The miseries of the Navy cruiser Port Royal will continue as an investigation proceeds into how it got hung up in shallow water for 3 1/2 days in the approach to Pearl Harbor, and as a trip is made back to drydock to fix things that were previously fixed during a recent maintenance period.

If misery loves company, Port Royal has some in negotiating the approach and harbor.

Adm. James Holloway III, in the book Aircraft Carriers at War, recalled a close call for the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Enterprise in 1966, and a grounding a year later.

In November 1966, the Enterprise was heading to the Gulf of Tonkin with a stop at Pearl en route. Instruction came from Harbor Entry Control to moor at the ammunition pier.

"This caused raised eyebrows among some Pacific Fleet officers, as no carrier larger than a Midway-class ship had been berthed at the ammunition pier because of the limited depth of water. ..." Holloway said.

To make matters worse, the civilian harbor pilot who had been brought on board "had whiskey breath that could stun an ox at 6 feet," the admiral said.

The ship's captain retained the conn, but Holloway said there also "were moments of concern" when the fathometer registered zero depth. The pilot, however, explained that was due to the soft bottom mud being stirred up, and that there was probably a foot of water beneath the keel.

The port stop went uneventfully, but Holloway said a year later, the Enterprise ran aground attempting to moor at the same ammunition pier.

On Christmas Eve 1967, meanwhile, the nuclear-powered submarine Guardfish was returning to Pearl Harbor at night after a special operations deployment.

According to www.guard fish.org, upon surfacing it was determined the bridge hatch was stuck shut, and one of two periscopes was inoperative.

Navigational fixes indicated that the ship was well to the right of the harbor entrance range having crossed the range from west to east.

"All of a sudden, there was the most terrible screeching and tearing sounds I had ever heard," crew member Lt. Eldon Peck said on the Web site. "The boat shuddered and bounced, then the noise subsided and we started to heel over to port. It seemed like it would never stop. For a few seconds, I thought we were going to roll over."

Everything checked out after the motion stopped. Peck recalled the commanding officer and "maneuvering" talking back and forth as efforts were made to back down off the reef.

"I think maneuvering was afraid for the 'plant' but the captain wanted Guardfish OFF THAT REEF!" Peck wrote.

Nothing worked.

"The rest is history. We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day out there and they got us free about noon the day after Christmas," Peck said.

According to the Web site, a missing locking key for the periscope bearing transmitter, a stuck bridge hatch, and an inoperative periscope did not directly cause the grounding.

"When the additional factors of haste, pre-occupation with details rather than keeping the big picture, inadequate communication between the navigator and the bridge, and inadequate preparations are added, a casualty is in the making," the Guardfish site relates.

Reach William Cole at wcole@honoluluadvertiser.com.