Jason (AR 8) - Naval Cruise Book

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THE JASON FOR WHICH WE WERE NAMED JASON - JA ' S ' N - IN GREEK MYTHOLOGY WAS THE LEADER OF THE ARGONAUTS WHO SAILED IN OUESTOF THE GOLDEN FLEECE. HE WAS THE SON OF AESON, KING OF lOLCOS IN THESSALY. WHILE JASON WAS A BABY, HIS FATHER ' S HALF BROTHER PELIAS GAINED THE THRONE OF lOLCOS THROUGH EVIL MEANS. JASON WAS PROTECTED AND RAISED BY THE CENTAUR CHIRON ON MOUNT PELION. WHEN JASON HAD REACHED THE AGE OF TWENTY HE RETURNED TO lOLCOS TO CLAIM HIS FATHER ' S KINGDOM. JASON ' S UNCLE, PELIAS, PROMISED HIM THE KINGDOM IF HE COULD CAPTURE THE GOLDEN FLEECE FROM COLCHIS. AFTER GATHERING A CREWOF FIFTY OF THE NATION ' S MOST FAMOUS HEROES, JASON SET SAIL IN THE SHIP ARGO ON WHAT PELIAS HOPED TO BE A FATAL VOYAGE. AS LUCK WOULD HAVE IT, JASON FELL IN LOVE WITH MEDEA, THE DAUGHTER OF THE KING OF COLCHIS. WITH MEDEA ' S HELP HE ACCOMPLISHED HIS ASSIGNED TASK ' S AND SUCCESSFULLY FLED KING AEETES ' WRATH. UPON RETURNING TO HIS OWN KINGDOM, JASON FOUND THAT PELIAS HAD KILLED HIS FATHER AND BROTHER. WITH HER MAGICAL POWERS MEDEA INDUCED THE DAUGHTER OF PELIAS, TO KILL HIM. THIS ACT INDUCED THE WRATH OF ACUSTUS, SON OF PELIAS, WHO DROVE MEDEA AND JASON FROM lOLCOS. JASON SOUGHT REFUGE WITH CREO, KING OF CORINTH. JASON, AS SOME MEN DO, TIRED OF MEDEA AND HER CRUEL SORCERY AND MARRIED CREUSA, THE KING OF CORINTH ' S DAUGHTER. MEDEA WAS NOT A WOMAN TO BE CROSSED AS JASON SOON FOUND OUT. TO AVENGE THE LOSS OF HER HUSBAND, MEDEA SENT A MAGICAL ROBE AS A WEDDING GIFT TO CREUSA, WHICH BURST INTO UNQUELCHABLE FLAMES WHEN DONNED KILLING BOTH CREUSA AND HER MOTHER. FEELING EVEN THIS WAS NOT ENOUGH VENGEANCE, MEDEA ALSO SLEW HER OWN TWO SONS BECAUSE THEY WERE ONCE A PART OF JASON. THIS IS WHERE THE STORY HAS SOME DIFFERENCE OF OPINION. THE ROMANTICS SAY THAT JASON DIED OF THE GRIEF HE ENDURED AT THIS TIME. A LATER LEGEND HAS IT THAT A PIECE OF THE STERN OF THE BEACHED ARGO FELL AND KILLED HIM. THIS ENDS THE LEGEND OF JASON, A MAN AMONG MEN WHO SAILED MANY HARD MILES TO DO WHAT SEEMED TO BE IMPOSSIBLE TASKS FOR THE SERVICE OF HIS NATION. THE USS JASON (AR-8) CARRIES ON IN THE SAME TRADITION.

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LEAVING HOME

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A PROUD SHIR MANNED BY A DISTINCTIVE CREW, SERVING THE FINEST NATION IN THE WORLD! THE USS JASON (AR8) COMMISSIONED 19 JUNE 1944 THE USS JASON OFFICIALLY BEGAN HER ILLUSTRIOUS CAREER. MOST OF OUR WORLD WAR II FLEET WAS COMMISSIONED BY THE SAME ACT THAT CONGRESS PASSED UNDER WHICH THE USS JASON RECEIVED HER AUTHORIZATION. ORIGINALLY ARH 1 SHE SAILED AFTER ONLY A BRIEF SHAKE DOWN. FOR TWO MONTHS THE JASON SERVED IN PURVIS BAY. SOLOMON ISLANDS AFTER THIS SHE WENT TO ULITHI IN MID 1944 WHERE SHE WAS TO SPEND THE GREATEST PART OF THE WAR. HERE IN ULITHI. OFTEN UNDER ENEMY ATTACK BY KAMIKAZEE AND CONVENTIONAL BOMBARDMENT, SHE TURNED SEEMINGLY HOPELESS BATTLE WRECKS INTO REJUVINATED BATTLE WORTHY SHIPS ABLE TO SERVE GALLANTLY IN THE CLOSING MONTHS OF THE WAR. WHILE DEPLOYED ON A FAR EAST CRUISE IN 1957 HER DESIGNATION WAS CHANGED FROM ARH 1 TO AR 8 ON 9 SEPTEMBER 1957 THIS TOOK PLACE IN SASEBO, JAPAN