Aylwin (FF 1081) - Naval Cruise Book

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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

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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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