The first four or five cruises I was on (30 days at a time and then seven days in port), we steamed out of Yokosuka or Sasebo directly into nasty weather bordering on typhoon conditions. Spray routinely came over the forecastle, and I remember being on watch once when we rolled so heavily that I thought she was going over!
Another romping good day in the Pacific.
And then there were days with no swell, no wind, and youʼd think you were on a Carnival cruise heading for Tahiti.
One night we were alerted to volcanic activity not far from our position near the Marianas Island chain. We steamed until near dawn and were treated to the sight of white-hot and glowing-red lava blowing up from the sea. We weren't able to get very close until after dawn, when we maneuvered to within a few miles of the newly surfaced volcanic cone. Steam is still rising from the crater in this shot.