We were notified that a typhoon was headed for Akuni, and the squadron must evacuate to Sangley Point in the Philippines. A few hours later we loaded up and took off. We had only been in the air for an hour or two when we lost an engine. As before, the pilots feathered the prop, trimmed up, and called in a Mayday. We were directed to go to Buckner Bay at Okinawa where the USS Pine Island, a seaplane tender, was berthed. We also were told The Pine Island was out to sea for gunnery practice and would be back in a couple of days. We were to tie up to a buoy and wait for the ship to return.

The loss of another engine must have been quite a blow to our head mechanic, Don Crocker. He served in a seaplane squadron during the Korean War. After that, he moved to the L.A. area and worked for a man who was a stunt pilot for the movies. This man also had a collection of vintage planes he flew for the movies and Crocker maintained them all. I was glad he re-joined the Navy as I learned a lot from him.

Surovik and Bell were good pilots, so I wasn’t worried about flying single engine. We got to Okinawa okay and after landing, the pilots spotted  a buoy that was a few yards from the pier. Seaplanes are like boats in that they don’t respond quickly to changes in direction. There is an appendage on each side of the hull, at the stern. They look like little wings that fold up into the hull and are controlled by hydraulics. They are individually controlled and are used for steering when the plane is in the water.  

There was some wind and a little bit of chop to the water. Lt. Surovik would taxi up to within a few feet of the buoy and when he reduced power to keep from overshooting it the wind, tide, or current would push us back. Normally, it was no big deal. Having only one engine for control made it a lot tougher.  He tried several times, and I don’t doubt that he could have worked it out. Instead, his voice came over the intercom and he said disgustedly, “Someone is going to have to swim for it.”

It’s usually a simple chore to tie up to a buoy. The pilot drives up to the buoy. The man in the bow reaches down and snags it and ties up. The buoy is anchored to the bottom. On top of the buoy is a rope with a loop having a diameter of 18” or so.    There are hatches on both sides of the bow. The port side hatch is used when the pilot gets the plane up to the buoy and pulls the throttles back to idle.

There is a hole or receptacle in the threshold of each hatch to accommodate a bollard.  The bollard looks like a piece of 4” pipe and after insertion into that receptacle in the threshold becomes a snubbing post to hitch the buoy to. A rope called a hawser is used to secure the plane to the buoy. The rope is probably 1 ½” or 2” in diameter and maybe 25 or 30 feet long, and has a loop built into one end.

Now that we have all the components identified let me describe how this buoy operation is supposed to work.  While the pilot taxis the plane to the buoy, one of the crewmen goes to the bow and opens the port hatch. He retrieves the bollard from its storage place and inserts it into the receptacle in the threshold of the hatch. Next, he gets the hawser from the rope locker and loops it over the bollard.  The pilot gets the plane up against the buoy and pulls the throttles back to idle. The crewman gets the free end of the hawser and leans out the hatch and passes it through the loop on top of the buoy. He pulls the slack, snubs the plane up against the buoy, and makes a couple of turns around the bollard with the hawser and ties it off. The pilot shuts down the engines and secures the cockpit. The crewman gets ready to install the wheels if the plane is to be pulled up the ramp to the beach.

After Lt. Surevik had announced that someone would have to swim for the buoy, I decided that a swim would be perfect on such a hot day. I went to the bow and stripped down to my shorts. The buoy was just a few yards away, and the swim looked like easy money. I grabbed the free end of the hawser and jumped in. With the hawser in one hand, I started doing a side stroke toward the buoy. I soon realized that I wasn’t getting anywhere. There was either a rip current or a tide was running. Not having many choices, I stuck the end of the rope in my mouth and clamped down on it. With both hands free, I was able to do a breaststroke and make some headway. I was able to get to the buoy okay and threaded the end of the hawser through the loop on top of it. Then, I was able to drag the end of the hawser back to the plane and hand it to the guy in the bow. He took a couple of turns around the bollard and tied it off. Mission accomplished.

Dave Thomas

6/6/2024