JOHN’S MEMORIES OF SYDNEY:

DIAL-A-SAILOR,

HELICOPTER RIDE,

FREE SLOT MACHINE!

Three things come to mind when I think of my last visit to Sydney, Australia, 46 years ago.

DIAL-A-SAILOR:

I was a Lieutenant Commander serving as the Assistant Operations Officer and Senior Watch Officer for the USS Tripoli-LPH 10. The Tripoli was a Iwo Jima-class amphibious straight-deck aircraft carrier, assault ship with a total crew of about 1,200, including 102 officers. The ship's mission was to carry over 1,600 Battle Ready Marines. In addition to her crew and complement of Marines, she carried about 30 aircraft, which included helicopters and short take-off/vertical landing AV-8 Harrier Jets. She was 844 feet long, had a beam of 106 feet, and a draft of 26 feet. She displaced 45,693 tons, powdered by two gas turbines producing 70,000 bhp. Her top speed was 22 kts.

We were partway through a busy and hectic deployment to the western Pacific when Sydney, Australia, showed up on our OpSked (Operational schedule) for a ten-day R&R port call.

Much to our surprise, as I looked down from the bridge as we pulled pier side at the Australian Navy Base in Sydney, in addition to the normal shore crew working our mooring lines, I saw two attractive ladies with a card table, a large blackboard, and a telephone. Unbeknown to us, or at least me, an ad had run in the local newspaper the day before listing a phone number for single Australian ladies looking to meet single American Sailors. These ladies had manned their phone that morning, and the board was already full of names, phone numbers, and comments from Australian ladies. Comments like: “I am 25 years old, and I like Country Music.” Etc., etc.

Once the Brow was over, the ladies brought their card table on board and a telephone with a long line back to a junction box on the pier. I only had duty on day seven of the ten days we were in port, and I can verify that there were more names on the board than single Sailors or Marines onboard. In addition to the Dial-A-Sailors ladies, there was a constant line of Australian visitors lined up to come on board for a tour of our ship. Even on day ten, when we departed, there was still a line of our friends and Allies from Down Under. Many families that toured the ship invited groups of our personnel to visit their homes for dinner or outings.

Roamer has it; a marriage or two resulted from Dial-A-Sailors!

HELICOPTER RIDE:

On my one day of duty in Sydney as Command Duty Officer, my primary duty was to oversee the smooth operations of the tours around the ship. Our crew duty personnel were decked out in their best uniforms to function as guides around the sections of the vessels that were available to show our visitors. Late in the morning, I was standing near the Quarter Deck observing families with children in tow and groups of friends of all ages in various degrees of casual dress. I noticed a distinguished gentleman coming aboard amongst several families, but he appeared not to be part of either group. He wore a well-tailored gray pin-striped three-piece suit and expensive-looking leather shoes.

I quickly decided to greet this man and offer to be his guide for his tour aboard our ship. He gave me his name, which I think I remember, but I won’t list it as it was a while ago, and I probably do not remember it correctly. I gave him the “double nickel” tour, and since it was approaching lunch, I invited him to dine with me in Tripoli’s Wardroom for a shipboard lunch. Over an excellent meal, I asked what was his business. In a low-key tone, he said he was the Police Commissioner for Sydney. After lunch, I escorted The Commissioner to the Quarter Deck, and he asked If I would like a tour of Sydney tomorrow. I quickly agreed, not knowing the details of his suggested tour. He said, “Excellent, I will have a Black and White Police car here to pick you up.” I told him it would be 8:00 AM before I was off duty. He said, “No problem, the car will await you on the pier.

I was expecting to get his version of a “double nickel” tour in the police car, except the two patrolmen drove me to the airport, where a Police Helicopter was warming up with the doors open, and two Sydney Police pilots welcomed me for a couple of hours' ride. I got the “triple nickel” tour; the flight covered all over. It included the outlying areas, with a low-level pass, over Bondi Beach (tops optional), and flew in a tight circle around the Sydney Center Point Tower, under construction. The tower in downtown Sydney is 1,014 feet tall, has office space near the top, and is the second tallest structure in the Southern Hemisphere. After an incredible aerial tour, the same Black and White car was waiting at the airport and drove me to the Commissioner’s Club for lunch. I sent a thank you letter, but I lost contact after that.

FREE SLOT MACHINE:

On the first or second night in Sydney, a couple of my shipmates, I will say it was Wil and Barry, happened upon an establishment that was a part nightclub, restaurant, casino, and maybe a hotel. For lack of a better description, I would describe it as a VFW on steroids. In my memory of forty-six years, I remember a name like “Soldiers and Sailors League of Australia.” The only reference I can find now on the internet is "RSL" (Returned and Services League of Australia).

In Navy White Uniforms, my shipmates were treated like Royalty and invited back the next night for dinner and to bring others from USS Tripoli for more Australian hospitality. The next night, at least four of us returned and were greeted at the front door by a gentleman, maybe seventy years old, the Manager Emeritus, a veteran of the Australian Army with service in World War II.

After a brief exchange of names and some small talk, he marched us into the Nightclub, which was the heart of the establishment. Maybe two dozen couples were sitting at small tables listening to a couple on stage singing a duet. The setting reminded me of a scene in “Rick’s Place,” in the 1940’s movie Casablanca. In the middle of a song, the Manager Emeritus stepped on a stage, stopped the band, took the singer's microphone, and said, “Ladies and gentlemen, we have honored guests here tonight.”

The two singers stepped back, and the audience looked on with their mouths open, as were ours when the Manager Emeritus spoke again, “If it were not for these American Blokes where you are sitting now by the end of World War II, it would be a Japanese town.” That is nowhere the words he used, but that is the meaning of his words. Of course, none of us were old enough to fight in WW II, but our previous generation did, and he was giving us credit.

Next, our new friend requested that all the ladies in the room gather on the dance floor to form a circle. As the music started, we danced with each of the Australian ladies. I may have stepped on a lady's toe or two.

After a fine meal in their restaurant—and, of course, our money was no good—drinks and dinner on the house, we adjourned to their casino, where I was playing one of their new electronic slot machines. I said, “One day, I plan to buy one of these machines for our home.” Standing behind me, the current younger manager said, “Mate, you want one?” Surprised, I said, “Yep, I may get one someday.”

He continued, “Well, Mate, there are a dozen of the old mechanical slot machines in my mother-in-law’s garage across town. If you like, we can go get one.” I hesitated about saying yes but did not want to say no, so I said, “Sure.” Half an hour later, after a ride in the car, I picked out an old dusty slot machine, and then he drove us back to the Australian Navy Base. At the gate, the Australian Navy guard at the entrance shined his light in the car………. then waved us through. When two of us carried a slot machine aboard a US Navy ship, one of the men in my department, who was the officer on the Deck, gave me an evil eye and said, “Commander, what is this?” I replied, “Chief, you must trust me; this is totally legal.” The next day, I purchased forty dollars in Australian dimes to use in the machine. The joke was on me; an American penny also worked in the machine. I did wait until the first day at sea before I told the ship's Executive Officer that I had a slot machine on board and assured him it was all legal.

Our ten days in Sydney were memories of a lifetime: We attended a ship’s reception at the Sydney Opera House, and on the last night, a few of us had drinks at the oldest Bar in Sydney, in the area of The Rocks. Sue and I spent two days in Sydney, which was also the trip of a lifetime. We visited the Sydney Opera House for a tour and a second visit on our own and walked by the same oldest Bar in Sydney.