I was regular navy, Qm1c, and when the tests were over I cornered Capt. McCoy, who promised to make me Chief before the year was out. McCoy was one of the finest officers I was privileged to serve with........Previously, I had a Capt. senior to McCoy to break all the rules to get me a line commission to no avail. ( Educational background)
 
Got acquainted with Capt. McCoy the second day at sea, timed a set of star sights for him at dusk which he picked the toughest ones (65 degrees and up) and then came back into the chart house and worked out the calculations in his head and wrote down the results. He had three perfect lines of sight and a perfect fix when plotted. After he left, I thought to myself, you foreflusher!--I worked out the sights and there was nothing wrong with them.  What I  didn't know was that when he finished at Annapolis in 1927, they kept him there to teach Math. for four years--He had a photographic memory.
 
I developed a tremendous admiration and respect for him and wound up using his emergency sea cabin which joined the chart room as quarters.  I don't know what his problem was with the assigned navigator but He had me to check a lot of  his work.
 
At Bikini, We always anchored near the entrance,  Close to the ready duty Destroyer. McCoy lent me to the Warrant Chief on the officers LCI that was running to kawagellen weekly for booze as he got lost every other trip and they had to send out aircraft to home in on him and then tell him what to steer to get back to Bikini. I know why he got lost---the first trip I was blown 20 miles off course by a simple 15 kt. breeze on the beam--remember what an LCI looks like? A tall freeboard and 5' draft. I may have helped the Chief a bit, He didn't get lost anymore. 
 
This part of my time aboard the Severn, didn't make publication, I'm the guy who punched the executive officer and was pulled off by the ships doctor, Who promptly gave me a shot and took me over to the local hospital ship, I wasn't there more than 30 minutes, when Capt. McCoy showed up and wanted to know the story.  I told him what had transpired.  He said we have to get underway for another load of water, you set tight and I'll take care of this, We'll be back in 12-14 days---------I don't know what he said to the Capt. of the hospital ship but I was moved from the psycho office to a stateroom in the officers quarters next to a LT. Walton, Prettiest Navy Nurse  I ever saw. The Severn got back to bikini and Capt. McCoy came over personally and picked me up.  I noticed we had a new Exec.  I didn't ask about the previous one. The crew in the ships office told me that Capt. McCoy requested orders for the commander and Comsopac responded immediately, The trouble started when the exec came on the signal bridge and interfered with a message transmission of importance to the ready duty destroyer which was anchored only 300 yards away. I noticed the flagship 5 miles up in the lagoon trying to reach the ready duty destroyer by flashing light, so when they didn't answer, I took the message for relay, which was "get underway immediately and search for survivors of downed aircraft at lat. long. so and so. The importance of the message was equivalent to enemy contact messages I handled during the war, and I had to get it out---the destroyer I could not raise, so I had the engine room crew turn on the ark signal light on  the flying bridge and burned the paint on the destroyer until she answered, when she did I switched to the normal signal light and was sending the dispatch when the exec snatched the pad out of my hand half way through the message, I reached over and got the message pad back and told him to stand clear until I had a receipt for the message. I then filed the dispatch with the ships office and his orderly found and escorted me to his quarters, where he demanded I stand at attention while he informed me I could not talk to him like that.......That was all I could take , I Knocked him down with one punch and fortunately the ships doctor was passing by the stateroom and stopped me before I could hit him again.  
 
The rest of the operation was normal thru the tests except the runs we made to kawajalind, where Capt. McCoy scared the hell out of me coming in and out of the entrance. He had three speeds: Back full--Stop--Ahead full....... Coming in there is a 90 degree turn to starboard and if the helmsman was 10 seconds late in putting the helm over full there was no way we would not have hit the reef. When we got underway from the anchorage to go back to Bikini, the minute the anchor cleared, ahead full and we were making 15knots as we passed the flagship and swapped the Captain's barge at the boom...The common exchange was Int speed from the flagship, McCoys answer, Speed 5 kts and that got to the point that Capt. McCoy Just looked at me on the st'bd wing and I knew what to send..
 
For the record, All the reports I saw indicated ships were 10 miles from the blasts, The Severn was 7.8 miles from ground zero.
 
After the tests, since I had advanced as far as I could in the navy, I decided to leave the navy and was discharged.  Picked up a Masters license, 500 gross tons and above, any ocean and returned To Alabama.
 
The Severn was a fine vessel and had an excellent crew, I was proud to  have been a member.
 
You may post this on the site if you think it feasible or of interest.. My best to the crew..
 
Prince E. Turner Jr.