Leyte (CV 32) - Naval Cruise Book

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VISITORS, ROYAL AND OTHERWISE Shortly after our arrival in Phaleron Bay, the King and Queen of Greece came out to inspect the fleet in the royal barge. In honor of the occasion we manned the rail and looked pretty sharp, if we do say so ourselves. The Des Moines fired a salute of 21 guns and the royal party went aboard her for a visit. They didn ' t come aboard the LEYTE but Admiral Combs carried our greetings as well as those of the staff. During our stay in Athens we were treated roy- ally by the Armed Services YMCA and by other groups who really went all out to show us a good time. In return we invited many guests to come aboard the ship, among them a group of war or- phans who really had a wonderful time. The rough weather at the end of the visit cut down the social life but, all in all, Athens was a fine port and well worth die time. Adm. on D.M. with royal party Full guard and band We had a good view

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ATHENS NOVEMBER 2-9 WHEN we arrived in Athens we reached the high point of the cruise from a historical point of view. Athens was the birthplace of our modern culture and most of the ancient temples and works of art have been at least partiallv restored. The Acropolis, with its Parthe- non and Erechtheum and other sights was, of course, the major tourist attraction, and virtually all of us got there at one time or another. Some of the other sights of the town were the Olympic Stadium, the govern- ment buildings, and the Temple of Jupiter. Some of us made the trip to Corinth for more sightseeing and most of us took the shopping tour downtown. The exchange rate of fifteen thousand to one had us feeling like millionaires until we found out the prices of drinks at the King George. Scotch was cheap at the British clubs until they ran out and Ouzo was cheap everywhere. One sip of that was enough, however. All of us bought dolls from the peddlers and postcards everywhere. With the exception of the long liberty party, a wonderful time was had by all, and even that will make a fine story for the homefolks. 41 r g - I- ■

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THE LONG LIBERTY The last night in Phaleron Bay a large number of us attended the parties ashore in spite of the rough boating conditions. While we were ashore, the seas got rougher and rougher and finally it became im- possible for any more of us to return to the ship. A long, hectic night folllowed. Some lucky ones got hotel rooms. Some slept in boats, sedans, and jeeps and some of us just didn ' t sleep. The next day conditions were just as bad as before as the Beltrami came into Piraeus to pick us up. After a long and crowded wait aboard, we got underway for Salamis where the fleet had moved for safer boating condi- tions and got back aboard finally. The ship really looked good to us that night. Hey, chief! New recruits Dancing yet