I don't know about the subsequent crews but on the first one we had a 3rd class named Richard Blaisdell (sp?). Now this man knew how to cook, bake, and lay out a buffet. He wasn't just Navy trained this fellow was chef trained. He could bake better than my mother! No such thing as scalded beef on his boat, no sireee. I fondly remember cooked to order breakfast (egg wise) and those cinnamon rolls! I sure hope he made it onward to further his culinary talents!--besides that he was a hellava guy--Dan

I used to stop and watch him decorate cakes sometimes when I was roaming through the ship on sounding and security watch. He did some pretty impressive stuff.
He told me once his goal was to become a chef in the White House.
He's also the guy that drew the cartoons in the Cochrane's first cruise book.
When Cochrane was new, the chow was so good it was worth staying aboard to eat before you left on liberty. I don't remember when Blaisdell left the ship, but I thought the chow got pretty bad the last couple of years I was aboard.


Hmmm. I just looked through the credits in the cruise book and it lists Schwab as the artist. I could have sworn it was Blaisdell. His cartoons he used to post in the chow hall sure looked like the same style.

Before I was able to taste meals aboard the Cochrane,
I was able to spend 5 weeks eating at what I believe
was claimed to be one of the best Naval Eating Facilities
on the Island of Guam. I remember one time they served
Lobster .... it was so hot and humid there. I would
walk out of the shower ... dress ... and be perspiring
big time before getting to the mess hall which was less
than 100 yards away. Once I got aboard Cochrane and saw
how tiny and cramped the living quarters were, I volunteered
to stay off shore until just before Cochrane departed for
Midway (4 hours) and then onto Pearl.

I remember while in port .... we had shrimp nearly every Friday.
We had a lot of cooks from one ethnic background ... and it was rice, rice, rice, rice, rice until we complained.

What I found was amazing .... was that when we had a division picnic and they gave us the food to prepare .... how much better it tasted.

I also remember those import loading parties .... (forget the name),
we'd carry one box nearly 100 yards up onto the focle ... open it up and just mmmm marvel at biting into a Fresh Orange or Apple from California.

I remember spending a lot of time working on the salt water to fresh water heat exchanger .... that indoctrinated me in to the smell of the refer decks .... from that point forward ... I wouldn't drink the milk or eat the muffins as they always had that refer deck smell.

And the pop machine .... the flavor next to the button would show "Pepsi" ... and the guy loading would say it was "cold" .... I would put my quarter in, press the button and get a warm nehi ... and simply just turn around and hand it to the fellow behind me, giving it away as I walked away.