Albany (CG 10) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 8 text:

, CRUISER-DESTROYER FLAG fpL0T1LLA TWELVE MMM REAR ADMIRAL ami LQROCQUE

Page 7 text:

E. Gentner, USN, Commander, Sixth Fleet, for an anti- submarine warfare demonstration. The ship returned to Norfolk, Virginia in late May for leave and upkeep. On 5 June Captain Ben B. Pickett, USN, was relieved as Commanding Officer by Captain Ernest F. Schreiter, USN, ALBANY then embarked on a two-week Caribbean cruise following a short stay in the yards. After the cruise, ALBANY participated in NATO operations. On 24 May, 1965, ALBANY left Norfolk tojoin the U. S. Sixth Fleet. During her tour of duty with the Sixth Fleet, ALBANY participated in four major exercises. While exer- cising in the Ionian Sea, ALBANY tracked an unidentified sonar contact for more than eight hours. When the contact was identified, ALBANY chalked up a first as the contact was a Soviet submarine .... the first Soviet submarine tracked to exhaustion and finally surfaced byaU. S. cruiser. During August, the deck department ofthe ship broke existing records by rigging a conventional Robb refueling rig in 58 seconds .... the first time the feat had been accomplished in less than one-minute, A week later, on August 12, they broke their own record by rigging a conventional Robb rig in 45-seconds. On 8 September, 1965, while ALBANY was visiting Istanbul, Turkey, Captain Jack L, Wohler, USN, relieved Captain E. F. Schreiter, USN, as the cruiser's Command- ing Officer. ALBANY returned to Norfolk on ll October 1965. After a short period of leave and u-pkeep, ALBANY scored a 94 per cent grade on her Naval Technical Pro- ficiency Inspection from the Nuclear Weapons Training Center, Atlantic Fleet. ALBANY returned to sea on 1 December for a two- week cruise in the Atlantic FleetWeapons Range. The year's operations ended on 16 December when ALBANY returned to Norfolk, Virginia. In late January 1966 ALBANY again returned to the Caribbean area to fire missiles on the missile range and participated in operation HIGH TIME the largest fleet exercise since World War II. On 4 March ALBANY left Norfolk for duty with the Sixth Fleet and the cruise which would add many varieties of duty and much glory to the crew of the Big A,

Page 9 text:

'r w' F Y 3 Cpl. Mink, Capt. Homer, Rear Admiral LaRocque, LTJG Webber, L!Cpl Parmelee The two star flag of Rear Admiral Gene R. LaRocque, United States Navy, has flown from the ALBANY after truck for the major- ity of this cruise. Admiral LaRocque as Com- mander Cruiser-Destroyer Flotilla Twelve has been commander of CTG 60.2 and direct- ed ALBANY's training and operations since ALBANY j oined 60 .2 after the bomb recovery operations at Palomares, Spain. Admiral LaRocque was a new Ensign aboard the U. S. S. MacDonough at Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941. After his immediate personal involve- ment in World War II, he remained in the Pacific and carried out the fight against the Japanese in eleven maj or naval engagements . Seeing all his wartime service aboard destroyers, Admiral LaRocque was awarded the Bronze Star Medal and the Navy Com- mendation Medal for action against the enemy. After World War II he continued his professional education at the General Line School, the Naval War College and the Industrial College of the Armed Forces. lnterspersed with this schooling he served on the staff of the Commander Train- ing Command, as a member of the staff at the Naval War College and in the office of Strategic Planning in the Office of Naval Operations and the staff of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He has also commanded three destroy- ers, a destroyer division, served as opera- tions officer of a destroyer Flotilla and was Chief of Staff to Commander Cruiser- Destroyer Flotilla Six. He was serving as Commanding Officer of the U. S. S. Providence QCLG-65 when selected for Rear Admiral, and upon his being promoted to that rank he assumed his present duties. The Admiral, Mrs. LaRocque, the former Sarah M. Fox of Seattle, Washington, and their three teen-age children live in Norfolk, Virginia.