The Stowaway

Morning was making her presence known as I was driving north on A1A heading towards Port Canaveral where I was stationed with the Navy. The color that the sun produces against the clouds over the Gulf Stream is always spectacular and today was no exception. At the time I was living at Patrick Air Force base Florida and commuting about ten miles each way where I worked at Naval Ordnance Test Unit or NOTU. I was a member of the port operation crew, and we managed the berthing when ships were in port. I had only been there about six months, and I felt comfortable with it; just knowing who to call was the job. But today was Saturday and I was the oncoming Command Duty Officer or CDO and not a normal workday. The CDO represents the Commanding Officer after hours and on weekends. The port ops building had a bunkroom office space as well as conference room where I normally worked on weekdays. Today was looking good because there were no ships in port which meant that if something occurred it would be out of the ordinary and normally easy to resolve. I would not know till the afternoon that events would get unordinary that most of the people I worked with would think unremarkable and soon forget but for me it turned into an experience I have never forgotten. I have always wondered what happened to the subject of the story or the protagonist, not really knowing why. It is true sailors can make bad decisions, yet he screwed up in a way that most of us when we were younger wished we had.
Port Canaveral is due east of Orlando on the Atlantic Ocean and is today one of the busiest cruise ship ports in the world. However, 70 years ago the port did not exist. It was during World War 2, that warfare changed drastically and ushered in the arm and space races. This new reality of modern warfare required bases for research and testing along with all the needed infrastructure that would keep the United States ahead of all are primary adversaries. The government reached out to industry giants and hence the birth of the military industrial complex was born. The east coast of Florida was one of these areas ideal for this new warfare. First came the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, a sprawling partial of land with forty-five miles of coastline surrounded by thousands of acres of protected wilderness. In the 1950s missiles often never made it off the launch pads or blew up seconds into launch. This part of Florida back then had a fraction of the population it has now, so it was much safer for the general public. Another factor was that the property needed for the base was already owned by the government and there was no legal opposition. So, in 1949 the "Cape Canaveral Air Force Base" was authorized and 2 years later dredging was started to facilitate a port. The navy's new fleet of Poseidon submarines capable of launching missile submerged were being built that would require a deep draft facility for testing and support and Port Canaveral was a perfect location. The Poseidon wharf was first to be built and later in 1977 the Trident Basin and wharf were dredged and constructed. Today the Navy side of the port is still primarily in the business of testing new and improved weapons as well as being an ideal spot for navy port visits. Later after the popularity of the hit TV Show "The Love Boat" aired became the catalyst for the growth of the cruise ship industry. Later the Disney Corporation constructed and homeported two cruise ships Disney Magic and Wonder and today are the primary tenants of the port. The Disney corporation can thank the navy for this.
I relieved the off-going CDO and settled in for what I hoped would be a slow day. The CDO managed the navy side of the port along with a petty officer who was a phone watch. On any given day, the CDO would have to take phone calls from clueless people and on weekends for some unknown reason these calls seemed to triple. Sometimes I enjoy taking these calls, they gave me a chance to practice my own brand of sarcasm with a person who had nothing better to do than waste my time. There might be some retired guy who wanted a tour of the base because he thinks it was the same place his ship stopped at 30 years ago. Or it was the person who drove over to use the base exchange that did not exist. On a side note, the local rednecks were over the moon that the navy built the Trident wharf. Being only a couple of hundred yards from the Atlantic ocean and well as being sixty feet deep attracted a wide array of fish species that normally could only be caught offshore and for a long time the wharf was open for fishing, if they had access to the base and the pier was empty. Before I arrived, some local yokel started a fire on the wharf during a fish fry and then that was the end of fishing on the base. But my all-time favorite call was from a retired officer who would always call the base when he could not hear the national anthem at 0800 for some unknown reason. The various CDOs made fun of him or lead him to believe that it would become a top of the list action item for Monday morning. But today no such calls were made, hence no tours no fishing no first alarm fires.
