Comments by "Steve Valley" (@stevevalley7835) on "USS Birmingham - Three Strikes & Not Out!" video.

  1. The Essex class Lexington: CV-16. The Lex was claimed sunk so many times, reportedly 4 times, by the Japanese it became known as "the blue ghost", blue because it entered service with an experimental blue paint job. When I was on the Lex many years later, I noticed it's C-1 sitting in the hangar, with a blue ghost painted on the aft fuselage. When Drach said Birmingham was cruising with the Lex, I knew it was in for a rough time.
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  2.  @JosephOlson-ld2td  George H W Bush was on the San Jacinto. I remember seeing a documentary on TV about his service, and, if I recall correctly, he used the Angelo pronunciation, of a "J", when talking about the ship, or, alternately, calling it the "San Jack".
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  3.  @TeaDrinkingOspin  Wiki says the Lex earned 11 Battle Stars and a Presidential Unit Citation. I never read the Wiki entry on her before. Wiki notes that, when she was torpedoed off Kwajalein, most of the casualties were in the Chief's mess. My rack was right next to the Chief's mess. It wasn't even a compartment, more a wide spot in the passageway that we shared with a foam proportioner and racks full of the foam chemical. I figured we had to be just about over the screws. The ride was smooth and quiet in that space, until they gave the throttle the last notch, then things would start to shake. As a training carrier, the Lex would steam back and forth across the Gulf. The Lex ran at full speed most of the time as it was running air ops continuously. Once you get a ship that size up to full speed, you don't want to slow down for anything, so, when they ran out of water, either approaching the oil rigs off Louisiana, or Florida, they would execute a 180 degree turn at full speed. I swear they had it in for me, saying "ah, Steve is sitting down to chow, time to turn the ship around". All too often, I would be just getting into my meal when the 1MC would bark "heel to port". I would have to grab my tray and glass and hang on as the ship heeled over in the turn.
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