Small world. I got off her when she returned from the Vietnam cruise. You probably took my place ;-}
Probably not. The McCard was in Naples on her way home to be decommed. Word got out that the Moskva had “declared” the Bosporous. Then the mad scramble began. They welded the spook van to the helo deck in Naples and then she steamed to Venice to pick up the rest of us. Two guys from Edsall, Scotland, two guys from Rota, Spain, and me from London. The others boarded in Naples. I think there were a dozen of us all total. We bunked in the helo hanger. Crew didn’t like that because it was their gym and movie theater.
Come to think of it, it was early spring of ‘70. I remember it being cold. Rough seas the whole time. Needless to say, ship’s company was pretty much pissed at us the whole time.