Hue City (CG 66) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 78 text:

74 USS Hue Cuv (CG-66( 1 .. t T ' ii s ttM ■lii V « 4C jkmhLj Hr ' ' i l ■ 1 - S

Page 77 text:

Deployment 2002 73

Page 79 text:

ouda Bay, Crete m On July 18th, 2002, Hue City pulled into Souda Bay, Crete. The crew used the opportunity to resupply from the NSA ' s Navy Exchange and to take in the sights in the near-by town of Chania. A typical Mediterranean coastal town, Chania was full of outdoor restaurants serving fresh seafood and refreshing drinks. Crete is an island in the eastern Mediterranean that is one of 13 administrative regions of Greece. Crete is the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean and the largest of the islands forming part of modem Greece. It is relatively long and narrow, stretching for 160 miles on its east-west axis and varying in width from 7.5 to 37 miles. Crete ' s climate varies between temperate and subtropical, with an annual average precipitation of about 25 inches (640 mm) and hot. dry summers. Winter temperatures are relatively mild. Mountain air is temperate and cool, and the mountains are often covered with snow in the winter (November to May). The Cretan landscape is dominated by characteristic Mediten-anean scrub. Palm trees flourish on the east coast and in the north, with cedai ' s in the east as well. An array of plant species and flowers thrive in the moderate climate, many of them native to the island. Birds ai e abundant, and there are some wild animals. The population consists almost entirely of Cretans who speak Greek and belong to the Greek Orthodox church and who are concentrated in the cities on the northern coast and in the Mesara Plain. English. German, and French are also spoken. One-quarter of the island ' s population lives in kaklion. Since the 1970s, the population has been shifting from rural areas to the three main cities — Iraklion. Khania. and Rethimnon — where nearly half of the island ' s population now resides. Cretans are known for their hospitality and vitality, and much emphasis is placed on bonds between family members. A melting pot of cultures from Europe. Asia, and Africa, Crete is where the first European civilization — the Minoan — thrived. Minoan remains and sites are found at Knossos, Phaestus. and other locations throughout the island. A collection of most of the civilization ' s major artifacts at the Archaeological Museum in Iraklion and remnants of Hellenic, Roman. Byzantine, Venetian, and Turkish structures found everywhere are reminders of other periods of Crete ' s rich history. Crete played a supporting role in the revival of Greek civilization that began in the 9th century BC. and during Athens ' s heyday in the 5th century BC, Crete fascinated the Greeks as a source of myths, legends, and laws. By 67 BC the Romans appeared and completed their conquest of Crete by converting it into Cyrenaica. a province linked with North Africa. In AD 395 the island passed to Byzantium, and the Arabs gained control over parts of Crete after 824 but lost them back to the Byzantines in 961. In 1204. in the aftermath of the Fourth Crusade, crusaders sold the island to Venice, which fitted Crete into its growing commercial empire. The native Cretans, however, never abandoned their Orthodox religion. Greek language, and populai- lore. The Ottoman Turks, who were already in control of parts of Crete, wrested the capital city of Candia (now Iraklion) from the Venetians in 1669 after one of the longest sieges in history. Crete stagnated under Turkish mle. and native uprisings were always foiled, including those in 1 82 1 and 1 866. The Turks were finally expelled by Greece in 1 898, after which the island held autonomous status until its union with Greece in 1913. Deployment 2002 75