Sometimes the sea gets very angry. En-route to Alaska, our US navy frigate found a storm in the north Pacific. We were heading into the waves giving us an up and down motion as opposed to the side to side swaying.
It was midday and I was on sound and security watch, making my rounds around the ship and ensuring everything was, well, sound and secure. I went to the anchor windless compartment which was the space immediately below the bow of the ship.
As we crashed through the waves, I saw that water was coming in from the deck above. A hatch on the main deck hadn't been properly secured and every time our ship took a nose dive, water would wash over the bow and come in through the hatch to the deck below. To make my day worse, the hatch could only be secured from the deck above. I went to the bridge to report that not everything was kosher. The officer of the deck told me to go secure the hatch.
"But sir" I replied in a trembling voice. "The hatch can only be secured topside and the waves keep washing up where I would have to be." I knew he wouldn't tell me to wait until the storm passed but had hoped he may offer to send a boatswain's mate or some other unimportant rate to risk their life.
"Get someone to tie a rope to your belt in case you need to be fished out of the ocean and we'll keep on eye on you from up here" he replied with kind of a chuckle in his voice. The bridge did look down directly onto the bow where I would be but a fat lot of good that was going to do me. How was having an audience going to help me from getting washed overboard?
I went back to the shop to get a shipmate, Trip, and some rope. Trip was a big boy and I figured he would be strong enough to pull me in should the need arise. Another thing I didn't fancy about this death defying mission was the fact to secure the hatch, twelve individual nuts had to be tightened with a wrench, three on each side of the hatch.
Trip and I headed to bow with the rope tied around my waist. I felt like some kind of dog on a leash being taken for a walk by Trip. We got to the last door leading onto the main deck. Trip was to wait at the door while I ran the 15 feet or so to get to the hatch. My heart began to race. We waited while the ship raised it's bow from the force of the wave like a horse rearing up on it's back legs. I had to get the timing right to gain the maximum time before the next wave. The ship came down with an almighty crash and as she settled her bow back into the ocean, I darted out on deck.
I grabbed the wrench from it's holder beside the hatch and began tightening the nuts. I had to tighten them in criss-cross 'x' fashion to get an even seal. As I was tightening the forth nut I felt the ship rising up again. This meant in a few moments time the next wave would come crashing over the bow where I was standing.
"HEY!" Trip yelled out. "You better get your skinny butt back in here!"
I ran back into the safety inside the skin of the ship. The ship crashed and settled again.
"GO!" Trip instructed once the wave cleared the deck.
I ran back onto the main deck and I secured another four nuts before I had to retreat to safety. This time I didn't run out after the next crash and settle but waited for the one after that to catch my breath and regain my nerve. When the appropriate moment came, I was back on deck determined that this would be my last time out.
Doing up the second nut, I dropped the wrench. I recovered it quickly but it did cost me precious time. The ship began to rise again and I still had one nut to do. I was working on the last one and Trip began shouting for me to come in. I tightened the last nut but it was too late. The ship had began it's descent back into the sea with accelerated speed. I looked to the door where Trip was standing and decided I wouldn't make it in time. Trip confirmed my suspicions by yelling out for me to take cover as he shut the door for his own safety.
Next to the hatch was the gun mount. There was a small ladder welded on the mount for the gunner's to enter. It was the most secure thing I could find in the short time I had to "take cover". I wrapped both arms around the ladder and discovered first hand the true meaning of the term 'hanging on for dear life'. Upon the ship's impact into the water, I felt the wave wash over me. The force of the sea washing over the bow of the ship and engulfing my body was tremendous. I seriously thought that I was going into the sea but the wave was going to have to take the ladder and the gun mount with me if I was going. There was no way I was letting go of that. I had bruises on my arms from holding the ladder so tight. The water finally left the bow and I could breath again. As I started to relax my grip from the ladder, I felt another force acting against my body. I felt a tug and the next thing I knew, I was being drug across the deck. Trip had thought I had gone overboard and started reeling me in like a tuna.
"STOP!" I cried out. "I'm ok!" as my body skidded across the deck.
"Sorry mate. I thought you had to be swimming from the force of that last wave."
I lost my hat but that was the least of my worries. In case the officer of the deck had missed it, I wanted him to see firsthand what I had just been through. I immediately marched up to the bridge just as I was. As soon as I stepped on the bridge, all the crew members began clapping and cheering. I walked up to the OOD, soaking wet from head to toe, bruises on my arms from holding the gun mount and abrasions and blood on my hands and arms from being drug across the deck by Trip.
"Hatch on the main deck all secure sir" I reported.
"That was some show you gave us. I thought you were a goner."
That's all I got for my troubles. I think it was some kind of pat on the back but I wasn't sure. All I knew was that I was entertaining and alive.