Ok, The fact is: I don’t know if the end of this story is true but the salient facts of the story are true. The Desron 24 squadron went to sea for the purpose of doing gunnery exercises at a surface target. We soon met an ocean going tug that was towing a sled behind it. I think the sled was supposed to be 1000 yards behind the tug but I’m not sure it was that close to the tug. The squadron formed up in a line led by the flagship USS Blandy. The idea was that each ship would take a turn firing at the sled. I think we were supposed to put in a deliberate spot deflection so that the sled would not be hit and destroyed. It was however delightful when it was actually hit. Anyhow, the Blandy fired first and the first salvo hit the tugs bow with a piece of shrapnel, it seems they had some sort of a fire control problem! The tugs captain was not amused! He immediately left the range and returned to port. When the squadron returned to Newport the tug had been tied up at the front between pier one and two, so that everyone on the destroyers could see the damage on the tugs bow and, I assume, be totally ashamed of our collective poor performance. Some time after this incident the Blandy was awarded the Battle efficiency “E” for gunnery. The explanation was that they had been the only ship to fire that day! After all it was the flagship! David Fickle FT2 58-60