I just recently found this site. Was a HT3 onboard Cochrane from 77-79. Was reading some of these forum postings,and you older gents brought back alot of great memories. If any of you were onboard during the 1979 SouthPac cruise,how could we ever forget that cruise! It probably means alot to me because it was my first introduction to the asian culture(Phillipines).I mean, who can ever forget their first game of "SMILES". Then there were all those women in Australia and Tasmania with all the "Dial A Sailor" dates. Boy,what was a young sailor to do? I found enough to keep busy,believe me! I know that Dave Melges knows what I'm talking about,he was there. Still recall snaring myself one of those Tasmania "She" Devils and getting back to ship the morning we were leaving just as they were pulling up the brow.Of course, I wasn't the only one! And the XO, LCDR. Farrow as punishment restricting us to the ship on our first day back in Pearl.
Didn't bother me,had duty that day anyway. Thanks for bringing back the memories!

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How well do I remember South Pac, the 124 day pleasure cruise from Pearl to Samoa, Fiji, New Caledonia, Tonga, Fiji, Wellington, Bluff Harbor (NZ), Sydney (10 day availability) 5 day joint exercise with the Auzzies and back to Sydney for 4 more days, Melborne, Beauty Point (Tazmania), Albany, Perth-Freemantle, Jakarta, Subic, Guam, Midway and back to Pearl.

I remember the naked bodies and bottles of wine at the bottom of the swimming pool of Mr. Collin Room's summer house in Launceston. He invited the entire crew to his house for a party, he hired enough buses to make one trip for everyone, lent his Mercedes 280SL to GMM3 Dave Kingsbury so he could go get the young lady he had invited.

I also remember the headache the disbo had paying to date the night before we pulled in to each port. I remember getting water from the USS Robert E. Peary while underway and as they made their approach they passed the word "Secure the water polo team" and broke a flag that said "Peary Power and Light". They also flew that in Sydney harbor when we needed to secure all the boilers for repairs and we hooked up shore power from them.

What a great cruise.

David Melges, LCDR (Retired)

Hey Dave or is it Commander Melges, probably don't remember me from you being on Cochrane for so long. Glad to see that someone finally posted to my original entry at this forum. How well I remember that party at Mr. Rooms (couldn't remember his name) house. Do remember him
saying that he had been to America, and how much he liked American. I believe that's the reason he said he threw that party for the crew. I wasn't one of those naked bodies that you talked about in the pool, but I remember them! I do remember that he had a tampoline outside and
a bunch of us after drinking for awhile, decided to go and have some fun on it. What a sight, a bunch of drunk sailors bouncing on a tampoline like little kids (me included)! Also recall how friendly those Tasmanian women were toward us Americans. Great wasn't it! Have
been on quite a few cruises during my 20 yrs. career, but that one always stands out as the best!

HTC(SW)Mike Gray USN Ret.
Cochrane HT3 1977-1979

Hey Mike, sorry I have not been able to get back. What a great trip that South-Pac was. Most of the deck force got in fights in about every port we were in. I remember in Melbourne, I was with a group of enlisted guys about twenty, we all got "Pissed" and I drove their bus out of the navel base and headed downtown. We got in town and I side swiped a car as I tried to park. We all bolted and partied in town.

I remember, the party in Tasmania. Collin room was later indicted for fraud by the Aussie government. Do you remember when he brought his telephone out and let a bunch of us call the states, and some of us found his wine cellar and drank a lot of his vintage wine, and yes I and I think Bill DeSpain got to drive one of his cars, we went to look for a couple of ladies also...right we just drove around and partied.

I contacted Mack C. Gaston last week, right before Christmas, he and I will be talking in January 2002. I will tell him about this site.

Anyone else?

This cruise I remember well for I was on restriction for the most of it because I went U.A. for Christmas prior to departing. I spent a lot of time watching us on tv. I did finally grt to get off in Bluff Harbor, Invercargill. (I do remember, I belive it was Rod Stewart was having a concert in Wellington). When I returned to the ship in Bluff we were steaming and I had the watch in main control, lower levelman under instruction to a shipmate named Richard B. Harris but we just called him Harry B. Well it was never revealed but I had brought a little goody back on board with me, now Harry was on restriction at the time as was our 1st class Jack Haistings for not making it back on board for previous watches. Harry dumped about 3/4s of the goody in a quart jar (I sure hope after 20 years I can't get in trouble for this), and I took the rest to Jack, I went back down in the hole to find that Harry had already drank most of the jar, well I wound up passing out and I guess Harry was found a while later dancing on the tables of the mess decks. As for Jack, he was shipped back to N.Z. for an appendectomy, and as for me, well I went back on restriction for the whole continent of Australia. (well I was sopposed to be on restriction anyway). THX for your time I will never forget this journey for I have a thousand stories even better than this one, it was some of the best times of my life. Russell Seaman

Hey Russ, if I remember correctly there were quite a few individuals that found theirselves in trouble during that cruise, myself included! Of course, those New Zealand and Australian women were well worth it as I can recall. Also know for a fact, that alot of us used to bring goodies back onboard. Remember Rich's little dancing exhibition up on the messdecks also, quite comical it was! Also recall MM1 Hastings little run in with troubles. Can't recall, didn't he also end up getting busted down to MM2? Anyways, I'm quite sure that the 1979 SouthPac brings back alot of good(or bad)memories for all of us who were crew members during this time. That was the reason for my original posting of this.
Mike Gray HTC USN Ret. Cochrane 1977-1979