Excerpts from The Seas of War

Repose History   June 12, 1967   April 29, 1967

May 24, 1967   March 3, 1967   Nov. 29, 1966

June 12, 1967:   Collision in Da Nang Harbor

This day was the most memorable of the year.  The REPOSE was being refueled by the TAPPAHANNOCK.  I talked on the phone to an officer on the oiler whom I had met at Subic Bay, Philippines.  After the conversation, I returned to my office.  An announcement came over the speaker, "Left full rudder".  A patient in my office looked out of my porthole and shouted, "We're heading toward the middle of the oiler".

Crew members were running all over the ship.  I stood there thinking, "we're really not going to ram that ship".  In seconds the announcement was made, "Collision, this is not a drill"!  I grabbed a pole in my office and held on for dear life as we collided head on into the middle of the oiler.  Every one was afraid of fire, but thankfully neither ship caught on fire.

Apparently our steering was faulty and we could not have prevented the accident.  We broke the railing on the oiler and knocked over a pole that fell on the TAPPAHANNOCK Captain's boat.  Fortunately only one person on the oiler was injured.  The REPOSE had a 7' crack in her bow.

Rumors began to spread immediately that we would have to go to Japan for 4 weeks for repairs.  Everyone was excited about spending 4 weeks in Japan; however, we would have to go to Subic first to assess the damage.  We soon received the disappointing news that the REPOSE could be repaired at Subic.

When we pulled into Subic, the TAPPAHANNOCK was docked.  They had put up two huge bandages on the stern of their ship.  When they saw us approaching, their CO called "General Quarters"  and announced over the ship's loudspeaker  "They're coming after us again".  The ironic thing for us was that the TAPPANHANOCK was leaving the next day for repairs in Japan and we were stuck in Subic for 3-4 weeks.