News From Fort Schuyler

January 13, 2001 - Volume 5, No. 01

BUMPER CROP - The largest Winter graduation in recent history takes place on 18 January. Included in this record number will be 2 associate, 22 bachelor, and 39 masters degrees. Special well-done to TSES VI Captain JOSEPH AHLSTROM, Class of 1982, who will be awarded a masters degree "With Honors."

GAME TIME - Maritime's annual basketball "classic", Privateers v. King's Point, is at home this year. Tip off is 2 PM, Saturday, January 20 in the Riesenberg Gym. The current Plan of the Week notes, "Our team gave up most of their holiday break to stay sharp. Let's all delay our weekend until after the game and show up to cheer the team on." Alumni and Schuyler friends are always welcome. Plenty of seats available.

THAR HE BLOWS - That is the headline for an illustrated Navy Times feature on KIRBY STROSS, Class of 1977, which appeared on December 18. Kirby is a dedicated musician who always travels with his instrument. According to the article, "For two nights, Captain Kirby Stross strode past the local taverna on the Greek island of Syros. On the third night, the lure of the bar's musical stage proved too much for the captain of a special mission ship. He walked in and before you could say 'Zorba,' Stross landed a gig with the Syros Philharmonic Orchestra. Stross is not only the Master of the survey ship LITTLEHALES, which was in the Greek port for maintenance in November, he's also an avid saxophone player. 'I just asked if I could play with them, ' he said, 'I think they were surprised, but after a short time they welcomed me with open arms.' The band then invited Stross to perform live shows before large town audiences. Sporting a bright red uniform and cap, Stross played six gigs for the islanders. 'It was a great experience and I made a lot of friends,' said the Military Sealift Command skipper .... Now the alto sax is tucked away in his stateroom, but the skipper is looking forward to his next visit to Syros."

Thanks to ROD McFADDEN, Class of 1975, who faxed this article to NFFS. Rod also points out that "CAPT Stross, Master of the USNS LITTLEHALES is also CAPT Stross, USNS (Captain squared !) and owes ALL of his success to the expert guidance provided by his IDO's in the summer of '73."

HARKNESS HERE - This week, several days after the departure of the EMPIRE STATE VI for a tour of duty with Mass Maritime, another ship appeared alongside the pier at Fort Schuyler, the former surveying ship, USN Ship HARKNESS (AGS 32). According to ADM BROWN, HARKNESS "is provided to us by MARAD so that we can continue our basic cadet training in pierside ship security watchstanding and so the cadets continue to receive some sea time equivalency on the ship during the period EMPIRE STATE VI is on loan to Mass Maritime Academy. It will depart (to serve the same purpose at Mass Maritime until they get their replacement training ship) on February 28, the day before the TSES returns." The fact that the ship has Castine, ME on the stern as its homeport and the painted-over name STATE OF MAINE on the bow was explained by Commandant of Cadets ROBERT WEAVER, Class of 1969, who is Vice President for Vessel Operations and Student Affairs. He notes that this dead ship, provided by MARAD as a "stationary training platform.... was being converted for use as the training ship for Maine Maritime when a number of problems made it unuseable for that purpose."

SING FOR YOUR SUPPER - WALTER G. GRONBECK, Jr., the son of WALTER GRONBECK, Class of 1912, sent the college his carefully transcribed typescript of the diaries that his father kept aboard the Nautical School Training Ship NEWPORT in 1911 and 1912. The 1912 diary included a section, "Nautical Airs of the NEWPORT" with lyrics for a number of songs adapted by the "lads" for use aboard the ship. Here is a stanza from one, sung to the tune of "My Country 'Tis of Thee":

God save our graveyard stew
No other stew will do
But graveyard stew
Be careful what you take
And never fill your plate
Or you will get a belly-ache
From graveyard stew.

SEEING RED - The carpeting of Fort Schuyler continued into the new year. The most recently improved space is the Audio-Visual Lecture Room at the Luce Library where a bright, red carpet was rolled out.