I travelled to Wellington to be a recipient of a New Years Honours award at Government House in 1978. In those days, you were only allowed two persons as guests, but as long as they were over 12 years old. I wanted to take my two daughters but they were too young. At the time I was one of the 5 CPORS’s in the RNZN who was all either separated or divorced at the time, so I was not going to bring my ex-wife along. In the end, I invited my father and a fellow PORS mate to this event.
In the afternoon after a few celebratory drinks in Wellington, I then had to travel to the Devonport Naval Base crypto office to collect two classified bags to take to Suva, Fiji that night for HMNZS Otago and USS Niagara Falls. Both ships were to participate shortly in a local exercise out of Auckland. I subsequently returned to Auckland from Suva on USS Niagara Falls as a communications liaison officer. This was a very rewarding experience, and gratitude was shown by their Commanding Officer on my final departure from the ship at Auckland.
Travelling to Nandi airport with my two sealed classified bags was another story, Auckland International Airport customs officers wanted to see in my bags. For obvious reasons, I refused to allow that to happen. I did have an official letter to cover all this, but I still got the third-degree questions from a Customs supervisor before I was allowed to proceed to my waiting AirNZ aircraft. My flight was the last flight to arrive at Nandi around midnight. I was to be met by a member of the NZ diplomatic staff from Suva. I arrived at a deserted Nandi Airport at around midnight with two classified bags in tow with no one to meet me and no transport to Suva. I managed to get hold of someone from the NZ High Commission to find out who was supposed to be coming to meet me. They told me they knew nothing about it and had virtually no interest to my predicament. I then made a collect call to the Duty Staff Officer in Auckland, told him of my situation. His response was to check-in at a local motel or hotel and “sleep with my bags”! I did, this, and the next day flew to Suva with my two bags. Fortunately, I did have my own credit card to pay for all of this, otherwise, I would have been sleeping on a park bench, and it is also a long walk to Suva from Nandi.
Finally, the next day, I arrived at Suva docks, proceeded to the USS Niagara Falls first, presented myself to their duty officer, then to their cryptographic officer who signed for their bag. It turned out he was also their Radioman Chief named Jerry Whitworth. This Chief was the perfect host, and I enjoyed buttered popcorn and movies every night en route to Auckland. I was allowed complete access to their radio room, however, I was instructed by Chief Whitmore not to look at anything that had “NOFORN” stamped on it. I also hosted him whilst his ship was in Auckland.
Later, after settling back in NZ to my role on the DDCEW staff, I had my “socks blown off”, when I learnt this Jerry Whitworth was a spy under the control and befriended by a Warrant Officer John Walker USN (now deceased) who was working as a spy for the Soviet Embassy in Washington. The spying efforts of American naval personnel John Walker and radioman Jerry Whitworth made the Soviet Union’s military chiefs aware of how far advanced American submarines were. Whitworth, who would later become a Navy senior chief radioman, agreed to help Walker gain access to highly classified communications data in 1973; and served aboard Niagara Falls after Walker retired from the Navy. Transfer to the staff of the Commander of the Amphibious Force, Atlantic Fleet had stopped Walker’s access to the data the Soviets wanted; but he recruited Whitworth to keep the data flowing – softening the idea of espionage by telling him the data would go to Israel, an ally of the United States. Later, when Whitworth realized the data was going to the Soviets instead of Israel, he nonetheless continued supplying Walker with information, until Whitworth’s retirement from the Navy in 1983. He was eventually arrested, found guilty and jailed for 365 years and eligible for parole after 60 years, when he will be 108 years of age. He was also fined $410,000. He is now a “resident” No. 78095-011 at Atwater USP, United States Prison until 15/03/2196.
I often wondered where the classified bag and its contents I gave Whitworth in Suva ended up? Thanks, John B for the post.
I was that PORS…good time was had by we two. I kept a good lookout at proceedings, knowing that in the not too distant future I would be doing what John was doing. The justification being if he could get a gong anyone could….seriously, it was an interesting day.
Did the Navy never learn not to let you two loose together?
Interesting dit John
I was that PORS…good time was had by we two. I kept a good lookout at proceedings, knowing that in the not too distant future I would be doing what John was doing. The justification being if he could get a gong anyone could….seriously, it was an interesting day.
Did the Navy never learn not to let you two loose together?
Interesting dit John
Further the above, an insight to the prison Whitworth is being held.
Refer: https://www.bop.gov/locations/institutions/atw/