Midwatch

USS Blakeley
May 19, 1919
3:05 a.m.

Dear Mother,

You are right -- it's not time to be writing letters, but I have the midwatch on the bridge [Ed. note: midnight to 4 a.m. watch. Those assigned to midwatch are allowed to sleep late]. Have just finished writing the 3 o'clock log so have just one more hour to stand before turning in again. It's sure tough to go to bed at ten, and have to get up at twelve and stay up for four hours. However, we have an electric toaster up here, and the galley keeps their bread and butter so we can get it, so I made toast and am now so full I can't eat any breakfast I know.

We played ball again today and Ensign Boone pitched for us. We won 8 - 5. That fellow Boone is certainly one fine fellow to be with. I almost forget he's an officer when he's not all dolled up. The reason for his being so much like he is, is because he was a gob for six months before he got his commission. He says he had more fun the half-year he was a gob than the year he's been an ensign. He came from Baltimore and went to school at Princeton -- was catcher for their baseball team and made All-American halfback while with them. Every officer except the skipper and one ensign are from below the Mason-Dixon line, and over 3/4 of the enlisted men. Mr. DeTreville, executive or second officer in command, is from Houston originally.

Today (I mean yesterday) started out rainy but along toward noon it cleared up, and we had a pretty warm afternoon. We go out of the harbor tomorrow and may not be back til Tuesday night. But we stay in Wednesday again. Haven't heard in a couple of days now. Will try to give this to the mail orderly before we shove off tomorrow -- we don't leave til 9:30.

Mr. DeTreville called Thom (the other fellow who went through listeners school) down today, and told him that he was going to try to get a relief for him from the station here, and let Thom be released from the service. Thomas has a good dependent's claim, and his mother had their congressman write for her. I ought to be out by the middle of July myself. I saw in the paper last night that all DOW [Ed note: department of war?] reserves were going to be out by then if possible.

We are on the reserve list to go across and would have been across if it hadn't been for putting on these listening devices. We must be in N.Y. the 15th of June for a review, and Newport the 1st of July, so am sure we won't go across til then anyway. The ship that was put into commission just before we were is already across -- is stationed along the route of the Navy seaplanes that flew across the other day.

Will knock off and do a little looking around -- someone might have been trying to signal us on blinker for 30 minutes.

Love,
Heywood

(Postmarked New London, Connecticut, May 19, 1919)