Joe (Joel) Hilpert RM2, a shipmate of mine, was aboard Lipan from 1967 to 1970.

	Lipan circa 1967.
	Lookout's view aft from the flying bridge.
	Mates resting in the sun on the forecastle.
	Special Sea Detail as we pull into Subic Bay in the Philippines.  December 1967.
	Pulling into Subic Dec 67.
	Heading for the pier in Subic past the USS Ponchatoula AO 148,  a ship we'd see frequently in the Tonkin Gulf.
	Nice shot of the main 3" 50 cal gunmount from above.
	Armed bow watch in Danang, Vietnam.  While anchored we rigged lights over the side and posted guards along the main deck with rifles to repel swimmers with explosives.  Dark, scary, and we were lit up like a Christmas Tree.
	A couple of tows hauled in close.
	A shot looking aft along the ten-ton boom lines.
	Rich Tetrault BM2 sending semaphore from the forecastle.  Jim Ventura RM3 behind him.  A dozen or more of us all learned semaphore real well and would send messages constantly.  We learned to send it "up close", with subtle hand flickers, when we wanted to talk confidentially amongst others who couldn't read semaphore.  We called it "Short Hand".
	Excellent shot of Lipan's Bridge.
	Homecoming, with the traditional Hawaiian Lei looped around the bullnose on the bow.
	Skipper Chandler on the port bridge wing as we maneuver.
	Thumbs up from one of two Austrailian Explosive Ordnance Expert Divers who accompanied us on our weeks long search for a downed P3A Orion aircraft just off Vietnam.  They covered Lipan with little red painted kangaroos during their stay aboard.  Ron Lahey BM3 at the helm.  John Wilson SN in white hat near the bow while diver BM2 Bob Carroll stows something behind him.
	This the gunboat that brought the Australians out to us off Vietnam.
	USS Conflict a Mine Sweeper (MSO).  The Conflict worked with Lipan in the hunt for the downed P3A Orion aircraft off Vietnam.  We'd anchor.  The Conflict would circle us with its bottom reading sonar working and when it found something we'd use the ship's boat to take the divers over for a look.  We did a lot of Red Snapper fishing in the offtime, catching enough to feed the entire crew some days.
	USS Conflict MSO 426.
	We Anchor near the USS Krishna ARL38 in An Thoi Vietnam circa 1968.  Krishna was a converted LST that was used as a base/repair ship for riverboats in The Mobile Riverine Forces.  Krishna suffered some horrible Vietcong attacks including a 20x20 hole from a sapper attack in 1970.
	Lt. Lawrence Lipan's Executive Officer on the forecastle while we lie achored off An Thoi Vietnam.  An Thoi was a military penal colony and much of the surrounding area was "unsecured" and we armed ourselves on boat trips into shore.
	USS Tanner AGS 15 in An Thoi Vietnam as we depart.  We moved from anchoring and tied alongside her for a week or so .  The APL Barracks ship tied at the pier adjacent to us came under smallarms fire in the middle of the night and EVERYBODY went to GQ.
	We were ready in An Thoi.  L to R Headlee Daniels RM3 with the 45, Rich Tetrault BM2 on the 50 Cal machine gun, and Gabe King ET2 with the M1.
	L to R Rich Tetrault BM2 with 45, Gabe King ET2, and Fred (Stoney) Johnstone RD3.  Loved those sea-going outfits.   Few of us wore regular Navy clothes out to sea.
	Joe Hilpert RM2 shoots Headlee Daniels RM3 who shoots  Bill Koons SN who observes through binoculars.
	Coming alongside the USS Hitchiti ATF 103.
	Tonkin Gulf Vietnam.  USS Ponchatoula AO 148 and USS Kittyhawk CV 63 conducting underway replenishment exercises nearby.
	Soviet intelligence gathering trawler Gidrofon.  We shadowed her and her sister ships for months off Vietnam trying to prevent the intelligence gathering electronically and physically.  Here Gidrofon skirts after an Aircraft Carrier while we give chase to prevent her.
