![]() The ship went to different ports, including Casablanca in northern Morocco, usually for five to seven days before heading back to the States. Smedley said his ship, which maintained a lot of the same crew members for its 11 trips, docked at Londonderry five times and Liverpool or Gibraltar three times each. “We always felt a little safer,” Smedley said, “when we could see an airplane.” Smedley also recalled “the Black Pit,” stretches of days when the British couldn’t provide air cover and the potential for a rendezvous with U-boats ratcheted up a notch. My opinion was that we were killing the ship, the submarine, not the people aboard.” “We did throw quite a few depth charges (as a precaution), but we never picked up any debris or any bodies coming up (through the water). ![]() “I’m not positive we came across any (German) U-boats,” Smedley said. Smedley’s job was to give officers the range and the bearings from sound beams going out from the ship’s sonar - sonar that was manufactured by Sangamo Electric in Springfield - and coming back at about 2,000 feet per second. ![]() He would serve as a sonar operator - usually there were six operators, plus a chief working on the ship during the nearly two-week convoys-for all 11 of the round-trips. Originally a radio man, the Navy sent Smedley to sonar school in Key West, Florida. The guy in the lower bunk, you had to get him out so you could get in your locker. “The bunk rooms,” Smedley recalled, “were three high and below were three lockers where all your goods went in. One of the tests? Learning how to sleep on a narrow canvas hammock without rolling onto the floor. Smedley had once been turned away by the Navy because he told a recruiter he was “a sleepwalker.” On a second attempt to join, he found himself at the Great Lakes Naval Station in Chicago on the brink of his 18th birthday. “He gave up how much of his life (for his country)? But he was also a good citizen.” “I think he’s a hero,” countered Davis, of her father, in a separate interview at Smedley’s home in Ashland. I didn’t save anybody’s life or didn’t shoot anybody.” I just done my job like everybody else did. Please note that all new students are required to be vaccinated and for children we require that eligible family members be vaccinated.“There wasn’t any hero stuff. ![]() More Tai Chi opportunities will be coming and if you have a time you’d prefer please feel free to contact us and we will try to accommodate. The Monday session is focused toward the experienced and those comfortable with immersion learning. ![]() There is also an hour long group practice that meets outdoors at Grizzly Peak Winery every Monday at 10:15am. We offer a 30 minute session to help people launch their practice that meets Wednesday’s at 10:15 am. We have just restarted our Women’s Kickboxing program and have begun to meet on Monday thru Thursday at 5pm. Our Jiu Jitsu and Kids Jiu Jitsu classes are ongoing. Negotiating Covid protocol has been complex and I appreciate your patience. I apologize for our radio silence over the last several months as we have been slowly reopening. Hello All! First off thank you for your interest in joining our community. ![]()
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