| A classmate of mine, William R. Shaw, from The Citadel was a member of the Wardroom of the USS Holder, then steaming in the Med along with the Nan during the 1970 Med deployment. During one unrep detail, the Holder pulled up alongside to port, to take station and receive fuel. I could see Bill standing on the Holder's bridge as one of ship's company---observing the activities. Once the span wire was hooked to the Holder, the Holder's crew ran into some difficulty in hauling in the pigtail because of the swells. Our old man (RLB) became incensed and picked up a megaphone and yelled across the 'spanse of water to the Holder's crew to clear out the "weak men" and get some strong men to haul in on the line. 'Bout that time…it was beautiful…the pigtail popped under strain, and Bill calmly walked over to where a megaphone was stored on the Holder's bridge, and put it to his lips. His response to our old man was, "Sir, the parting of your line appears not to be the work of any weak men, sir!" All of the men topside on both ships howled. Needless to say our old man just puckered up. What a day at sea!
An interesting note is that the old man (RLB) was dubbed "BLACK BOB" by the crew of the USS Chopper where he served during the late 1950's...see: USS Chopper Crew
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