Torpedoman Paul Beaumont remembers loose depth charge on deck of DD-747 in typhoon off of Japan circa 1960 to 1963

One evening (on the Samuel N. Moore, DD-747). I was sitting down on the mess deck listening to a Chief BM telling sea stories. He told one about a depth charge breaking loose on the fantail while they were out to sea riding out a storm. He described in some detail how when he was sleeping in the aft quarters under the fantail, he was awakened by a strange sound and realizes it was something rolling across the deck each time the ship would roll from side to side.

At the time we were off the coast of Japan riding out a typhoon out to sea. I went to bed late that night but I was awakened early in the morning by a strange sound. You see, I was bunked on the starboard side in the aft quarters right under the fantail. I listened to the sound trying to figure it out when "BAM" it hit me.

I remembered the story I had heard the night before. I rolled out of my rack and onto the floor, jumped up and through on a pair of pants and ran to the nearest intercom.  I called the bridge and reported that there was a depth charge loose on the fantail. and the OD asked me how I knew there was a depth charge loose on the fantail. I had to relate to him the story I had heard the night before and told him I was hearing the same sound now.

He told me to go up and have a look and be sure to close the hatch behind me because we were in heavy seas, so I went up. I opened the starboard hatch and looked out, and all I could see was a wall of green. We had dropped down between the swells and the water was about 30 or 40 feet above the main deck. I shut the hatch and waited until we were on top of the swells and then I went out to have a look around.

Sure enough, one of the turnbuckles had broken on the four charges that were mounted on the deck. I went back inside and called the bridge again to confirm the situation. Within a few seconds the gunnery officer and a couple of other guys were back with me on the fantail.

The officer told me to go to the chain locker and get a hank of line. Without think I turned and ran to the hatch and made my way through the ship, below deck, opening and closing each hatch as I went, until I reached the chain locker below the bow.  What I hadn't given any thought to was the fact that I was a Torpedoman and I didn't carry a knife; I had nothing to cut the line with. After I had measured out about 4 fathoms of ½ inch hemp I remembered that the piece the hatch closes against is called a knife-edge, so I began to rub the line back and forth in the knife-edge.

Not really sharp it took a good five minutes but I finally cut it and made my way back to the fantail. Between the four of us we finally got the charge back into its cradle and lashed down. It was quite a mess with twenty some feet of line holding down one depth charge, but it worked.

Sometimes it pays to listen to "Old Salts".