"Vic Smith" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 29 Aug 2008 07:33:12 -0400, "Eisboch" wrote:


"Vic Smith" wrote in message
. ..


NEXT:
"How I tripped the Captain of U.S.S. Harry E. Yarnell as he was piped
aboard U.S.S. John King" or "Ain't My Fault He's Got Big Feet"

--Vic

Did you ever hear the story of how a couple of friends and I almost
started
an international incident by flying kites off the fantail of a DE?

Seems familiar, but you better tell it again.

--Vic


I won't repeat the whole thing, but it happened during one of the many
patrols in the Med that we did, poking along at 7 kts towing an array of
passive sonar gear, tracking Soviet subs. The Captain had called holiday
routine one Sunday afternoon and we decided to try flying the kites. They
flew very nicely. As it started to get dark, someone got the bright idea of
attaching those small, flashing locator lights used on the Navy lifevests
to the kites. We tied the kite strings to the rail and forgot about them.

The kites were too small for the ship's radar to pick up at that close
range. Later that evening I noticed all kinds of activity in radio
central. Messages were being sent out about the lights that were following
the ship that were not being detected by radar.

No liberty for a week.

Eisboch