Joseph Kennedy (DD 850) - Naval Cruise Book

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Many volunteers worked for two days to renovate Fatima Orphanage. 1 0 4 2 2 Q u One of Ma1ta's three hundred churches, awesomely beautiful under the floodlights. Window shopping

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The Grand Harbor - a fortified Venice. yn Duty days can be rough when the is this good. Mr. Kelly drove to the Casino every night to try his new system, How much is the bail? .Tx AT Ml Z M We pulled into Valletta, the capiial of Malta, on the 5th of March, not knowing quite ifwhat to expect. We had known roughly that it was located south of Italy, and we were ,vaguely aware of the history of the island during the Second World War, but that was all. , The sight that greeted us as we entered the Grand Harbor was stunning. Malta is a magnificent fortress whose high walls rising up from the sea bespeakf centuries of turmoil and invasion. Endless conquerors - the Phoenicians, Muslims, and the fighting Knights of Malta - have alternately be- sieged and defended the island. During the blackest days of the last war it was one of the few allied holdings in the Mediterranean, and received a merciless pounding from the Luftwaffe. Malta .never capitulated, and to know its people is to understand part of the reason. We were privi- leged to know these expansive and energetic citi- zens, for they welcomed ,us warmly and proudly displayed the rich pageantry of the island before us. Tours to the stone age temples, landing place of St. Paul and the great Cathedral made us familiar with the terrain, but as our ten' day stay progressed we struck out on our own, meeting and mingling with the fascinating Maltese. As we sailed away on the morning of 15 March, we took with us fond memories. Many men would swear to the end that this was our best liberty port. I l N

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f J I The Aragonese Castle is mute testimony to the days of Spanish eonquest. Nine days at sea had come and gone as we entered Taranto with the rest of the Fleet on 24 March. Part of the time here was taken up with con- ferences dealing with all phases of Sixth Fleet operations. In the short remaining time we went to the Navy clubs - for this city is foremost the southern headquarters of the Italian Fleet. Taranto might easily have been for- gotten had it not been here that LTQjgj Michelini left us to return to the states prior to assignment as officer-in-charge of a swiftboat in Viet Nam. Our thoughts and wishes for a safe return went with him. We missed him when we sailed away once more on the 28th. 4 Panorama from the anchorage Nixon and Slater tame a wild beast in the streets of Taranto. Two honorary crew members who were especially -welcome come aboard at Taranto.