Austin (LPD 4) - Naval Cruise Book

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Valletta, Malta 74- 16 November The island of Malta was the AUSTIN ' S last port and a very appropriate last stop for many reasons. Our first port visit was the island of Rhodes, former home to the Knights of St. John. It just so happen that when the knights were forced to leave Rhodes by the Turks in 1522, they made the island of Malta their new home. Consequently, the town of Valletta looked very similar to Rhodes as Austin sailed into Grand Harbor, with the fortifi- cations looming above. The town of Valletta looked very different from Rhodes in that it ' s archi- tecture was distinctly Italian. Small wonder, since the Island is only .seventy miles from Sicily. The island was a feast for the eyes with the contrasting colors of the azure sky with the yellows and reds of the buildings. Malta has had a very interesting history, and has had a definite influence on western society. It was first settled by prehistoric people who left evidence of their existence with ruins very similar to Stonehenge. It was used by the Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans and every other seafaring nation in the Medi- terranean as a port of call and base of operations. It was even visited by Saint Paul before being brought to trial in Rome. Coincidentally, Saint Paul also visited Lindos on Rhodes and Perge Turkey too. The knights of St. John had a profound influence on the history of Malta. They founded the town of Valletta. Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor, gave them the island in 1530. The fee for the island was one falcon per year. Do any of you remember the movie The Maltese Falcon ? Malta became a colony of Britain, and suffered terrible damage during World War II. However, Churchill, and President Roosevelt met here to dis- cuss strategy in 1943 and 1945. The island gained it ' s full independence in the early seventies after which it allied itself with Libya and the Soviet Union. As result, U.S. Navy ships were not allowed to make port calls here until the end of the Cold War. Proudly, Austin has been one of the few U.S. Navy ships to visit with the normalization of relations. The people of Malta couldn ' t have been nicer or more interesting. Most people were at least bilingual and many were multilingual. The two domi- nant languages were Maltese and Italian, but quite a few spoke English. Having once been a British colony, many of the signs were English, so il made getting around a bree e. The shopping was great, as was the food. The tour of Valletta was very interesting and focused on the history and architec- ture. It ended with and hour-long multimedia show on Malta. Certainly, the only bad thing about Malta was AUSTIN left too soon. 28 U.S.S Austin

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Trhis sailor and marine salute after laying a I wreath on a World War II monument in (Constanta. This marked the end of a ceremony jneld on November 5th to commemorate the jRomanian soldiers who fell in battle during liWorld War II. u ' HJMp riini ' . QBmruutii L ▼ KT 1-1 A. . The Captain toasts the food service assistants and Jthe mess specialists for putting on a superb VIP |reception for Romanian Navy and Government Officials. h ommander Callas presents a framed jpy of the Declaration of Independence ■ one of the Romanian Admirals who .tended the VIP reception that was held 1 the upper vehicle deck of the USS USTIN. M li USS Austin 27

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Above: The USS AUSTIN LPD-4 moored in the Grand Harbor, Malta. Left: Grand Harbor in the early morning. Fort St. Elmo is in the center background Right: Fort St. Elmo guards Grand Harbor. Below: Fortifications outside the capital city of Valletta, Malta.