Strong (DD 758) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 6 text:

5. x X 5 . .1 .1 ,f 1 UNDERWAY WESTPAC iw, ,, 4. 54 . f , R . ,YL 2 T I, -L..., if i 1 ,,r' S,

Page 5 text:

' f1?'ifilQffi??N WQQIPAC67 'Q if RONGHQHQG7 68 estPac de yment which gan on 1 November 967 and ended 10 une 1968, was fil -o with excitement s new exper' nces for every hand Her purpose i deploying was to suppor e A rican and Allied war eff rt in Vietnam N1 ifudihe Hvilgggjgsoxpgrati g in the seas around Vietnam 0116 Of the OS11 i ' Qzkgerie ---' A V fifth day out when transited the nama Canald 1 ree weeks later, we W e in Pearl Harb r, Hawaii enjoyin scenic tours, pin apples, an awaiian hospitality. ' e ceased traveling tourist class ' FQRQRIAQN - arrived on stat n a few miles north i the I. Z. OKANQEE tlyfA1ig0Nu ed supression and nterdiction fire on enemy supply operatic s an defense sites, and search an escue missio s for downed pilots. Lat in cember, the STRONG joined .1 ai raft arrier CORAL SEA for operations in the T nkin Gulf. On January - 'gi rne o our ourist status as guests of the British Sovernm nt in ongfKong. Durin - 2. og ', d here, we ate our fir authentic Chinese oods, a d bough ur ' t My ' sg ,agggm .W g S Fro ' . gfggrn U lg V g ni a .32 4 uns! Qnilliinuary -. , 1968, it rg 10 - Brown, our 3 Q 'sg-1i?1'fa,a 'a 5-5 2-Q, , 1y Ea17si relieved by ommand Geor C Lowry. Three weeks later, STRONGSOU fcHinCH aiwan for .- much nee d xiek - upkeep and relaxation. T ur Rm wa Qffoflgiw by three weeks of cold weather operations in the Sea of Japan as a supp t tgfor e carrie ANGERg however, this was followed by a week of balmy days Q i c P M YR 5 ulf of Tonkin. SQA aI' h , 19 8, W 0'- av h n c 26 f . Q our second visit to Hong Kong. Sgjice we were seasoned - - .. w Q . : be there before we had an even better time thmfpreviously. Our newly rmed o nd played at a ifferent clu each night and every divi 'o ' d at least one party. Again, we a shopped exten ively -4 3 .1, We left Hong Kong on . i' arc lst t join the units Q gg glfa,--1' h g g am. For the next 10 days STRONG prov ded 're S port for -'---'L op rating in the III and IV Corps Tacti Sgt Q Zon . N 2 - 1' llllli 'M A l4found us touri ihmgg avsvi- L ,ir-o ' -'Qc . ' - 2-FQ, w 'EEf.. , and good Ran Many of S w such famou si - 'v 'aa f- 0c9e'lFO'5fH-IP and the Floating Market O A ril 22nd we re rne th Gun 'ne to provide Gunfire Support services in the ll n p - - Corps Tacti - an e Sa S cial Zone. Shortly after dawn on May lst we left for Yoko . a Jap n and an h r five day f R8zR before returning to Charleston. Th pages wh ch - -' ' g - i we at mpt to bri gether 'o a i who made the cruise those events which made this the X. of u was a eye witness to all the events to be seen herein, however roug the ediums of xj - era and the printed word, we can become a participant in For those of y who stood by at home, we hope to delineate in some small wayvwhat a destroyerman's if is like We have attempted to show the hard work, long hours, loneliness, and gusto with H' ch he lives. In short his basic makeup. v . ' ' ' 1 Good Reading! w r A'--Q'4'Z'if'-' M. . L g , . ' . Zo ' h , ' - , i follow Q' EP X s--- f the hi hlights of this memorable cruise In them cr' - t t' as. each. i it --The starr ti 6 , V x X

Page 7 text:

Two memorable exper- iences of our cruise were our Panama Canal transits. The Canal is located only 9 degrees north of the equator, and runs northwest to southeast with the Atlan- tic entrance being 27 miles west of the Pacific entrance. The most fascinating event of a Canal transit is the raising or lowering of your ship, without any noticeable movements, 85 feet in the Gatun Locks near the At- lantic entrance. This feat is accomplished in three steps. The focal point of the lock complex is the Control House. From that point the gates and wa- ter levels between cham- bers are controlled. When the water level between two steps is constant, the gates are opened and the ship is pulled through by electric mules. Remarkable is the fact that no pumps are used in this operation and the seven foot thick gates are so precisely balanced that they are moved by a mere 40 horsepower motor. 2 QW! 444