It was supposed to be just a three month NORTHPAC Cruise to a base on the remote Aleutian Island of Adak.  It was early in 1969, maybe even late 1968, when we started out but things didn't quite turn out as expected.  We did our typical SAR Duty (Search And Rescue), visited some surrounding islands, but then we got stuck there for three additional months on a mind-blowing mission involving nukes.

Lipan's first cruise to the Aleutians took place during the winter season and we performed mostly SAR duty.  The Aleutians are clumped into smaller groups and we first headed for the Andreanoff Islands, comprised of Adak and Atka.  We worked out of the harbor on the Island of Adak, the site of a DEWline (Distant Early Warning) Radar base.  The huge radars were to give America its first warning of any imminent Soviet Ballistic Missile attack and sat atop Mount Moffet like huge multi-story white golf balls.  The white geodesic domes were actually protective covers for the radars but they gave them an almost surrealistic appearance. The only inhabitants of Adak were the military personnel attached there and a smattering of dependents.

There was no color in the Western Aleutians except for blends of black and white and because of that we couldn't see the islands when we first ventured north.  The fathometer indicated that we were very close to land and everybody on the bridge was trying to see this island as day broke.  We looked for quite some time before somebody finally figured out that the great big cloud in front of us.....wasn't a great big cloud.  Mother Nature had camouflaged it well and we were accustomed to Hawaii and the Western Pacific and landfall sure did look a heck of a lot different.

This is a photo of Lipan tied up at the pier in Adak.  We had to cover the gunmount to protect it from the elements and we removed the tarpaulin roof over the mount and the huge tarp that was our roof on the fantail.  This was foul weather country in the winter.  The seas were frequently fierce, storms sprung up out of nowhere, and the accompanying winds commonly whipped the chill factors well below zero.  The unbearable Main Engine heat that the Snipes had to deal with in warmer climates was now a coveted location.