| During our 1968 Med cruise we anchored off Piraeus, Greece. I was assigned Coxswain duty on the liberty launch and had some anxious crew members aboard including First Division officer Mr. Welenc.
I had the launch lined up with a buoy on the way too the pier as instructed by my trainer. I think the tide was driving the launch toward shore. Suddenly, a diver popped up in front of the launch! I started ringing the bells for the engineman (don't recall his name) and shifted the rudder to avoid the diver. We struck a REEF! It knocked a hole in the hull, and we had to return to the Nan. During the return trip I was given a few thoughts from Mr. Welenc. One thought was that I would repair the damage to the launch. Another had something to do with Liberty, and I think there were a few others. I was so grateful to the Damage Control guys (whose names I can't recall) for telling me they would repair the damage. Mr. Welenc said from then on we would read the charts for every port. CHARTS?
I STILL would like to thank you DC guys for helping me out. Thanks to all of the crew that I served with!
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