They also had access to the ship’s bulk storage, no questions asked. If I bought a tape recorder or stereo in Japan and needed to stash it til I got home, it had to be checked out, tagged, sealed and stashed in the voids. Officers had plenty of locker storage in their staterooms.

The incident I mention occurred in the middle of a month-long North Atlantic cruise, where we were undergoing maneuvers with other NATO units. Maybe he was running low and had decided to finish off his supply.

The empties went over the side in the middle of the night.

And what would he do with the empties? That’s a big problem for alcoholics. I think that the garbage man would be the best diagnostician.

I visited a Royal Navy frigate once and there was evidence of the crew’s drinking everywhere. Empty beer cans littered the mess deck. I understand the Brits now ban alcohol on their ships.

I was once a guest aboard a French destroyer, and learned wine was routinely served to the crew at mealtimes. They claimed there was never any problem; due, no doubt, to a difference between the Gallic and Anglo-Saxon temperaments.

A shipmate of mine who visited a Portuguese tin can told me there were huge casks of wine lashed down in the berthing spaces. The crew also had wine with their meals.

We had a navigation officer who was an alcoholic. (NAV officers don’t navigate, their work is supervisory and administrative, the enlisted men navigate the ship). We had one who was an alcoholic, it was easier for officers because their personal belongings were never inspected.

This one was transferred from duty ashore as a gunfire spotter with the Marines, and he was a psychological basket case. We liked the man, and did our best to cover for him, and his fellow officers must have known too, but looked the other way.

One night, an emergency arose on the bridge, and the skipper sent me to his stateroom to wake him up. I couldn’t get him up, and he kept on telling me to tell the captain he wasn’t coming while I pleaded with him to get dressed or he would get in deep trouble. The stench of liquor was on his breath.

Eventually, the officer who shared his stateroom with him rolled out of the top rack and told me to go back to the bridge and tell the old man the Lieutenant would be right up. A few weeks after that, he was transferred off the ship.

As an aside, I hope I’m not boring you people with all these Navy stories. I realize I was on the ship for only 13 months , from Nov ’67 to Dec ’68, and I was a young man, I turned my 21st birthday while on board. But so much happened so fast. But even though my experiences were very ordinary, and shared by many others, I simply cannot imagine my life without that crazy time having been a part of it. It has haunted me ever since.