Within the last couple of weeks, i recognized i had made an omission In my book, Steel Decks and Glass Ceilings. i stated i had only encountered four women in the Navy before reporting aboard USS Yosemite (AD 19) to relieved the executive officer. i missed one.

The first female officer i met during my career was LT Carolyn Prevatte, an unrestricted line officer. i mentioned her in my book. Carolyn came to the Texas A&M NROTC Unit about the same time as i took over as the Senior Naval Officer of the unit. Her primary job was to be the liaison and coordinator for women who had just been allowed to be in the Corps of Cadets. The Navy unit had only one female cadet but there were several more in the Army and Air Force Units. She, my wife Kathie, and i became fast friends.

In the book, i also mentioned an enlisted deck hand on a tugboat that was providing USS Anchorage (LSD 36) support while getting underway in San Diego. Then, i overheard two women officers discussing administrative business while sunning in swimsuits at the pool outside the Admiral Kidd Bachelor Officer’s Quarters (BOQ).

If you read the posts on this website frequently, you should know many of my posts are sea stories about my career in the Navy. My ultimate goal is to create a collection for my grandson, Samuel James Jewell Gander — a bit of a grandfather brag: Sam will graduate from McNeill High School ion Austin this May and has been accepted to the prestigious Savannah College for Arts and Design.

i have told sea stories about my previous ships and have posted several about my tour as Chief Engineer (CHENG) on the USS Hollister (DD 788). In a note listing topics for my sea stories, i found a line that read “I. M. Devine.” i recognized she was the woman i left out.

Lieutenant Junior Grade I. M. Devine was an Engineering Duty Officer assigned to the Long Beach Supervisor of Shipbuilding that ran ship’s overhauls in the Los Angeles area. The Hollister had entered the Todd Shipyard in Long Beach for its six-month Regular Overhaul. LTJG Devine had been assigned as the SUPSHIP coordinator. CHENG, aka me, was designated as the ship overhaul coordinator. i laughed when i heard the name of the SUPSHIPS coordinator. i thought they said her name was “I Am Divine.”

We entered the overhaul in September 1974. i almost met my goal. When i relieved as CHENG, i had assessed the ship’s condition after returning from an arduous deployment to Vietnam and subsequent becoming a ship for reserve training. i decided i would consider my tour successful if we made it to the ROH without missing an at-sea assignment. We were scheduled to off load our ammunition and ASROCs at Seal Beach when one of our main generators went out. We finally had it repaired and made it to the offload but we had missed the one scheduled underway period for my time as CHENG.

But going to sea on the Hollister was over for me. She would be in overhaul after i was relieved to report to my next tour in late February 1975.

LTJG Devine was red headed with a nice smile. She was not what i would call pretty, but she was trying to do her job and we got along well…until the overhaul period began.

The two main engine spaces and two firerooms needed major repairs to pumps and especially auxiliary steam piping. The shipyard workers were performing poorly and often blocked ships force from doing their work. i was not happy as the overhaul coordinator of the chief engineer.

i noted my frustration with LTJG Devine and asked her to check it out. I expressed my concerns in the regular meetings of the ship (the captain and me), the shipyard (their coordinator and upper management, and SUPSHIPS. After several weeks of no improvement, i asked the captain to meet with the head of SUPSHIPS, a captain. CDR George Phelps and I went to the Supervisor’s office where he and LTJG Devine waited for us.

George Phelps was old school Navy in that he was the commanding officer, the captain. He ran the ship and stayed out of the engineer’s business. It was much like the merchant marine in there were two fiefdoms on the ship: the engineer and his department and the captain with the rest of the ship. But he backed me to the fullest on every occasion. This was one.

Before we could state our concerns, the supervisor head pointedly stated he believed that i was prejudiced against women and was making false accusations. CDR Phelps gave me the okay to respond with a friendly poke of his elbow in my side.

i explained how the work in our engineering spaces was not on schedule and the shipyard workers had poor work habits or didn’t work at all. Then, i asked LTJG Devine if she had even been in the engineering spaces as i had requested. A good supervisor would have gone through all of the work on the ship several times a week. A really good supervisor would go through those areas every day.

LTJG Devine hesitated and the captain urged her to answer. She finally admitted she had not gone down into the engineering spaces at all. She was replaced the next day.

i felt sorry for Ms Devine. i still do. She had been thrust into a very tough job. i’m guessing no one explained the requirements for being a good SUPSHIPS coordinator, perhaps because she was a woman. i hoped then and i hope now, she came out of the experience okay.

Today, looking back on that incident and my XO tour on Yosemite, i think my complete agreement with CAPT Frank Boyle, my CO, that we didn’t have women on the ship; that we didn’t have men on the ship; we had sailors, and all would be treated equally was positively influenced my by experience on the Hollister.