Getting the Crew Home for Thanksgiving
By K. Corris
Captain Lee
Crane let out a long sigh as he looked up from the charting table. This cruise had lasted longer than planned,
and he was in a hurry to get his men home in time for Thanksgiving with their families.
Seaview should have made port two days
ago. Now, if they were lucky, they would
be docking late Thursday morning. That
was exceptable for the men who lived in Santa Barbara or nearby, but not for
the ones who had made travel plans to be with loved ones outside the city. He was seriously considering asking Admiral
Nelson about using FS1 to take home the men who had flight connections alreaday
paid for. But he already knew what the
Admiral would say, that it wouldn’t be fair to the rest of the men. But Lee didn’t want to cause any
disapointments or family problems.
He turned to
Lt. Cmdr. Chip Morton, his Executive Officer.
“Chip, how many crewmen do you know that had
flights to catch?”
“About 10
that I am aware of, but I haven’t heard all the grumblings. Sharkey might be a better person to
ask.” Chip had a pretty good idea what
his Captain and best friend was considering.
Lee picked
up the mike, “Chief Sharkey, please report to the control room.” Two minutes later Chief Francis Sharkey was
standing beside him.
“Chief, talk
to the men. Make me a list of who needs to be home early to catch a flight or
make other connections for their Thanksgiving plans. Only the ones whose
Thanksgivings will be ruined by getting home late. Thanks.”
He knew Chip
wasn’t going home for Thanksgiving this year as he usually did, only because
his parents were on a cruise to celebrate their anniversary and his married
sisters were going ot their in-laws. So Chip would be joining him and several
other officers and members of the crew for a Thanksgiving feast at the
Admiral’s home, as he provided every year for crewmembers that had no other
plans or family to make them with. Dinner would be late Thursday afternoon, so
their plans would not be affected by getting in late. He so badly wanted to order running on flank speed, but with
the engine problems they had encountered earlier he couldn’t take the chance.
It took the
Chief about an hour to talk to everyone, then he gave his Captain a list of 14
names. He had put them in order of the most desperate to the ‘mildly
affected’. “OK, Chief, thanks.” Now, down to see the Admiral.
“I don’t
know, Lee. I feel as bad about this as
you do. But with the flying sub only
holding 6 people, one of them the pilot, even drawing names out of a hat as you
suggest would still mean three trips and there is only time for one. How about a compromise? One trip for the five that have to get home
the earliest, and I will have Angie rebook flights at the Institute’s expense
for the rest? Would that work?”
“It sounds
good in theory Admiral. Let me run it
past the men involved and see if it is doable.
I’ll get back to you.”
Lee left the
Admiral’s cabin, grabbing the first mike in the corridor. “This is the Captain. Chief Sharkey, please report to my cabin.”
Five minutes
later, he was explaining the Admiral’s idea to the Chief. “OK Chief.
Get any of the men on this list who aren’t on duty down here. I’ll talk to the rest at their posts.”
A half hour
later the Captain’s cabin was crowded.
“Let’s see if we can work this out.
Who absolutely has to be home asap, and who can wait for a later flight or connection?”
Lee was
always proud of his crew, and now was no exception. Listening to the men
talking amongst themselves, all of them thinking of the others, it was soon decided
who needed to leave first and who could wait.
But Lee still had three men on duty he had to talk to. “Ok, after I talk to the other three men, I
will announce over the PA who should get ready to leave. All the rest will take turns at the radio
shack talking to Miss Wood. Angie will
cancel your flights and rebook them for later, at the Institute’s expense. Dismissed.”
One of the
three men Lee talked to at their duty posts really needed to leave on FS1. That meant bumping someone else. If any one of the first group could pilot the
flying sub the problem would be solved, but none of them were certified. He looked at the list again, the names and
the destinations. He was torn between
picking names from a hat and making a command decsion himself. Wait a minute. One of these destinations was for Las
Vegas. There were flights there every
hour! Okay Sheperds, you’re bumped. He got on the intercom and announced the five
who would be on FS1. Now, out of the six
people certified to fly FS1, who would benefit most by getting home early? Not him, Chip or the Admiral,
that left Sharkey, Kowalski, and Patterson. Patterson was the only one not having dinner
at the Admiral’s. As a married man he
had his own wife and children waiting for him. And Lee thought he overheard Pat tell Kowalski
that his parents had flown in to join them for Thanksgiving.
“Patterson,
this is the Captain. Please report to my cabin.”
A few
minutes later and . . .
“You wanted
to see me Skipper?”
“Hey
Pat. I need a pilot to take five men
back home to catch their flights in time.
The rest of the certified pilots are all having dinner at the Admiral’s, so it doesn’t
matter what time we get in. I thought
your family might like to have you with them sooner rather than later, so get
your stuff together. “
“Skipper! I . . .thanks! Thank you, Sir! I really appreciate this! So will Maureen and the girls! Sir, did I tell you? We’re expecting again, and this one’s a
boy! I can’t wait! We’re going to tell
my parents at dinner! Thank you again so much Sir! I’ll get my stuff.”
He ran out
so fast Lee didn’t even have a chance to congratulate him!
Next, Lee went down to the
radio shack and asked Sparks to put him through to the Institute. He then explained to Angie what the Admiral
wanted her to do for the nine men left. They would each tell her what they
needed. For several of them, she would
have to call their families to notify them of the change. Then
he got on the intercom and called the men down.
One by one they made their new arrangements with her.
An hour
later FS1 left with the six men aboard.
Patterson knew he was on call to fly her back if the the little sub was
needed before Seaview docked, if there was any kind of emergency. But Lee didn’t anticipate one. He expected clear sailing until they reached
port. And it was.
************
Lee sat back
from the Admiral’s table, he was stuffed like a flounder. Good food, good company, good beer. The first night home was always great, but
this was wonderful. And he felt truly
relieved that all of his crew members had been able to be with their families. But for him, this was his family. Chip, Harry, Jamie, Kowalski, and Sharkey.
“What that? Yep, I”ll have another cold one. Thanks.
And another slice of that Apple Pie, please. If Chip left any!”
The End
Happy
Thanksgiving to one and all!
Please let me know what you think!