Mount Olympus (AGC 8) - Naval Cruise Book

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LONDON MISGELLANY cn-mneme OF THE GUARD, aucxmsum PALACE VISIT TO Tl'E ZOO an Ay' WAR DAMAGE 'rowen OF Lomoon

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FAMILIAR LONDON SIGHTS wmoson 'CASTLE TRAFALGAR souARE ST. PAULS , 1 X V ' I0 DDWN ING STREET L I l 1,..m',LT XA ,fl . -W. , x,,, . Q , 'X

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Exercise Mainbrace And Brace Phib -- the Landing at Skagen 20 September . . . We sailed this morning from the Firth of Forth for the Jutland'Coast of Denmark for BRACE PHIB, the amphibious assault phase of MAINBRACE. In company, besides ships which crossed the Atlantic with us, are the carriers Theseus QUKJ and Magnificent CCanadal, the crulser Bellona tNew Zealandl, de- stroyer escorts Bambara and Sakalane CFranceJ, Van Zljll and' DeZeeuw CNe- therlandsi, Creole, Crispin and Widemouth Bay QUKJ, UK frlgates Bramble, Rinaldo, Pickle, Pincher, Cheerful, Cockatrice, Laertes and Rattlesnake. and Bel- gian minesweepers Defour and Gerlache. Exercise MAINBRACE, which began 13 September, is the first great com- dined maneuver of the northern NATO nations, involving ships of eight navies and, for good measure, a cruiser from the Royal New Zealand Navy. Included are carrier strikes against invaders in northern Norway and southern Denmark, anti-submarine and anti-raider operations and a landing of a reinforced battalion of U.S. Marines on the Jutland coast of Denmark to bolster the defenses of that nation. The whole exercise is designed to test the tactics, doctrines, logistics and communications involved in the joint maneuvering of so many ships from so many countries. Nearly all of us are sorry to see the Mount O steam out of the Firth of Forth. We will not see Scotland again, but we have many souvenirs of Edinburgh, including kilts and tartans, pockets jingling with sixpence and a bruise here and there from that first crowded night on the pier at Port Edgar. 21 September . . . Our NATO task force is underway to Jutland at top speed. We are back in the battle now, general quarters, battle stations, communications watches. slab attacks, darken sh1p, and to top it off, Davy Jones is playing havoc most of t eivay. Civilians, civilians everywhere, happy ones, gloomy ones, joking ones and even S1Ck ones, but they are all aboard for one purpose--to put MAINBRACE and the Mount O in the news. The 28 correspondents embarked represent the NATO nations and the U.S. from coast to coast. As teletvpe machines in Radio I rattle out advance releases to major newspapers and wire r ' th h t th world, the Mount O is making history. Se Vlces mug Ou e 22 September . . . Rough weather made a landing at the original site at Torup Strand Beach on the northwest coast unfeasible, so the amphibious force steamed around the Skaw Peninsula to the alternate beach at Skagen on Denmark's sheltered east coaist. Off the landing beach, the Meredith transferred 14 more newsmen to us in lme o cover the landing. Newsreel cameras ground awav and dozens of shut- ters on Amerlcan and foreign press cameras clicked as the amphibious assault waves stormed ashore at.Skagen. Landing in the Shadow of Once formidable German bunkers, the marines were t h d b o ' ' ' members of the Danish Home Guardwgncd eb ty more tha? 1000 Cwlhans and Denmark and the NATO nations. , y op military and naval officials of Less than three hours after the first wave landed - . . at 1530, ll ' h d Egggsrvertrleved. The. landing which took place ten minutes bv jest frwo?ri,eS0vit as an undeniable success. ' 8