ROBERT GARDNER -- The Verdict

A recent story in the Daily Pilot about the first U.S. Navy vessel to

visit Newport Harbor since 1946 dredged up memories of the great U.S.

Navy/U.S. Coast Guard confrontation of World War II in Newport Harbor.

Shortly after Pearl Harbor, the United States Coast Guard, which had

taken over Collins Island to use as its headquarters, had a brilliant

idea. It anchored a float in front of the King Gillette house at the

harbor entrance. From it they kept all pleasure boats inside the harbor,

allowed only fishing boats out, and secured the harbor from invasion by

Japanese forces.

Of course, the Japanese were a few thousand miles away at places like

Guadalcanal and Tarawa, but you couldn’t be too careful.

And so it was that one day a 30-foot cabin cruiser came into the

harbor. It was one of those pleasure boats the Navy was converting into

military vessels. Just how they were going to convert a 30-foot cabin

cruiser into a warship is somewhat of a mystery, but in those

semi-hysterical days following Pearl Harbor, people did strange things.

Anyway, this boat manned by a Navy ensign and two enlisted men sailed

right by the Coast Guard float without stopping. This enraged the Coast

Guard ensign in command of the float. He grabbed a runabout, which had

been commandeered by the Coast Guard, took two enlisted men and sailed in

pursuit of the cabin cruiser.

The Coast Guard ensign caught up with the cruiser at about the

Pavilion and ordered the Navy ensign to stop. However, the Navy man would

have no part of taking orders from the Coast Guard and continued to sail

on.

The Coast Guard ensign pulled his boat alongside the Navy boat and

roared in tones of which Capt. Horatio Hornblower would have been proud:

“Prepare to board!”

The Navy ensign responded in tones of which John Paul Jones would have

been proud: “Prepare to repel boarders!”

However, the four enlisted men would have no part of this foolishness.

They just stood there looking at each other, rolling their eyes and

giggling.

Finally, the two vessels arrived at the boat works where the Navy

ensign was to deliver his boat. The two enraged officers exchanged

identification information, each demanding of his commanding officer that

the other be court-martialed.

Of course, the commanding officers would have no part of such nonsense

and instead apologized to each other for the antics of his junior

officer.

End of the great confrontation, but it was rumored that the two

officers sent their respective ensigns to a Navy-held speck of coral west

of Hawaii called French Frigate Shoals, which was inhabited entirely by

Gooney birds.

* ROBERT GARDNER is a Corona del Mar resident and a former judge. His

column runs Tuesdays.