Quincy (CA 71) - Naval Cruise Book

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OPERATIO NA BR CE T COURSE TO POINT ABLE But any paradise in ephemeral. Greenock could not last. On 13 September we left the Firth of Clyde to join ships gathering from all oxer Europe. A great experiment wus on. For years military men had debated whether amphibious operations could successfully be conducted in the cold, unpredictable waters of Northam Europeg and the advent of NATO raised the further question of how the ships of so many disparate navies could operate as a single coordinated group. The Quincy's Grsl task in Europe would be to put both questions to the test. Mninbrace was to be the greatest peacetime naval maneuver yet attempted. lt would involve ships of eight different fleets in air, surface, underwater, and amphibious operations. The military world would watch its outcome. WY: steamed north, intent on our mission. Other ships arrived. Condition watches were set. For twelve days we played at the grim game of var. They were twelve days of grueling watches and close maneuvers, when the harsh cry of General Quarters! or Set condition One Able Able... all hands man your air defense stations! might crash through the ship at any hour of the day or night. Men huddled shivering in open 40-mm mounts through long cold hours. C.l.C. swarmed with constant activity, as radar sets were searched for tiny dots that might mark and approaching cnc-my . Messages flew to and from the communication center. We steamed north of the Arctic Circle into the teeth of a raging Atlantic storm. The lT.000-ton ship was tossed as if it had been an empty bottle, heeling up to thirty degrees on a side, while bitter winds whipped salt spray like bullets across the deck. We stood hy for two days off the Lofoten Islands with the gale churning slate-gray seas into foam and the ship heaving at its awesome hestg once the sun came out, and the sheer plunging cliffs of the snow-covered islands giimmered stark and white against the gray of the sl-cy. They were the only land wc saw on Mainlzrace. Vfe had hardened ourselves for war and learned the integration of sblps into forces. But when Main- brace was oxer, and the analysts were carefully weighing the results, the one thing we craved was sleep. f. fl' 'X N i

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SEPTEMBER 1952 BONNIE BONNIE SCOTLAND Sun. -- 7 14 21 28 Mon. 1 3 15 22 29 Tue. 2 9 16 23 30 Wed. 3 10 17 24 - Thur. 4 11 18 25 - F ri. 5 12 19 26 - Sat. 6 13 20 27 - QL ',5F5'!fwsi 1 - ' 'U 5 my ' , g ... .T f 1 pall' -, ,O num? vs. slug, nw' 5 , ' .f . f 1 ee.ff-W4-i+1f' .. .WH :L I ,mu 1 md -Q pw , 74 .s ' 4. rg,-1.1 ' l3i? .l:m'il'P..i f, 'nf - ' W :cf --1' 'LE 'S'-is ' fiQT'lmFi- -- . - s y ' 'lf' 2 F d, Y 'img 1 fi, K V iygixfg., W ' - ' auf EV N M' xi. Af 1' - ,::,-.,.'3- As-..,x iY:' 1-- TL.: A r Q. ' . L 11' - ' .. 4- . , , , .q .,-1594-I www y-.- -V fern s- 'DlNW'i9'H..-.., 11- A '.s....,.Q1ra- ff? FIRTH OF CLYDE Land! After two weeks at sea, we again found ourselves sailing with shorelines to port and starboard... we had arrived at the Firth of Clyde. Our first sight of Europe lay before us. It was of a Scottish town that nestled by the water's edge, with green hills, studded with little stone houses, rising gracefully behind, We passed the British battleship Vanguard, soon to join us on Mainbrace. But we saw Greenock not as a shipbuilding center or as one of the home ports of the Royal Navy, but as a town that offered liberty and as our own gateway to Europe. Excitement ran high. Liberty began each day at 13155 and when the call sounded, we filled the boats to capacity. Greenock had thrown open its doors to usg in Glasgow and Edinburgh too we were met with a heart-warming welcome. Scotland - bonnie land of lochs and castles and warm brown ale, and of woolens to keep out winds that whistle through the cobbled streets -- Scotland said Hell0! and we answered in kind. GLA SGOW

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