Brumby (DE 1044) - Naval Cruise Book

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Food processing, oil refining, ship building, and printing are also thriving industries here. Tourism contributes a substantial amount to the nations' economy. We were enjoying our visit to Athens and look- ing forward to more liberty after Christmas, but a message was received selecting BRUMBY for special operations to begin on 26 December! BRUMBY was chosen because of her excellent material readiness. Preparations were made to get underway. On 26 December the ship left Piraeus for special operation. We only knew that we would be following the Russian fleet, present in the Med., especially the helicopter ship LENINGRAD 18445, Other Russian ships in the area included cruisers, DLG's, destroyers, and oceanographic vessels. The length of the mission was unknown. BRUMBY relieved the USS WILLIAM R. RUSH as the LENINGRAD's escort. We were excited about being so close to the Russians but the initial novelty soon gave way to monotony. Those long dHYS of 'failing the LENINGRAD proved plenty Of time for giving BRUMBY a good cleaning. The in- board passageways were painted, first division la- bored on the outside of the ship, and other routine maintenance was completed. On New Year's Eve, BRUMBY signalmell flashed a Happy New Year to the crew of the

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stand after stand of fresh meat, fish, and poultry. Leading southeastward from Omonoia Square are Venizelou and Stadiou Avenues. They are lined with hotels and shops for the many tourists that come to Athens. These avenues extend to Consti- tution Square where is located the Parliament building. To the northeast is Athens' highest hill called Lycabettus which is surrounded by a fash- ionable residential district called Kolonaki. Plaka to the west is the heart of the golf quarter. Its narrow cobblestone streets are lined with low, light-colored stucco buildings. There are many nightclubs and restaurants in this area. Within walking distance are the National Gardens, the Agora, the Acropolis, museums, and theaters. The New Cathedral of Athens is the church of the archbishop who presides over the Greek Orthodox church. A Byzantine church built inthe 13th century is called the Little Cathedral of Athens. Although Easter is the major religious holiday in Greece, the streets and stores of Athens were decorated for Christmas and they were filled with thousands of Christmas shoppers. The sidewalks were packed by the throngs of last-minute shoppers. The Athens area produces about two-thirds P of the nation's industrial output, with most of the heavy industry concentrated in Piraeus. Factories and mills manufacture textiles, clothing, chemicals , metal goods, building materials, and machinery.

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LENINGRAD. After a long wait, the Russians flashed a Thank you . Happy New Year to you, too. That was our first communication with the Russians. BRUMBY continued to follow the Russians. Most of the time was spent near Egypt, but we also followed them westward to Sardinia and eastward to Crete. We thought BRUMBY would rejoin the 6th Fleet when relieved by another destroyer. But old reliable was not relieved. Orders were given to dash to Augusta Bay, Sicily for fuel while U.S. Navy PC-3's took over tracking the LENIN- GRAD from the air. With a full load of fuel and some mail from home, BRUMBY was back on station in a few hours. We were going to learn a few more tricks about flexible scheduling in the future. . On 13 January, we pulled into the Grand Harbor of Valetta, Malta. We had steamed constantly for 19 days and some well-deserved liberty was ahead. We moored alongside the tender USS GRAND CANYON and other destroyers. Soon we were going ashore to explore this little island at the cross- roads of the Mediterranean. Malta consists of the islands of Malta, Gozo, Comino and a few islets. It is a former British protectorate and lies 60 miles south of Sicily and has long been an important strategic island because of its position in the center of the Mediterranean Mlswsgsgygyzsf NW' f , fsw X WX WSW if f f X f f sw f f is Wt X X Z sw X WNW' X 4 Q: sf Q, ,, A is Zsfysf 4-,wks 15 KAW w? C