encore French Dip I
During a deployment to the South Pacifi c in the 1970s, a naval offi cer fi nds himself unexpectedly in the drink while his ship undergoes repairs in Tahiti.
In April 1973, I was a U.S. Navy ensign and pilot who had just reported to my fi rst Fleet HS Squadron at NAS Imperial Beach, Calif. The squadron was tasked to send a detachment of four helicopters to the South Pacifi c on a classifi ed mission, and I was ordered on the deployment. After training, we departed for the Gulf
Coast where we were to meet our ship, the USNS Corpus Christi Bay. The ship was pre- World War II vintage and began service as the USS Albemarle. After the war, the ship went through decommissioning and then commissioning and eventually was refi tted as an aircraft repair ship. By the time we were aboard in 1973, to say the ship was a rust bucket was an understatement. We departed from New Orleans, heading
down the Mississippi River into the Gulf of Mexico, passing through the Panama Canal and out into the Pacifi c. While en route, we learned we would be working with the French navy. The mission took several weeks and was completed successfully. On the morning we were to depart for the continental U.S., we learned the ship had lived up to its appearance and sprung a leak. The ship’s company managed to plug the hole and seal the compartment, but the damage was serious enough it had to be re- paired before heading home. It was thought too risky to sail to Pearl Harbor, so after receiving permission from the French gov- ernment, we limped into port at Papeete, Tahiti, for repairs. It appeared we would just have to wait it out for two weeks under
84 MILITARY OFFICER JUNE 2012
arduous conditions on this world-renowned South Pacifi c resort island. Darn the luck. While in Tahiti, we met up with the
French naval offi cers with whom we had been working on the mission. They invited our wardroom to their ship for lunch, and we returned the favor. While engaged in these activities, I met a French navy ensign, and we bonded over being the only ensigns in our outfi ts. He invited me to go water skiing with him the next day, and I accepted. When I arrived the next
morning, he was already in the boat attempting to start the outboard motor. The boat rode just a few feet below the dock. As I started to step down, with one foot on the dock and the other in mid- air, the French offi cer was in mid-pull of the starter rope, and his hand slipped off the handle. As luck would have it, and with perfect timing, he clocked me right in the jaw, knocking me over the side and into the water. Needless to say, he uttered, “Désolé. Je suis très désolé” con- tinuously as he helped me out of the water following my fi rst “French dip” of that memorable day.
MO
— John T. “Jack” Thompson is a retired Navy Reserve captain. He lives in Florida. For submission information, see page 6.
Tell Your Story Submit your service- related adventures (or mishaps) of 450 to 500 words by email to
encore@moaa.org or by mail to Encore Editor, 201 N. Washington St., Alexandria, VA 22314. All submissions will be con- sidered for publication.
ILLUSTRATION: TIN SALAMUNIC
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