I don't often get the chance to use that expression anymore but it seems appropriate. The PCU Cleveland which will be commissioned USS Cleveland, arrived in port on May 9th while we were in Pittsburgh and it will remain here for commissioning on 16 May, 2026 so today we decided to see if we could invite ourselves aboard for a tour. They were very obliging. It was kind of impressive in the way that I found warships in the Royal Navy to be impressive. It was spotless. It is brand new but the ship was absolutely pristine.
There is a guy over there now scratching his head and wondering where his drill is. I know. That was about the only thing out of place in a tour that lasted over 30 minutes and took in the flight deck, hangar, bow and pilothouse. It is true that they have different names for everything but we know what they really are.
I was really impressed by the crew who were all bright, cheerful and pleasant. At the Entry Control Point I asked one of the ship's Chief Petty Officers if he would hold onto my pocket knife and he was more than happy to. It turns out that they also were more than willing to store things like that at the actual scanner so nobody lost anything they might have had in their pockets. I cannot tell you how rare that is.
It was a very interesting and pleasant way to spend a couple of hours on a beautiful sunny afternoon and it has been a long time since I stood on the deck of a USN ship. I found it interesting in retrospect that while standing on the bow I unconsciously stepped into the wind shadow of the gun mount and noted too that the ship, despite the 40 knot winds we had yesterday, is singled up at the pier.
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| PCU CLEVELAND as it prepares for commissioning in Cleveland |
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