Well, here comes the 12:45 P-boat. I have spotted it about the same time that Signals calls down on the sound powered telephone to inform me.

[Note: Motorboats used by officers were called “P” (personnel) boats. They had fore and aft enclosed cabins and could seat about 27 officers.  Ten knots was about its fastest speed.  One such motorboat with more ornamentation and brass was reserved for the Commanding Officer.  It was called the “gig.”  A similar craft configured for a Flag Officer was called a “barge.”]

I watch it for the five minutes it takes for it to pull alongside after we sight it.

The Coxswain expertly jockeys it up to the ladder and the forward after line handlers snug her up securely.

I stand at the head of the ladder and watch as the first passenger steps onto the platform at the bottom. It is an officer’s wife with their 18-month old son. She is also trying to carry a package.

“Messenger, go down and help the lady with the package.”

He hurries down and takes the package before two officers below her can reach to help.

They start up the ladder, and I greet her with a smile and salute. Six other wives follow, and I greet them in the same manner.

After them come the senior officers, last the junior officers.

I return their salutes after they face aft and salute the U.S. flag, and reply, “Very well, sir” or “Aye, aye, Sir,” as the case may be according to the seniority of the officer.

If they are in civilian clothes, they do not salute, but report aboard.

After they are all aboard, I pick up the megaphone and walk to the small platform that juts out over the water and tell the Coxswain, “Coxswain, I don’t need you until 12:45. You may haul out to the boom, or lay off as you please, which will it be?”

“Sir, two of us have to make a head call, could we haul out to the boom?”

“Very well, but be back alongside at 12:40.”

“Aye, aye Sir,” he replies and salutes as he guns the motor.

I turn around the notice that one of the wives is standing just inside the hangar bay. Her husband has obviously not been told that she was coming.

“Messenger, call 627 and tell Ensign Reed that his wife is waiting for him on the Quarterdeck.”

“Lois Anne, the messenger is calling Larry now, and he should be here shortly.”

She thanks me and we chat for a minute or two about the accommodations in Cannes, where they went on his leave, the cost of staying, and when she intends to return to the States. Larry gets there shortly and they go to his room.

Time for a smoke break.

© Tracy D. Connors 2015 All Rights Reserved