Veterans Voice: David Duff

Before retiring in 2003, David had visited 35 foreign countries and 48 of the 50 states.

Cameron High School graduate David Duff joined the U.S. Navy in October of 1966. He and other recruits left Kansas City by train for a two and a half day trip to San Diego where they took basic training.

Addition training took place at Great Lakes Naval Station where he initially took a 15 week course to learn basic diesel engines and the shipboard equipment which  goes along with those engines. His title was “Engineman” which equates to a diesel mechanic.

He was then assigned to “Engineman C School” where training was focused on the Fairbanks Morise diesel engine for tugboats, a 2000 horsepower engine. However, he never made it to a tug boat. His orders were changed  and he was assigned to a mine sweeper.

He went to another “C” school in Charleston, S.C., where he trained on the Packard V-12 engine. This 600 horsepower engine was the main propulsion engine on a mine sweeper. There were 4 of these engines in the engine room. 

 A large number of his fellow graduates were sent to the West Coast and eventually went to Vietnam. David was assigned to be deployed off the East Coast and could be assigned to foreign ports. He was eventually sent to Scotland to serve on a submarine base.

Interestingly, in Scotland he was assigned to the USS Los Alamos. This was a floating “dry dock” in support of Submarine Squadron 14 which was a fleet of Polaris missile submarines and their support units.

The Los Alamos was about 500 feet long and 200 feet wide, and could “pick up” two submarines side by side for maintenance and repair. In operation, the floating drydock would flood its saltwater tanks and the dry dock would sink until only 2 long wing walls were above water. The submarine would move over the submerged dry dock which would empty its saltwater tanks and raise, lifting the sub out of the water.

The nuclear reactor on the sub would not work in a dry dock situation, so the dry dock engines would provide power for the sub. Most repairs on the subs would be on issues with the hull. Some had gashes in the pressure hull. One sub they picked up had run aground, causing extensive damage to the forward hull below the torpedo doors and had to be returned to the United States for repairs.

From Scotland David returned to the States at Charleston, and was finally assigned to a mine sweeper, the USS Skill, MSO 471. This was an ocean-going ship and the hull was made entirely of wood to avoid setting off magnetic mines. There were four Packard V-12 diesel engines I n the after engine room, and David was placed in charge of the engine room.

The USS Skill was just completing a 7-year yard overhaul when David reported for duty. The “yard overhaul” involved a lot of support items on the ship, including the plumbing. Unfortunately, the yardmen left a lot of things loose. The ship went on a “shake down” cruise to find problems. They left port with 4 engines and 1000 gallons of extra lubrication in storage. After 4 days they returned with a tug escort, one working engine, one propeller shaft, and completely out of lube oil.

Repair involved 24 hour work with two 12 hour shifts. David was in charge of the 7 pm shift, and they worked 7 days a week. They replaced 3 of the four engines, and one generator engine in the forward engine room. David says this repair shift was the hardest he had to work in his career.

After all four engines were operating properly, David had orders to report to IUWG II  in Little Creek, Virginia. IUWG II stood for Inshore Underwater Warfare Group II. This group rotated to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba to monitor ship movement. In Little Creek, David was in charge of a crew supporting officers in training. He also worked for the Commanding Officer as an engineer.

After leaving the military David went to college on the GI Bill and received both a BS and Master’s Degree from the University of Central Missouri.

Following a stint teaching Auto Mechanics at a Vo-Tech School, he went to work for J.I Case, an agricultural manufacturer in Racine, WI. After holding a number of positions, and after the merger of Case and IH moved to Marketing where he became the first marketing manager for seeding and tillage. After 20 years in Racine, David went to Fargo, ND, to become the product manager for Case IH Steiger 4WD tractors. During his time in Fargo, David was part of the development team on the four-trac ag tractor called the QuadTrac, a real innovation in the Agricultural industry.

Before retiring in 2003, David had visited 35 foreign countries and 48 of the 50 states. 

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