Then morning became afternoon as it always does. Then late in the afternoon the phone rang and on the other side was my counterpart from a destroyer squadron up in Mayport Naval Station next to Jacksonville and about a 2-hour drive due north. After some small talk, their CDO briefed me on an issue and requested our help. As the story unfolded, late last night during the final day of a port visit in Nassau one of "their guys" (no name or rank provided) only that he was a crewmember on destroyer USS Porter had somehow boarded the wrong ship around midnight and managed somehow to remain unnoticed as well as unaware of the ship getting underway. The ship that "their guy" had mistakenly boarded was the Disney Magic, which was on its way back to Port Canaveral. My first thought, being quite cynical, was that I smelled bourbon, because nobody sober could mistake a destroyer for a cruise ship; the ships are not even the same color. I supposed a few minutes later that in the right amount of blood alcohol that it was plausible that this person could make this mistake seeing that ships were moored right next to each other. After getting underway the Magic discovered this guy and reported this via satellite phone link to the navy and requested someone "accountable" from navy to take custody of him soon after making port Sunday morning. The destroyer squadron was going to send down their duty driver to pick up their AWOL crewmember after I picked him up. Not knowing for sure, I supposed that the Disney corporation did not want to make a big deal of this, seeing how this might turn into bad publicity for them. At first, I had a viable disdain for this guy not really understanding why. So, after I hung up on Mayport I called my boss who asked me to call our commanding officer and tell him what was going on. Our Captain was a previous enlisted or "mustang" and seemed to enjoy this news after a full explanation of the situation. He instructed me to be the "accountable person" to take custody of the stowaway seeing I knew all the details. This was OK with me because I was not going to get relieved until 8am anyway. Before hanging up, he said do not leave before seeing the "stowaway" get into the car and going out the front gate. The term "stowaway" struck me as strange, up to now I thought "their guy" was just AWOL. Now all of a sudden, he appeared to me in a different light; his status of being a stowaway suddenly made him more sympathetic to me. Now I had a simple plan, after the Magic moors at 6am I was to take custody and assure that he got into the car coming down to take him away. Their Guy, as I started to refer to him, was in a lot of trouble and would have to face the music once back onboard the Porter. This mystery sailor or stowaway had missed movement which the navy takes very seriously. Being AWOL is bad and I supposed there could be other charges against him like disorderly conduct or damages to the ship, but I had to wait till morning to find out.
It was now really late, and the phone watch had racked out for the night, but I stayed up. For I had nothing better to do than ponder the identity of "their guy" and what kind of sailor he was had made some dumb mistakes but never one like this. Walking onboard a cruise ship and as it got underway, this had the possibility of being a unique sea story for the ages one that I wished I had done back when I was young, and I was a bit envious with this guy. Then my suspicion kicked in and started thinking that he could be a more senior member of the crew experiencing the worst day of his career. I, being a lover of conspiracy started to think about why the Mayport CDO was keeping a lid on this by purposely not saying anything about his identity or rank which hinted to me that "their guy" might be a senior member of the destroyer's command. Sadley the navy experiences weekly the firing of top leaders for misconduct not so different from this. It may seem impossible for an officer or a Senior Chief to be so stupid as to go aboard the wrong ship, but then extreme lack of judgment occurs all too often. I was feeling sorry for this guy not knowing him but also knowing all too well the availability of vice in a place like the Bahamas affects judgement that creates events that ruins careers. It is all too frequent that drugs and alcohol make sailors do senseless things.
Then the phone rang about 1am Sunday morning and again it was the CDO of the Destroyer Squadron. This time he provided a glut of latest information concerning "their guy" who turned out to be a Gunners Mate Apprentice (GMSA) who had been attached to the USS Porter for only three lousy months. I was a little disappointed about this news for now the reality was that their guy was just a "NUB" a sailor's term for a new guy who knows nothing. His shipmates reported that he was last scene with a group of young French girls strolling down the main drag of Nassau stopping for drinks and laughing at every chance. The CDO suggested that the girls had "likely enticed" our young Gunners Mate back to Disney Magic for a tour and one last wonderful moment for all to remember. I was still on the phone, but I was thinking (instead of listing) that trouble was brewing, and this might be their guys first and only port visit depending on how fun that he had. Before hanging up with Mayport their CDO reminded me that after taking custody of him that he might say something that might be used against him legally if the not yet known portion of the story went out of control. I imagined that this guy was the same guy who went to everyone's high school, a new transfer who dressed impeccably, disliked all sports, had no male friends but somehow was popular with the cheerleaders. Then I thought, as sailors do, about how young these girls really were, where were their parents and the possibility of this becoming something more than just AWOL. I have to admit that I was making this more than it was but then again, was I? For a moment before nodding out I surmised that their guy at this very moment was having a wonderful time but like "Cinderella" it would all be over at 0600 at which time he would become a legend or a felon.
I woke up early and at 5am watched the Magic pass by the Poseidon wharf at a distance of about one hundred feet. I never got tired of watching these massive ships pass by at such a close range with all the still half-cocked passengers out on their verandas waving stupidly at anyone like me watching. It is a 10-minute drive from the Poseidon wharf to the Disney pier and once there I was waved into a holding area near the bow of the ship separated by a chain link fence. The ports groundkeepers are also the line handlers, and it does not take long for those guys to tie up such large ship with twenty plus lines. In time a watertight door about eight feet above the water line cracked open and a boarding ladder (Lear jet type) appeared that allowed the pilots and pursers' quick access off the ship. Moments later a bland looking fella escorted by a uniformed member of the Magic came down off the ship and onto the wharf and I was sure that this was "our guy." Both of them walked over to where I was standing, and a police officer allowed their guy to pass through the gate. I asked the Magic's Officer who escorted him over to me it there were and damages or anything else we needed to know but he said nothing only waving his arm and saying it without saying it good riddance and then suddenly he was in custody of the Navy. The short drive back was not what I had imagined, because their guy was not what I was expecting. What I had anticipated was not what was sitting next to me, a now meek sailor lost in his own thoughts hung over and stunned about what just happened. After a pitiful attempt at small talk failed, we arrived back at port operations and with no other place to keep him I sat him down in the conference room all by himself. I tried to get his story while driving back but their guy was not talking. I was, I guess, relieved that he had not told me about last night or mentioned anything that I needed to report back to Mayport. He was just a nineteen-year-old nerd whose life was passing before his eyes, alone and very freighted.
