Aylwin (FF 1081) - Naval Cruise Book

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VITAL STATISTICS Days in port 18 Days at sea 142 Days in Mideast 133 Total days deployed 160 Operated helo 268 hrs. 318 day landings 119 night landings Visited 5 Mideast ports Traveled over 34,000 miles Steamed the boilers over 2,900 hours Burned over 2,400,000 gallons fuel Distilled over 3,000,000 gallons water Generated 5,000 megawatts of electricity 100,000 meals served lcost S124,000l Consumed over: 5,000 dozen eggs 100,000 sodas 2,000 pounds tenderloin l,500 pounds steaks 1,000 pounds lobster 1,000 pounds bacon 3,000 pounds French fries 2,000 pounds pot roast Radio messages processed over 140,000 Radio messages sent 5,100 Class Easy messages sent 426 150 MARS calls made 438 miles of radio teletype paper used 4,160 malaria pills dispensed.

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-W fQ 5'WMi.- V'f ' 750+-M ff' M ' f ,r n f..w.':,z'1.f .:1- ,-,g,,f one could almost forget that her mission was not an ordinary one. The cleaning of decks, the polishing of brightwork, the scrubbing and waxing of living areas and passageways continued to occupy morning hours. Neverending painting never ended. Precisely at 4:30 each afternoon devotees of developed bodies grunted through voluntary exercises. Meals were served exactly at precisely appointed times and were consumed with unexceptional small talk seasoned with customary gripes. Nightly, after the chapIain's evening prayer, a silver screen was lowered for viewing HoIIywood's best - more often its most banal. Men worked, men read, men slept when they could, men argued, men seemed unworried. Yet here and there bits of gallows humor broke through the routine surface. No need to think of Iifeboatsg old bottomless Bill Bigbody ate all the rations out of them last week. Don't worry about those poisonous little green sea snakes, all you have to do is swim under them - for twenty-five miles. Me worried? No, my crotch always sweats heavily. An old mental device by which uneasy men cope with the unknown, their gallows humor evidenced the uncertainty beneath the routine surface. Uncertainty began to dissipate as a quick settlement in Iran became increasingly remote. It lessened even more as the time for scheduled departure drew nearer without any definite word that another frigate, the relief ship, would arrive in time to permit reaching Charleston before Christmas. Although the men continued to hope for official confirmation of a departure date, they, nevertheless, began mentally to brace themselves for an extension of the deployment. Still, they were not fully prepared for the disheartening announcement that delay of their relief meant that they would not be able to get home until January. ln minutes the hopes of months were shattered, for the rest of the day and night gloom prevailed. lt was true that the Iranian hostages were in worse circumstances, but no one could take comfort in the plight of fellow Americans. Overnight, though, there was a positive change. Men accepted the unpleasant certainty of Christmas away from home and did so without self-pity. Routine did not change, and on the surface shipboard life continued as before. But there had been a fundamental change, a deepdown reordering of priorities, a metamorphosis for which surety acted as catalyst. I cannot account for the speed and completeness of the mental adjustment a sailor makes when his role as a military man requires sacrifice, when duty supersedes personal desire. I cannot really explain it, but I am not sure a sailor can either. More than one man has remarked that his job, after all, is what he is paid for. I am sure that his explanation is a jesting oversimplificationg and I have no idea that he should endorse or perhaps even understand mine. Deep within the sailor there is a remarkable strength, a mystical strength, that is America itself, America at its best, ignoring - even if regretfully - self-satisfaction in favor of pursuing a common good. SAM MCCONNEL PACE INSTRUCTOR

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A ' A ' m M ' W .- USS AYLWIN QFF 1081, 0001-0400 1 JANUARY 1980 Twas last of days in '79 - with Aylwin crossing the foamy brine. Her sails, they are trimmed, she swells with pride, Has two-five-three mar'ners on for the ride Her skipper, he is, McCormick, J. T., a finer ol' salt there never would be. Master of weapons, from here to the moon - no one knew more than he of Harpoon. From Charleston, S.C., she sailed one day, for what was to be a five month stay. The fertile crescent, camels and sand - long since a realm of the Persian land. Once the cradle of civilization - now peopled by an anarchous nation. A blood thirsty lot, those ones in lran - did capture our Embassy in Tehran. Was that fateful day, November 4th, from whence from Bahrain we sailed forth. Freedom lovers, defenders of right - the Aylwin projected U.S. might. For thirty-five days in the Gulf she plied - out twenty six miles on the safer side. Through extended twice, it did matter not, for the situation was getting hot. There from the start, she wanted to see - the Persians let the hostages free. E'er vig'lant her crew, they grew not tired - and hoped that missiles would not be fired. Poor Iran would get a fight not that fair - with Captain JT and his Harpoons there. But lucky for them that she soon withdrew - having to replace her took Frigatesg two. Her sojourn over, she's homeward bound - after trav'Iing the world halfway round. OOD is Morrissey, Kevin - Randolph - Macon, seventy-seven. She's CTU twenty-point-four-point-two, returning across the Atlantic Blue. Coursing the waters at two-seven-one, seventeen knots the propellor is spun. She's 'tween Azores and Bermuda, you see - steaming 1B Boiler, 1SE. Bravo and Charlie are on the line - making 'Iectricity, doing fine. Yoke has been set, and so has darken ship - Condition Four's ready for this quick trip. The Sonar is passive, VDS dry. The Bird's in the barn and not in the sky, and so this New Year's morn' the crew dreams that Charleston draws nearer, so it seems. Whether they're met by grand marching bands, or fIow'ry speeches made from the stands - for all this glory and praise they don't care - as long as the ones who count most are there. Girlfriends or wives, neighbors, loved ones and friends - a great reunion - and this is the end. - Happy New Year! - ENS T. J. Dowding 75