Seaman Ward here onboard USS hue city cg-66 93"-95" I submitted another story called heavy seas So on this adventure Hue City was underway in Atlantic doing underway replenishment. I was on duty tending to the forward line marker It's a Rope line that has numbers on it that the bridge can see from above to indicate the distance between 2 ships are apart. I was training a new Seaman recruit Seaman Esparza
. while seaman Esparza was trained already this was his first actual time doing this evolution. The line man shot the line over Seaman Esparza grabbed the tail end and started to coil the extra line and holdfast. The line reached other ship there man was holding fast, I told Esparza it was important to keep the line taught no slack not an easy thing to do by he way this is a very dangerous job and operation. The swells were getting high between ships and weather was turning. as I was monitoring Esparza I noticed he was wrapping the line around his forearm. I yelled at him no stop that remove the line from your arm hold with your hands he's complaining his hands hurt it was chaffing them and he didn't have the strength to do it. I noticed the ships having trouble keeping form the line was moving back and forth unable to keep proper distance the fuel line was tightening and loosening I looked back at Esparza he still had the line wrapped around his forearm many times then I here over 1 mc emergency breakaway secure underway replenishment! repeated many times over. the ships start to pull away but the Ships fuel probe was still attached immediately the probe is yanked from the ship it flies through the air and hits the side of the rep. ship sparks fly as it bounces I can see a huge dent in the side of the ship all line over board I here I turn to Esparza he is hard up against the man rail stanchions his arm is caught in the spiral of line around his forearm I told you to not do that let go ! He cant the line is pulling him over he is screaming I told him to move closer stand on rails and lean while I try to unravel the line he is so scared the ships are now pulling apart for emergency breakaway the line is so tight I can barely unclench its grip his hand is turning purple the line is leaving welts in his skin as I unwrap each section I said lean into it because it was the only way to get tension off just enough to unwrap each section Seaman Esparza was standing leaning over the manrails while I untied him from deaths grip! He made a big mistake and I bet that would never happen to him again. needless to say I think he was grateful that somebody was there to help another crazy story from Seaman Ward USS HUE CITY CG-66 93" to 95"

- Patrick W.