My relief showed up about 0730 who was glad that he was going to have nothing to do with the stowaway. I was a little surprised that he was not interested at all in the kids' story even though it sounded like a fairly good one. At 8 o'clock turnover was complete, and it was time to go home. I changed clothes and started to head out the door when I realized I had forgotten that I had something left to do. Yes, I was to make sure he got in the car that had not yet arrived but there was something else left to do as well. Suddenly I felt remorse and empathy for this poor kid who when I peeked in on him appeared to be crying. Had I not learned anything in the last 20 years? Whatever I had planned for today was not as important as trying to help this poor kid out in the short amount of time we had left together. Doing nothing is always the worst choice a person can make. Sitting down across from him he was still in a "leave me alone" mode but eased up a bit when I appeared less hostile to him. Then he told me the whole story of his first port visit that had gone horribly wrong. It turns out the group of girls he hooked up with where not from France but Canada and all where college kids from Quebec celebrating their recent graduation from college and this was great news, the possibility of hanky-panky with teenage girls seemed to me very unlikely. He told me it was the girl's idea to sneak him onboard just for a look around and maybe a picture of two. He never mentioned how he got onboard the Magic, but he did report that once onboard and on deck his flock who seemed delighted to show him around now seemed to thin out rapidly. Now with time being extremely late the last few Canucks sneaked away to their cabins leaving our poor Cinderella all alone. Now with dreams amiss and on a strange ship that was now swaying with the seas our guy became a victim of a lot of drink, found a poolside lounge chair and promptly passed out. Next thing that he remembered was being racked out by housekeeper who found out he was not a paying passenger and taken into custody. Brought to a holding tank he confessed everything about sneaking onboard and him being a crewmember on the destroyer. Hearing his story reminded me of myself in far less unique situations and how I felt at the time. He asked me what to expect when he got back to his ship as far as charges against him, displaying all the naiveness that a young sailor in his boots would have. He really had no clue and thought that he was going to get discharged what he had done. He told me that his father was ex-Marine and how disappointed his parents would be if he got the boot. As far as I knew there was nothing more about his adventure, no damage, no one hurt and most certainly no loss of the USS Porters ability to operate without him. Knowing what I knew I reassured him that it would be extremely unlikely he would be discharged for this. I clued him on to the fact that the navy expects young sailors like him to screw up once in a while, an experience along the way, an event to learn from. Then came the best advice I could give him, which was to not fabricate the story but instead tell the complete truth. Do not try and make it look like it was the Canadians fault and that he was somehow a victim. When you walk up your ship's brow do not say a word to anyone. All your shipmates will want to know how much fun you had with the girls and go ahead and let them think that. Continuing, I mentioned that missing movement is serious charge, and he will get written up for it. However, he might luck out and go only to XO mast and get dismissed without it going into your record. The most important thing is to show real remorse when you see your Chief. Tell him what actually happened and that you messed up but are now deeply sorry for what happened and all you want to do is get back to work. All you need to do is tell the truth and you will be fine. Just then some guy walked by the conference door, and I knew that it was his driver and time was up. He was in plain clothes and older and I got the feeling that they knew of each other although nothing was said. We both got up and the stowaway sheepishly followed the driver out the front door giving me one last look and then he was gone.
When I returned to work on Monday, nobody I worked with, not even the Port Operations Officer, mentioned anything about him which surprised me. It is not every day that something like this happens, but nobody seemed to care about this guy at all. He was just another stupid sailor from another command that got himself into trouble and he was absolutely of no concern to Naval Ordnance Test Unit. Sometime later I thought briefly about calling his ship to find out what happened to him, but I realized how awkward and unprofessional on my part that would have been, it was none of my business, so I let it go. This happened a long time ago and I still hope that he took the advice I gave him. I hoped that it all blew over quickly for him as I predicted. I hoped that he had a remarkable turnaround and during a lengthy career in the navy embraced as well as cultivated this yarn into the greatest sea story ever. I even imagined him telling the story again at his retirement ceremony speech proudly remembering the night he had the time of his life.