Chapter 22

Exercises were a common part of day to day life at Norfolk. Traeger quickly got used to the idea that at a moments notice she could be called upon to escort a carrier either entering or departing the base. As a destroyer, it was all part of the job. Today she was escorting Nimitz. The navy’s eldest carrier was a fraction Ford’s size but she was very friendly, always conversing with her escorts. Today those escorts consisted of three destroyers and one cruiser. Arleigh, as the most senior escort led. Followed by the elderly Perry, Sammy B’s eldest sister who was just off Nimitz’s port bow. On the carrier’s starboard was Cole, almost identical in looks to Traeger who wisely avoided commenting on the scars along her starboard side.