrees or so as the wind shifted every five minutes, we were forced to tie up without a tug. It was like trying thread a needle from three feet away, while riding a rodeo bull. A seamanship challenge of epic proportions, the adventures that day birthed several new sea stories, and as I recall, a tapestry of profanity that probably still echoes around the hills of Sasebo.

But the townspeople of Sasebo made us feel right at home. Other than riding back and forth to the pier standing up in a landing craft, our money worked as well as the next guy's, and we had the run of the town for a few days. A quick visit to Nagasaki for a few of us rounded out our Japan visit, and then we were back to sea.

Read more about this adventure at: Tilting the Tuscaloosa
 
 
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Location Sasebo, Japan
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