Welcome to Log Entries by Tracy D. Connors

A U.S. Navy destroyer takes station on a refrigerator ship in 1962.

On the bridge of the Rosy one afternoon we had a mix up of signals between us and and the bridge of an escort destroyer regarding their approach...they were going to refuel from us.

After a second and third attempt to get across what we wanted them to do...our signal bridge called me as the OOD..."Sir, they're flying some strange flags on that small boy."

"What are they?" I asked as I stepped out onto the starboard wing of the bridge so I could see them better.

Together the Signals Petty Officer and I tried to make sense out of the following "signals"--a church pennant (white with a horizontal red cross), then the Interrogative pennant, followed in descending order by flags that were never to be found in the "official" USN flag bag, including: #, *, @, and *, plus a couple that are not on a typewriter keyboard, including a dervish or tornado symbol.

Destroyer alongside USS F.D. Roosevelt (CVA-42) during a Sixth Fleet deployment to the Mediterranean in 1962. Its signal halyards show no signs of the baffling "Jesus Christ, What The Hell?" flag signal.

We were baffled.

Through the binoculars, I could see the destroyer's CO and bridge watch team laughing their butts off at us staring at their strange flag signals. They knew we were trying to decide what they meant.

Finally, most of our watch team and the CO were out on the starboard wing staring at the flags.

Nobody had a clue.

Finally, the destroyer's refueling hoses were in place and we were steaming on parallel courses and the same speed.  In addition to the refueling lines, there was a hookup to a sound powered telephone (we were in EMCON ALPHA, no electro-magnetic radiation from the ship at all).

I went over to the barrel switch on the bridge that could connect to any sound powered circuit anywhere on the ship and dialed up the circuit connecting the two ships. I told them I was the OOD and that I wanted to speak to their OOD.

When I got him on the line, I inquired, trying to not sound too ignorant, about the "unusual" flag combination.

After he stopped laughing, he explained that his CO, an "old salt" from the so-called "grey hounds" of the fleet, had been confused by our temporary mix-up of directions as we started the refueling procedure.

His directions to his signal bridge to two-block the Church Pennant, then the Interrogative flag, followed by some flags that represented cartoon symbols for profanity--#**#--was therefore a "Jesus Christ, What The Hell?" flag signal.

He knew it would certainly get our attention.

When I with as much animation and tongue-in-cheeking as possible passed that information along to our Captain Gerry Miller, he and the bridge watch team were just about bent double with laughter.

He then went out on the wing of the bridge, caught the eye of the destroyer skipper who was on the port wing of his bridge less than 150' away, and gave him an energetic "thumbs up."

As he headed back onto the bridge, he said to me over his shoulder, "Have the Signal Bridge make me up one of those."

I certainly hoped I was the OOD u/w when he decided to use that one.  I had no idea what I would enter into the log about that "signal."  Sounded like fun, though. 

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