photo courtesy of Bill Doran, USS Tidewater 58-62

photo of a casting made by Bill Doran while he was stationed on the Tidewater. It is made from aluminum scrap, about 7" in diameter and, according to his wife, Beve, it was one of his prize possessions.

As Beve relates the story to us:

"Bill worked in the Tidewater Machine Shop, above the Mold Shop, and the guys would naturally get bored with routine work and have to get creative. The Machine Shop-ees would do the machining and the Mold Shop the pouring, and naturally there was always some extra and no one wanted to be guilty of wastefullness. Bill and his crewmates just saved money by accepting the extra. Being a Pack Rat, he couldn't refuse.

"Bill unearthed his treasure for a recent Tidewater reunion (you can read about it on his Reunion Website by clicking here) and had it hanging on my office door for everybody to see. Didn't think of putting it on the Web Page, till we saw the patch one of the guys sent in, so we had to share it with you and the rest of the Crew."

Now, you know Beve says she had to clean up this story up for publication!