Probe the Ocean, Plow the Sea: A Destroyer Sailor’s Vietnam Era Odyssey

by Paul W. Jewell

“Probe the Ocean, Plow the Sea” chronicles, in prolific detail, the enlisted tour of duty of a destroyer sailor in the western Pacific during the Vietnam era. Naval memoirs tend to be written by senior commissioned officers or well-known biographers. Far less common is the view from the bottom looking up by junior enlisted sailors, particularly those who served in less glamorous surface ships such as destroyers. The lack of detailed U.S. Navy surface ship narratives is particularly chronic for the Vietnam War where if naval forces are acknowledged at all it is generally the role played by naval aviation. Particularly overlooked is the important role cruisers and destroyers played in “Linebacker”, the final combat operations off North Vietnam in 1972. Author Paul Jewell joined the USS Richard B. Anderson in the closing phase of Linebacker and remained with the ship until 1974. Whether conducting combat operations at the close of the Vietnam War, suffering through prolonged yard periods, or gathering intelligence off the Korean peninsula, the ships of Destroyer Squadron 15 homeported in Japan were the point of the spear for U.S. foreign policy in half the world’s ocean. This memoir chronicles that history during the early years of the Anderson and other DESRON 15 ships forward deployment as seen through the eyes of an enlisted sonar technician.

261 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 12, 2018

Reviews

[Corto · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting account of the author’s service as a sonar technician on a destroyer during the last years of the Vietnam War.

I read a lot of these memoirs, and this one I can commend for clear, concise prose and good structure. “Probe the Ocean” is not a soulless book. The author is a good observer of nuance, and captures the interrelations of his shipmates and officers, as well as the tribal atmosphere aboard his ship and the counterintuitive bureaucratic absurdity of Navy life. Jewell also provides a great amount of detail regarding the technology, strategy, and context of what destroyers did on the gunline during the Easter Offensive in 1972.

Of special interest to me we’re his observations on race relations in the tumultuous period after the Kitty Hawk mutiny.

Highly recommended if you’re interested in a slice of life from a destroyerman’s perspective, as well as a good accounting of naval operations in the Western Pacific of the early 1970’s.

[Kendra · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway and was so excited to get it! My uncle was in the Vietnam war but never talks about it except to say that "no one came out of that war." I often wished there were more people out there involved that would share their stories. Paul W. Jewell does so in a conversational tone so it does not read as a textbook (which makes my mind wander and I don't remember a word of what I read) so that's a big plus for me!

Mr. Jewell was matched to the draft lottery in the summer of 1971 but he wanted to stay in college so took ROTC. His rural high school didn't prepare him for a southern California college and he didn't enjoy ROTC. He became disillusioned with USC life and his major of engineering. A recruiter suggested he try to join up as a surface ship sonar technician (which he did).

There are details included about what he learned in boot camp and their actual purpose, (ie. recruits with serious mental problems are identified and removed before going into active duty, to demonstrate that individuals can function as part of a team, and that simple instructions could be mastered and repeated over and over-emphasis was to master tasks and do them efficiently with minimal mistakes).

In sonar school, Mr. Jewell did extra studying and became 3rd in his class. As a result, he got his pick of assignments which was the USS Richard B. Anderson.

I enjoyed this book because military lingo was used, but explained as he went along which taught me a lot, but also as I mentioned before, the conversational tone used. Another thing I enjoyed reading about was new technology that was developed during the war and how it was used. Very cool!

After details of boot camp/training, the rest of the book was about day to day operations with odd things casually mentioned such as when the anchor punched a hole in the hull, or the ceremony every time they crossed the equator with someone who had never done it. A few of my favorite unusual circumstances include learning about the underway replenishment (UNREP) procedures, the time they flooded their own motor whale boat, and ricocheting bullets when procedures weren't followed precisely. I enjoyed reading about the friends he made, the chain of command and how it worked (and when it didn't!) and his thoughts and feelings throughout. I recommend for anyone wanting to learn about the war from a standpoint of someone not in the jungle, getting shot at, or any other high stress situations. There are not a lot of politics in this book, and though it is not as exciting as reading about a marine sniper's brush with death, it gives a realistic portrayal of a sonar technician in the Navy. Thank you for your story, Mr. Jewell.

[Ervin Vice · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an interesting look at a rarely illuminated corner of American military history: the enlisted sailor’s experience in the last, anticlimactic days of the Vietnam War and the draft. Learning about shipboard routine on a small destroyer off the coast of North Vietnam during Operation Linebacker was fascinating. I compare his story with my own time in the service over a decade later. A lot had changed - for the better. When it was all over, Jewell knew that the one thing he would miss about the Navy were the people he met and the friends he made. That seems to be a common theme in the enlisted military memoirs I have read. It was certainly how I felt when I re-entered civilian life. This book rings true and hits home.

[Kathy Fritschi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vietnam blue

A realistic description of an Vietnam era destroyer’s tour of duty by a sailor who’s not very sympathetic about the war, having enlisted in the Navy to avoid the draft.

[Military Writers Society of America (MWSA)]

MWSA Review

Probe the Ocean, Plow the Sea is a memoir that captures a time in our nation's military history through a personal telling of the author's own experiences. Not many people know much about our Navy's destroyers, let alone what it was like to be on a crew of one during the Vietnam War era. This is a very personal telling, through a well-written memoir, by a USN enlisted man, who was assigned on board one of those ships.

It was a time that our younger generations may never fully understand, nor appreciate the impact those times had on so many young men's lives in this nation. The author brings home to the reader some clarity, by sharing his own personal accounts of what his life was about and how he handled it all.

He also shares some insights on his unit's involvement and role in naval history for the closing months of the Vietnam War.

This should be a must-read for USN veterans and, I think, the greater audience of readers of military genre. I enjoyed reading Paul Jewel's memoir. I now feel like I know him personally. 

Review by Bill McDonald (July 2019)

[Richard Marcott · Rating 4 out of 5]

"May you live in interesting times." That purported ancient Chinese expression could describe Paul Jewell’s two-year stint of active duty in the U.S. Navy. In this well written narrative of his two years of active duty, 1971-74, you’ll find the irony of the expression. Is it a blessing or a curse? Clearly, we benefit from Jewell’s disciplined habit of making frequent detailed journal entries, as well as his mother’s resolve to preserve them.
His boot camp experience is spot on. I was involved in Coast Guard boot camp reforms during the same period when the national psyche was shaken every day by news of the war, protests, draft, hippies, and rock music. Then we had CNO Adm. Zumwalt’s infamous “Z-Grams” to guide the Navy into a less restricting, more human relations-oriented environment. These were good times and bad––all interesting.
Jewell left his relatively uncomplicated youth behind in Idaho to attend college, until his low draft number caught up with him. Like others, who wanted to maintain some control of their life, he enlisted in the service of his choice.
Following his informative detailed account of boot camp, Jewell indeed takes you on a Vietnam Era Odyssey. As a sonar technician, he’ll take you from the destroyer Richard B. Anderson’s home port in Japan to the gun line off the Vietnam coast and the grueling pace of wartime action. He takes you to liberty ports, good and bad, and shares the frustrations of an extended shipyard maintenance period. You will meet his friends, other shipmates, his superior officers and petty officers. All through the eyes of a young sonar technician whose life experience had never strayed far beyond Idaho.
His book is an engrossing and informative read. I encourage everybody to take the journey.