Aucilla (AO 56) - Naval Cruise Book

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' Sharkamijsman umulua Kara-hiaar n ISKENDERUN. It wasn ' t much, but it was home! To the Turks, that is. But to the crew of the Mighty A , Iskenderun, Turkey, meant another port in the Eastern Med. . .not much in the way of liberty, but another job to do. It was in places like this, when the job was to offload or lift fuel, that we saw the real significance of our mission. We only spent two days in Iskenderun and many considered that too long, if not just long enough. For some, though, there were tours. Many humorous memories were brought back to the States concerning the tours to Antioch. When it was first announced. . . A TOUR FOR FIFTY CENTS, including LUNCH ... the tickets sold like hot cakes. (Why, Howard was kept so busy that he hardly had time to get his pictures developed that day). The second day ' s tour tickets didn ' t go so fast, probably because those who stayed behind did not hear the glowing accounts of their shipmate ' s experiences. There was the fifty mile bus ride. . .the guide who couldn ' t speak English . . .the warm beer. . .and for Klusak, at least, a brush with adventure in the form of a crawling reptile. . .but then again, who else but Big Klu could have found the tour so lively? However, we did get to see the oldest Church in the world and for the shutter bugs among us (and who wasn ' t?) it was a real treat. On the work side, it seems we went to special sea and anchor detail more times in the harbor at Iskenderun than we ever did in sunny Spain. Our products were so valuable to the Turks that they wouldn ' t let us go. Between the Socony Company and the Turkish Navy, we really kept hopping. However, in two days w e had worked hard enough and long enough to get underway. . .and were we glad I After all, the next port was none other than SUDA BAY. 30 29 24 22 26 32 34 24 i 29 ' ' - . ' 4,J ' Ofc«( ' -«i939)P. ! 30 33 27 28 25 •Guruahli Ka Fleet Landing 39

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ai.- Akra Lardhoe s K6lpott Apolakhidg ■WSteJCj.-;, ' - -. to -I Big Wheels RHODES. In the year 224B.C., the mighty Colossus of Rhodes came tumbling down, never to be for- gotten by the people of this ancient isle. In the year 1956, the mighty AUCILLA visited the Grecian city and added another landmark to the history of Rhodes. Rhodes, the tiny island in the Aegean Sea, was to our crew a tourista paradise. Tours galore were held from Rhodes. . .foremost of which was the one to LINDOS, the ancient city of ruins. It turned out to be a shutter-bug ' s paradise for everyone from the Captain on down. Then again, there were the ball games in the form of beer parties (or is it beer parties in the form of ball games?) that were held by the Supply Division. In reality, we hit Rhodes twice. Once for a ren- dezvous with the fleet where the only man who got ashore was our mailman, which was good enough for us, considering he brought back some of that infrequent, but most valuable, cargo. But, the sec- ond trip was well worth it. Everyone got into the liberty act. In addition to being a place in which to see some of the most famous ruins in the world, Rhodes was noted to the AO-56 for its beaches and beer. (What was the name of that Greek stuff? It was pretty good.) The island itself we found breathtakingly beauti- ful as did the hundreds of tourists who were also enjoying the balmy climate of Rhodes with us. It was fun to rent a bicycle and pedal around the city, taking in such sights as the ancient windmills which lined the water, and the beautiful gardens which were everywhere. It seemed good to sink our teeth into American- style hot dogs and ham- burg at the USO, and few of us passed up this chance. When we weighed anchor at Rhodes, we left behind one of our most enjoyable liberty ports and we hoped we would return soon. 38

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TRIPOLI. PROCEED ARRIVE TRIPOLI X OFFLOAD 20M BBLS. ... And so wl- went... and went... and went. Yes, the same Tripoli immortalized in song. One of the leading cities of the Arab world held a strange fascination for the men of the ALICILLA. It has a P.X. Count- less hours were sp)ent by crew members at the Wheelus Ex- change. After all, how often did we get near the closest thing to the corner drug store? Four times AUCILLA journeyed to Iripoli to deliver AVGAS to the Air Force, and four times we got the job done, despite the odds. And who will ever forget the odds? Tying up at Wheelus was one job that stumped the most expert of Boatswain Mates. Every line aboard was used in the process, but sooner or later (much later) we pumped. No, there were no tours of Tripoli, but in some ways it will be remembered as well as Barcelona. National Bank of Libya 38 V % 66 82 73 64 39 5 94 77 70 33 1 32 I, »?4 (cons Yacht Club 3? 53 c , VGasr knu