	Gidrofon suddenly shifts to reverse and as Lipan's momentum carries us past her she slips astern of us to try to pass us on our other side to get to the approaching Aircraft Carrier Battle Group.  A maneuver she used often to no avail.
	Ensign Zuniga on the Forecastle.  Mr. Zuniga started his career aboard Lipan and had become XO sometime after Joe had left.
	Remote controlled high speed gunnery target Firefish launched from Lipan.  Once its motor was started it took off, out of sight, out of control and the DLG that was to shoot at it had to give chase at Flank Speed.   The DLG couldn't catch it but kept it on radar until Firefish ran out of gas and we chugged along hours later for retrieval.
	US Naval Station Adak Alaska patch.  The Birthplace of the Winds.  Adak was an air base, a deep water navy port, and a  DEW line (Distant Early Warning) radar post.  Atop MT Moffet there were HUGE geodesic white domes that housed the White Alice radars used to track incoming ICBM's over the north pole from the Soviet Union.
	Party with the Atomic Energy Commission at Adak.  L to R is Trepanier SF3,  Mel Israel SK2 or Bill Buckner FN with beard Rich Tetrault BM2 and one of the AEC guys in civilian clothes.  Sitting is me, Joe Hilpert RM2.
	USS Molala ATF 106 which broke down near Midway Island and Lipan went to her rescue and towed her first to Pearl Harbor and then on a month-long round-trip to San Diego California.  In the midst of it all we had quite a fire in the Motor Room which was quickly extinguished but the sky was filled with smoke from the stack aft.
	A set of Plans for an ATF.
	A great teeny tiny small scale USS Lipan built by Joe Hilpert.  The whole thing is about six inches long.
	Top view of Joe's mini-Lipan showing its scale.  Joe built it with the aid of a buddy who had some other ships.
	Nice profile view of Joe's model.
	Close up showing the intricate detail.  Note the railing on the gunmount, the portholes, the yellow gasoline rack, the wood bullrails on the forecastle.  And all this one a ship under six inches!
	Joe Hilpert RM2 at the helm . . . wishing he could have been a Boatswainmate.
	Joe as he looks today, doing his best to control the fish population in Minnesota.
	Headlee Daniels RM3 and Paul Coverdale PN2 on the mess decks.  Coverdale, in his initial enlistment, became a career sailor.
	Paul Silman SM2.  Looks like the deck of the Chart room.  Looks like he's trying to fly.
	Fred (Stoney) Johnstone RD2.  We all wore these self-made "DILLIGAF" shirts, which was an acronym for "Do I Look Like I give a Farthing". (wink wink)
	Joe in his uniform of the day.  Hmm, white polo shirt, blue shorts, white sox.  Looks OK to me.
	Looks like "Speedy" Gonzales FN on the lowerleft and Bill McKelly RD2 next to him looking up.  Unkown in the white hat.
	Paul Coverdale PN2.  Paul handled all our ship's paper work, got the mail, sometimes the movies.  He put in long hours.
	Joe with the island of "Little Sitkin" in the background in the Aleutians circa 1969.  Did this guy own a uniform?
	Joe with LT(jg) "Jim" Brewington.  Jim hated formalities so we called him Mr. "B" and he hung around with the enlisted guys more than anybody else.  A gem of a guy.   Circa 1969
	Joe and Lucy circa 1967.  Joe went by his full name "Joel" back then and has since gotten lazy and dropped the "L".  "Lucy" was Leslie Sutton GMSN and he was a big happy teddy bear guy.
	Paul Coverdale YN2 at the mercy of Rich Tetrault BM2.
	Even Joe names this pic "Uniform of the day."
	L to R Chuck West SM3 in white hat, Leslie "Lucy" Sutton GMSN looking up in dungaree shirt and a civilian AEC guy in the brown shirt.  Somewhere in the Aleutians 1969.
	Fred Johnstone RD2 and Paul Coverdale PN2.
	Cold?