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WW-??-1979
Winter of 1979
Tuscaloosa is the ninth ship of the twenty ship Newport tank landing ship class,
which replaced the traditional bow door design LST. Two derrick arms support
a thirty-ton, 112-foot bow ramp for the unloading of tanks and other vehicles
ashore, additionally, amphibious vehicles can be launched from the tank deck
via the ship's stern gate and the ship's flight deck can accommodate most
Navy helicopter types.
All
highlighting and notes on the text of the E-mail are by me. –CF-
LST-1187 Tuscaloosa
With thanks to: http://www.navsource.org/archives/10/16/161187.htm
Hello Carl,
I recently saw
a program about USOs in which you were interviewed [Deep
Sea UFOs - History Channel.-CF-]. This is the first time I'd ever seen
mention of the phenomenon in the media and it showed me I'm not so alone in
my experiences.
Here's my story,
I served as
a Seaman and later Boatswain's Mate aboard USS Tuscaloosa LST 1187 for 4
years, from 1976-1980. If memory serves correctly it was winter of 1979 and the ship
was cruising solo in the South China Sea at about 17 knots, our typical
cruising speed.
I was the
Boatswain's Mate of the Watch and it was the mid-watch about 2:30 AM. The sea
was like a sheet of glass and there was only starlight. The lookout stationed up on
the signal bridge called down and said he saw something glowing in the water
ahead of the ship. It being the time it was and nothing else going on,
the OOD [Officer of the Deck.], JOD [Junior Officer of the Deck] and myself all put
on the binos [Binoculars-CF-]
for a look.
We all saw
it and kind of looked at each other in amazement. There was what turned out
to be five, large, long, vitamin shaped objects [dimensions
given below would make them vitamin “capsules”.-CF-], lined up in a
directly opposing course which would take them straight under the length of our
keel.
They were approximately 100
feet long and 40 feet across with about 20 yards between them. They glowed the typical bright, bioluminescent green and at
first we thought it was some kind of marine life but as the first one passed
beneath the stem1 of the ship we lost power, steerage,
the gyro and compass went wacky AND the chronometers and wristwatches
stopped! This prompted the OOD to have the messenger fetch the Captain
whose cabin was steps away.
By the time
the skipper got on the bridge the front portion of the first object was below
the bridge and we were hanging over the side for a look. The captain gave the
helmsman orders but the wheel would not respond and the guys in the engine
room could not explain why we'd lost power.
There was no
pulsing or shape changes or any appendages nor fins. Just sleek,
silent glowing lozenge shapes moving effortlessly directly below our hull in
the opposite direction.
Somehow the ship just kept gliding
slowly over the top of them and we just stared at them as they passed below
while we all voiced our opinions as to what the heck it was....
On the
bridge beside myself was the skipper, OOD, JOD, helmsman, EOT2
operator, man on the skunk board3, messenger, and a Quarter Master. I
don't recall if the guys on the helm or EOT got a chance to see but for sure
the CO [Commanding Officer], XO [Executive Officer], OOD, JOD, the two lookouts,
at least one signalman, the QM [Quarter Master]
and myself all got a very good look.
There was no more then 25 people awake at that hour aboard the ship
and probably no more then 10 or so who saw what we saw.
It seemed
to take several minutes for us to pass over them and they were wide enough
and deep enough that they could be seen from both sides of the ship. The
skipper was fairly calm and we were entranced by them and the spinning
compass and gyro and stopped clocks. The XO wanted to go to GQ [General Quarters] but the skipper for whatever
reason, said no and we just watched them pass. The lookouts both had an
excellent view and when the lookout on the stern reported the last one had just gone past, the
power came up, compass and gyro spun back to true and watches and clocks were
running again...
The skipper gathered us up
in a huddle and asked that we not talk about what had happened.
The
Quarter Master asked the captain how he should make his log entry and they
went into the QM shack for a powwow which I was not privy to, nor was I able
to read the log later.
I don't
recall any later conversations with any of the other witnesses or anybody
mentioning their watches being a little slow
either.... [Note:
The watches referred to here would be wrist
watches, and not a ship function.-CF-]
I've told
this story a few times over the years but never to anyone who has heard one
like it before.
I'd swear on a stack of bibles or whatever you've got
that this is the truth as I recall it.
Regards,
XXXX XXXXXXX [Name deleted by me.-CF-]
This Reference: E-Mail to me (Carl Feindt) dated July
12, 2008
Note 1 Stem = Cutwater, Prow, etc. The very tip of
the front end. Example: Stem to Stern.
Note 2 EOT = Engine Order Telegraph (Speed Control)
Note 3 Skunk Board, is another bridge watch station:
Watch-stander
wearing sound powered phones in contact with Combat Information Center (CIC),
Communications and Fore and Aft lookouts, marking various surface and aerial
contacts as required on a lighted board for all to see.
UFOCAT PRN – NONE
South China Sea
South China Sea Latitude 10-00 N, Longitude 113-00 E (D-M)
Reference:
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/appendix/appendix-f.html
Ship’s
History for this period
From Subic Bay, Tuscaloosa proceeded to Okinawa and,
upon arrival there, was ordered to make best possible speed for the Gulf of
Thailand. Four days later, when nearly at her destination, she was ordered to
turn back. The evacuation of the area had been completed and her services
were no longer needed. Thereafter the LST continued routine operations during
this WestPac deployment before returning to the
west coast of the United States on 17 November 1975. She conducted another deployment
to the western Pacific during the period 29 March to 17 November 1977 and spent the period 3
February to 10 December 1978 in regular overhaul at San Diego. Tuscaloosa
continued to operate with the Pacific Fleet into 1979.
The USS Tuscaloosa was decommissioned 18 February 1994 and transferred to
the Venezuelan Navy.
Reference: http://www.mrfa.org/lst_1187.htm
NOTE: In the last e-mail
I received, the witness said:
The
official history of the Tuscaloosa from the Navy site (above) makes it sound like she was no longer in service after
1979 but I served aboard until May of '80 and know for a fact she was still
working the Pacific well into the 80's.
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