This page will contain stories about life in port, told by sailors who served aboard Four Stack destroyers. Some come from my father's ship, USS BARRY, and others have been sent to me by readers of this website. If you have an poignant experience or amusing anecdote about life aboard Four Stackers, send it to me, and I'll do my best to publish it here.

Dad spent a lot of time in the Panama Canal area aboard USS BARRY. Being a small ship, they often did their own line handling, with sailors being left on the pier to cast off the ship's mooring lines. As each line was cast off, the sailor would step onto the ship. Naturally, one sailor would be left to cast off the last line, but the ship would already be moving away from the pier, so he'd have to jump quickly or be left behind.

On one such occassion, the man handling the last line was inexperienced with this routine. After dropping his line he just stood there, watching the gap between ship and pier grow steadily. His shipmates urged him "Get aboard, Harry, get aboard!". With this encouragement, Harry ran the length of the pier and back. By now, the gap had widened beyond his ability to jump. "Why didn't you get aboard?" they shouted. "I couldn't find one," came Harry's reply. The ship had to lower one of its boats to retrieve the poor, confused fellow. (I've changed the name of 'HARRY' to protect his real identity.)

This page, and all contents, are Copyright (C) 2000 by Kenn Anderson,Sr., Scranton, PA. (USA)