Macon (CA 132) - Naval Cruise Book

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AugytaBag Augusta Bay — Joining The 6th Fleet Saturday, 13 December 1958, dawned bright, crisp and clear. The sea was calm and it did not seem as if Christmas was just around the corner. a tlie (list:mt horizon Mniint Aetna thrust upward her snow- capped simimii. Aii ' ii hi Huw Sliilx was oiu- destination. Today we were to rendezvous with the mighty Sixth Fleet. ».-«afc Teddy Roosevelt once said, Speak softly but cany a big stick. What could be more appropriate in describing that Sixth Fleet quietly anchored in Augusta Bay. Speak softly— by ' i itino ports, getting to know our European friends, letting them know us; having children ' s parties, inviting visitors aboard; b our words and deeds conveying to-our Mediterranean friends our sincerity and common interests. Carry a big stick— the FOKRES- TAL and t}:ihM.AMiiiQLPH with supersonic Crusaders and Sky- rays; the destroyer radar pickets .widi their early warning capa- lity against enemy aircraft; the 84MMf« ||MiHhe cruisers, the ting power of the Marines; MACON with her Regulus. y, was a big stick. It is an obvious fact that the existence of the Western 4 ' orld, as we know it, depends upon the freedom of the world ' s sea- ways. No nation can long exist alone; and the life blood of the western body-politic is sea commerce. The free world can be no strongerthaL Jfelj mie traffic which nourishes it. The only means To l mie of freedom is seapower. No where is this more clearly illustrated than in the Mediterranean, mother- sea of a hundred empires and of a thousand kings. It takes no genius to Jook at a map and recognize that tiiose who control this greatest of inland seas control the destiny of three continents. Through this sea of song and epic of history past flow the strategic materials upon which depends history present and future. Our presence as a part of the Sixth Fleet is a clause in the insurance policy guaranteeing that there will be a future. The task of our Mediterranean Sixtli Fleet is primarily that of preserving the peace. To do this we must be ready for war. War, brushfire or total, is an always frightening but ever-present possibility. We must be ready to cope with any eventuality where- ever and whenever it may arise. Battle-readiness, then, was our watchword. Days and nights of training and exercises was our lot. Of equal importance to our battle efficiency was our task to win friends in these coimtries whose shores were washed by Mare Naslruni. These lands and this sea are as old as man. These blue hori ons framed the golden sails ol a Homeric odyessy and etched the rigging ot NL A, PJNTA, and SAXTA MAR A. These are the same waters which swirled in the passage ot a Pharaoh ' s barge and foamed in the slave-stroked wake of a trireme of Caesar. These lands and this sea are also new-stirring with a new nationalism, like giants rising from two thousand years of sleep and flexing muscles yet unused. This is history new and present, yet to be fashioned by YOU! This, then, is our task— to keep the seaways free; to be ready to resist aggression any time, anywhere; to increase our know- ledge and understanding of this Mediterranean Basin and her peoples and share with them some of our own hopes and dreams.

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GUNNERY DEPARTMENT The anchor is let go; on the foc ' sle and back aft the four boat booms are swung out; the accommodation ladders are lowered and the crane commences to lower the barge. All of this is on the first note of the bugle for you are competing against time in order to present a sharp looking ship. Or it may be the hand- ling of lines when you tie up alongside, or Med-moor, or it may be the off-loading of vehicles. All of these are important jobs and normal routine for the Gunneiy Department. The largest department on the ship is divided into ten divi- sions. These span the ship from the 1st division on the foc ' sle to the 7th division on the fantail, from the paint locker on the second deck to the G division spaces aft in the hanger deck. All of these are in some way concerned with maintaining effective fire power. If tjlftT., Macon ' s own airstrip