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| NSGDet Sasebo, Japan - 1957-1958 |
| Images from Richard Kivi (former CTR2) |
| Please scroll-down for the complete collection of photos. Click-on each photo to enlarge. |
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Sasebo shack just before commissioning, sometime around the first week in December, 1957. We had just set up the AN/TRD-4 antenna array. I think the bench and marker in the foreground delineated the 6th or 7th Tee of the golf course; not sure. The area off to the left of the array is where Navy divers used to train. . . They'd dive for lost golf balls. The emergency generator location is to the right, out of the picture. |
 This was Section #3 several months after commissioning. Originally, Sasebo was entirely HFDF with just eight CTRs. Some time after commissioning, ditty chasers were brought in along with some crypto gear and a small (very small) Army contingent. |
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 There's some argument from some of the guys about this |
 I'm no longer sure of the location of this street. |
 That's a Catholic church steeple in the background. |
 This picture was taken early Spring, 1958 at the "shack" site which was located between holes #6 and #7 of the golf course. |
 This shot is the result of several conversations between Jim Butler and Cal Fulmer. We've come to the conclusion that the shack was where the lower "X" is. |
 Ammo dump gate: We used to drive over the mountain to the shack in order to bypass this route as it was slower. Unfortunately, I wrecked the jeep on that road (in fact, there's some argument that I wrecked two vehicles—but that's another story) and, after that, we had to then go thru the ammo depot to reach the shack. On the way, these small little crabs would crawl up from the beach and were all over the place. We used to have contests to see how many crabs each driver could squash. Jim Butler always got a higher score than I. We got to know the Marine contingent pretty well, too, as we bunked in a really tiny room in their barracks for awhile until our own quarters were ready for us. I also remember a basketball game with us against the Marines. We only had five players (there were only eight of us then) and Jim Butler and Bill Moore fouled out, leaving us with three. The Marines benched two of their players so it was three on three. As I recall, we still lost; can't remember for sure. But Jim and Bill were our best players, so that's probably what happened. |
Our first quarters in Sasebo. . . in the Marine barracks. Before we arrived, their scuttlebutt was that a group of Navy SEALs were coming in to bunk with them. We couldn't understand, for the first few days, why they were so deferential. After all, they were Marines and we were Navy! That changed when they realized we weren't SEALs. But we got along fine anyway. We used to store their non-reg gear in the room (which was very small) when they were going to have an inspection—as we were exempt. We had almost no locker space, so it was cluttered most of the time. |
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 I've misplaced most of the barracks pictures, sorry. But you can see laundry bags hanging on the bunks. It would be picked up by the house boys and, the next day, you'd have your cleaned and ironed gear waiting for you. (Tough duty, huh?) |
 Barracks life in Sasebo (after we moved into our own) was great. That's JJ Zelznack in the picture. We had two houseboys who took care of everything for us; laundry, shoe shines, cleanup, the works. |
 It looks messy in this shot, but we'd clean things up before going on watch. We had tons of locker space (comparatively speaking) which gave us plenty of opportunities to pick up custom-made clothes. After I got back to the States, I didn't have to buy clothes for a long time. |
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 Liberty in Sasebo was the best (compared to my other duty stations—even Kami Seya). |
 The Rose Bar was one of our favorite hangouts. It was upstairs and quiet. |
 Another shot of the Rose Bar. |
 Another shot at the Rose Bar. Jimmie Butler was with me in Kami Seya before we were sent to Sasebo. He was chasing ditties while I was on the HFDF net (I sent out the first Oboes when Sputnik went up—and screwed up the initial IX's—but we got things sorted out. Scuttlebutt was that we helped establish its orbit—not sure about that). Anyway, Jim and I formed Section #3 when Sasebo was commissioned. Best guy I ever stood watch with. |
 The Blue Sky was another bar we frequented. But not that often. Not as quiet as the Rose. |
 Some of the guys I knew from Boot Camp and elsewhere would drop by as Sasebo was a stopping off point for a lot of different ships. Bob Hendricks was one. |
 Jack Fidler was another buddy. We went to High School together and joined about the same time. I'm really glad a struck for CT. I had just passed my 2nd Class and was waiting for my rating. Jack was still a seaman and a coxswain. (I had a leg up on him, however, as I had prior military service in the National Guard and Army Reserve which gave me some credit as I recall.) |
 Later, we did a lot of meals at the PO club. |
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