Baltimore (CA 68) - Naval Cruise Book

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1--iv--U--1 U l-lisTory repeaTs iTselT, The saying goes, and The hisTory oT The USS BalTimore has cerTainly borne ThaT saying ouT., BuilT in The BeThlehem S+eel Yards in Quincy, Massachu- seTTs, The BalTimore was compleTed on 28 July, l942, com- missioned in The SouTh BosTon Navy Yard, BosTon, Mass. in April I943, spenT a brieT shakedown and Training period in GuanTanamo Bay, Cuba, and sTeamed Through The Pana- ma Canal To The SouTh PaciTic, arriving in Time To Take parT in The push up The island chain ThaT evenTually landed The Japanese righT in Their own backyard, and Torced Their ul- TimaTe surrender. WiTh her warTime iob done and her crew Tired buT un- hurT Through almosT Three Tull years oT war aT sea, The BalTimore reTurned To The PugeT Sound Naval Shipyard aT BremerTon, WashingTon in July oT I946 To be decommis- sioned and become a member oT The PaciTi aT BremerTon . . , a parT oT The moThball TleeT. c FleeT Reserve BuT The world was noT yeT aT peace, as men had TerevenT ly hoped in I946, and iusT Tive years aTTer her relegaTion To inacTiviTy in The BremerTon reserve group, The USS BalTi- more wa a ' ll d ' s gain ca e upon To come alive and become a TighTing ship oT The UniTed STaTes Navy on The hi h s There were many weeks oT hard work by boTh yardciivorfgl d an crewmen, removing her cacoons, cleaning preserve- Tive Trom her machinery, and Tixing her rusTed and brok parTs, before she was again ready To Take her place in The TI T. O 28 N ee n ovember l95 I, under The command oT Cap- W W., Tain F, L. Tedder, wiTh Commander R. J. Baum as her execuTive oTTicer, she was recommissioned in The acTive U.S. Navy and assigned To The ATlanTic FleeT, her home porT-BosTon, where she was TirsT commissioned eighT years before. STeaming down The wesT coasT Trom BremerTon, she again Traversed The Panama Canal, reTracing The wake she had made eighT years earlier under much diTTerenT condi- Tions. l-ler TirsT sTop on The ATlanTic side oT The world was GuanTanamo Bay, Cuba, Tor a six week shakedown and Training period To sTarT her along The road To a reTurn To The baTTle eTTiciency ThaT had made her Tamous in The Pa- ciTic. STill Tollowing her wake oT eighT years, The BalTimore sTeamed up The easT coasT To her new home porT Tor a shorT yard period and To Till ouT her crew beTore leaving Tor her TirsT Tour oT duTy wiTh The UniTed STaTes SixTh FleeT in The lvlediTerranean, ln April l952, The BalTimore sTeamed ouT oT BosTon Har- bor enrouTe To GibralTar, B.C.C., her TirsT porT oT call in The lv1ediTerranean, where she relieved The USS PiTTsburgh and assumed her duTies as a heavy uniT oT The SixTh FleeT. AlThough SixTh FleeT duTy means a rigorous operaTing schedule, There was sTiII Time beTw.een IAA GQ Tuelin . T Q sTaTions, general drills, man overboard, Tield day, and re- provisioning aT sea To swim on The Bikini decoraTed beaches oi The liiviera, duck The Gimme cigareTTe, Joe, urchins O apes, bargain wiTh The merchanTs in The Grand Ba- V l -1

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U S S I E I III I II FIAGSHIP CRUISER DIVISION FUUR 1952-1953

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ff, fi zaar in lsTanbul, drink a real American milk shake in The Sugar Bowl in TriesTe, and Take The Padre's Tours To Paris, Rome, SwiTzerland, and The mounTains oT Rhodes. lT was in Th.e lvlediTerranean, in TaranTo, lTaly in Mid- AugusT ThaT The BalTimore wiTnessed her TirsT change oT command since recommissioning, when CapTain Gordon L. Caswell relieved CapTain Tedder. No maTTer how lovely are The damoiselles oT The Riviera, or how inTeresTing The sighTseeing in Venice, There's sTill no place like home , . .and when The Time came in Lisbon, in OcTober l952, Tor The USS Columbus To Take The BalTi- more's place in The SixTh l:l.eeT, The crew oT The BalTimore was more Than ready To welcome her. They did so in Tull comic dress, wiTh quarTerdeck anTics and a big show on The combined TanTails oT The Two ships ThaT nighT. Then home again To BosTon, To begin a shorT, well earned resT Tor her crew and a badly needed yard period Tor her- selT. ln ThaT one year's Time she had come Trom a barely TunTioning ship To a Tull, acTive combaTanT uniT oT The UniTed STaTes Navy, ready To do her parT and carry her Tull load in any mission she mighT be called upon To per- Torm. She and her crew have good reason To be proud oT The iob ThaT was done in ThaT TirsT year oT her new liTe, in upholding The sTandard and TradiTion ThaT is BalTimore , .. and Navy. Wow... for the full story of the second year of her new life, of new and greater gloris, and more of the repetition of history, you have only to turn the page and read on . . .