Attention On Deck!

It is with deep sadness that we must report that the founder of this website Joe Peters passed away at his home in Florida last night, 07/09/2021, his family was with him. Joe Peters served upon the DYESS as an MM3 from 1951-1953. He contacted me in 1997 or so with the idea of a website and we went to work creating this site. A year or two later is was formally launched at a reunion in Houston in 1998. Uncle Joe was very passionate and proud of this website as well as his service to the Navy and his country.
- E Pomeroy

Joseph R. Peters, Smooth Sailing and Following Winds, sir.

We will all miss you dearly.

It is with a heavy heart and an abundance of sadness to report to you that your fellow Sailor and friend Ken Moore has made the final voyage. Ken passed away on May 12th. Ken was a member of this great ship and served her well. Best friend and shipmate of Joe Peters, the originator of this website. I've had the pleasure of working with Ken over the years with the site as well, and it was always a pleasure to to do so.

Ken you will be greatly missed by all...

Ken will be buried at sea by the US Navy in accordance with his requests being fulfilled by his daughter Colleen.

Ken Moore ~ 1933 - 2019

Smooth Sailing and Following Winds, our friend

Bless Our Hero's
Fly your flag to honor America The Beautiful

Veterans Day is Everyday
Thank you for serving

IN GOD WE TRUST

Keep America strong

HONOR      COURAGE       COMMITMENT

When I Learned to Respect Snipes
By Walt Larimer

The aftermath of Hurricane Michael in the Panhandle of Florida reminded me of that terrifying day at sea in a North Atlantic storm when my ugly thoughts about Snipes were reversed completely. When I was a young sailor aboard the Dyess and assigned to duties in the radio shack, I was counseled by a very salty Boatswain’s Mate who bunked down in my fantail living space to avoid all the Snipes aboard ship, never go ashore with them, and never ever venture down into their black holes below deck. I never did go below deck into the engineering spaces as long as I was assigned to the Dyess and I was very much aware that the Snipes didn’t want any deck apes or other sailors working above them to venture down into their private working sanctuary. I had no idea what went on down in those smelly hot spaces and didn’t really care.

Fast forward to the time when I was a midshipman at the Naval Academy and on one of our summer midshipman cruises. Each middie was assigned to one of four vessels in a task force enroute to ports in northern Europe, then down to Guantanamo Bay for gunnery exercises, and return to NOB Norfolk. The lead ship in the task force was the huge USS Missouri followed by an escort of three tin cans. I was on the USS Bauer, one of the tin cans following in the wake of the huge battleship USS Missouri ahead. As an ex-tin can sailor, I felt very comfortable, confident, and completely at home on this ship. The Naval Academy curriculum required middies to learn as much as they could about life aboard ship while on these summer cruises so we were assigned watch duty to as many different duty stations as possible while aboard ship.  One of my assigned duty positions was down in the engine room. This was the very first time I had ever been down into Snipe territory. A few days out of Norfolk, we encountered a violent summer squall. The huge waves and the northeasterly magnetic heading we were on caused the bow to drop down suddenly in the wave troughs. At that same time, the fantail would rise up causing the propellers to come completely out of the water and speed up in RPM for several seconds. Then the fantail would drop back down into the sea as the bow came up out of the wave trough. Every rivet on the ship creaked and items not tied down rattled when those props suddenly reengaged the resistance of sea water. When we weren’t pitching as described, the ship rolled from side to side. This engine room had an inclinometer mounted on the bulkhead and I watched it in sheer terror as the ship rolled over many degrees from side to side. Sometimes we rolled over so far, I wasn’t sure if we would ever come up again. I don’t recall how many degrees the average destroyer can roll over before it gets to the point of no return. Maybe one of our more experienced tin can sailors can tell us accurately. My imagination and memory may be getting away from me inasmuch as this incident occurred 68 years ago but I believe we rolled over from side to side somewhere between 35 to 40 degrees many times during that storm. The three highly qualified snipes on duty down there with me took all this in with steady calmness as if they encountered it all the time. A few more hours of this violent pitching and rolling went on. Suddenly, the fatigue stress on one the propellers caused the prop shaft to break off outside the ship’s hull allowing the propeller and nine feet of propeller shaft to drop down to the bottom of the sea. When that occurred, that engine sped up to an unusually high RPM. An instrument dial on the engine control board recorded the quick RPM increase. These highly experienced engineers quickly shut down the valve controlling the supersaturated steam going into the turbine of the engine that powered the missing propeller. This shut down was done extremely fast, very efficiently, with cool nerves, and a minute or two before any command came down from the quarterdeck above. I was very impressed with the way in which this emergency was safely resolved during the violent sea action. Our skipper advised the task force commander on the “Big Mo” of the emergency that we had just occurred and that we would be compelled to slow down and alter course. The task force commander directed us to leave the task force and proceed to the nearest harbor with a dry dock in England and that we did. I have had deep respect for all those great guys who work down in hot and smelly Snipe territory ever since.  If anyone of you asserts that enduring this violent storm for over a day was one of the reasons why I opted to go into the Air Force after I graduated from the academy, you are correct.

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Association Officers for 2015-2017
President:Charles Nobles
V.President: George Smith
Secretary/Treasurer Larry Cartier
Chaplin: Hank Furniss Historian: Joe Peters

Directors
Henry Croy, Walt Larimer, , Fred Anderson

God Bless America

Anyone paying or requesting info on their dues please contact Larry Cartier at lcartier111@aol.com Treasurer for the association.

On the web site under ship store there is a Dyess order form for you to place an order with Larry Cartier.

Check out the ship stores page, new items

The Dyess crest reproduced may be purchased for a cost of $5.00. You can place in a frame, sew on a shirt or jacket. Actual Size is 3½”x4½”. You may order the crest from Dyess Association Ship Store, %Larry Cartier,LCARTIER111@AOL.COM
or call 508-930-8128. We also have Shirts w/p. denim shirts, sweatshirts, jackets and hats.

On the left menu, there is an addition to the website - the US Navy Memorial. Recently, I took a trip to Washington DC and got some information and pictures for you to enjoy. - Ernie Pomeroy

It is a very nice memorial, you can check out the foundation here.

We are searching for shipmates from all era's, 45 - 80. If you served on the USS Dyess and are not on the roster please contact me, Ken Moore, kmooresr880@gmail.com 904-599-1131 or Larry Cartier at 508-930-8128 with your info and we will gladly add you to our growing list. Shipmates from the 60's and 70's are needed now. You are the life blood of our group!

A new USS Dyess banner donated to the association compliments of Joe Peters. This was taken at the TCS bull session in Lakeland ,FL on the 10th January 2009

Joe Peters,Ken Moore,Bob Bush, Mac McDonald

Support your Association

Anyone wishing to pay their dues may do so for 2019 by sending $10.00 to Larry Cartier, 71 Bradford Street,Abington, MA. 02351. Any questions you may contact me at 508-930-8128 Dues are $10.00 per year.You are the future of the association.