Antares (AKS 33) - Naval Cruise Book

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Former Commanding Officer of USS ANTARES (AKS-33) Captain William C. P. Bellinger, Jr., Commanding Officer of the USS ANTARES (AKS-33) from March 1959 to March 1960, was the Commanding Officer for the first two months of this cruise. Captain Bellinger graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1933 and was commissioned Ensign. His distinguished duties have included the following: J. O. Engineering Officer and Gunnery Officer aboard the USS NORTHAMPTON, the First Lieutenant and Gunnery Officer of the USS CHARLESTON, Commanding Officer of the USS TATUM, Commander of Escort Divisions Forty Seven, Fifty Five, and Eighty Six, Staff-Merchant Marine Academy, Ex- ecutive Officer of the USS SHENANDOAH, Assistant Inspec- tor General of the Military Sea Transportation Service, Commanding Officer of the USS ANTARES (AK-258) from March 1954 until June 1955, War Claims Officer of the Sixth Naval District, Commanding Officer of the USS MERCURY (AKS-20), and Commanding Officer of the USS ANTARES (AKS-33) from March 1959 to March 1960. Captain Bellinger is entitled to wear the American De- fense Service Medal with one star, American Area Campaign Medal, European-African-Middle Eastern Area Campaign Medal with one star, the World War II Victory Medal, Navy Occupation Service Medal Europe, National Defense Service Medal and the Navy Expert Rifleman Medal. Captain Bellinger was relieved by Captain Zimmerman aboard the USS ANTARES (AKS-33) on 22 March 1960 at Beirut, Lebanon. After his return to the U. S. he was assigned to the Naval Inspection and Survey Board in Norfolk, Vir- ginia. THE EXECUTIVE OFFICER, USS ANTARES (AKS-33) Commander William A. Bowes has had an outstanding Naval career. He enlisted in the regular Navy on 4 May 1939. Cdr. Bowes served aboard both the USS NEW YORK and the USS COLE as a fire control striker. After selection in 1940, he was ordered to the U. S. Naval Academy Prepara- tory School at Norfolk, then entered the U. S. Naval Academy and graduated in June 1944 with the Class of 1945. Since graduation from the Naval Academy, Cdr. Bowes ' duties have included: 3rd Division Officer aboard the cruiser USS WILKES-BARRE (CL-103), training at the Submarine School, New London, Conn., First Lieutenant, Assistant En- gineering Officer, Commissary Officer, and Supply Officer aboard the submarine USS QUILLBACK (SS-424), Engineer- ing, Electrical, and Communications Officer aboard the sub- marine USS HALFBEAK (SS-352), Engineering Officer of the submarine USS TILEFISH (SS-307), Assistant Ordnance Officer at the Submarine Base, Pearl Harbor, Executive Of- ficer and Commanding Officer of the submarine USS PERCH (APSS-313), Chief Inspector at the Mare Island Group, Pacific Reserve Fleet, Vallejo, California, and presently as the Ex- ecutive Officer, USS ANTARES. Cdr. Bowes is entitled to wear the American Defense Service Medal, American Area Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with four Bronze Stars, World War II Vic- tory Medal, Navy Occupation Service Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Philippine Liberation Ribbon with one star, Korean Service Medal, and the United Nations Service Medal. Cdr. Bowes is married to the former Lillian Dalton of Amherstdale, West Virginia. They are the parents of three daughters and two sons.

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COMMANDING OFFICER USS ANTARES (AKS-33) Captain Milton A. Zimmerman has a distinguished Naval career. Commissioned Ensign in 1940, he was ordered to the USS SMITH (DD-378) in the South Pacific. It was aboard the SMITH that Captain Zimmerman won the Silver Star for an engagement with enemy Japanese forces in the battle to the northward of the Santa Cruz Islands on October 26, 1942. He was next ordered to San Francis- co, California for duty in connection with fitting out the USS OWEN (DD-536). He served aboard that destroyer until May 1944, participating in the occupation of Kwajalein and Majuro Atolls, the attacks on Truk the Satawan and Ponape raids, and the Hollandia Operation. He was then ordered to Kearney, New Jersey to assist in fitting out the USS GAINARD (DD-706). He was awarded the Bronze Star with Combat V for heroic achievement as Gunnery Officer of the USS GAINARD dur- ing operations against enemy Japanese forces in the vicinity of Okinawa, Nansei Shoto from 20 April to 23 June 1945. At the end of World War II, he was serving in the Pacific on board the USS HEY- WOOD L. EDWARDS (DD-663) as Executive Officer. After the War, Captain Zimmerman served aboard the USS WHETSTONE (LSD-27) as both Commanding Officer and Executive Officer. In 1950 he took command of the USS LUDLOW (DD- 438) until 1951 when he was ordered to take command of the USS CORRY (DD-817). From 1956 to 1958 he had command of the USS DENEBOLA (AF-56) followed with a tour of duty as Operations Officer on the Staff of Commander, Amphibious Force, Atlantic Fleet. Captain Zimmerman assumed command of the USS ANTARES (AKS-33) in March 1960 while underway in the Mediterranean Sea. Captain Zimmerman is married to the former Miss Leona Graff of Brooklyn, New York, and has one son, Scott.

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CHANGE OF COMMAND AT SEA CHANGE OF COMMAND AT SEA ON 27 MARCH 1960, AN UNUSUAL OC- CURRENCE HAPPENED ABOARD A NAVAL VESSEL. A CHANGE OF COMMAND CERE- MONY WITHIN THE NAVY, EITHER ABOARD SHIP OR ON SHORE, IS NOT IN ITSELF UN- USUAL SINCE IT OCCURS QUITE FREQUENT- LY. HOWEVER, THE UNUSUAL ASPECT OF THIS CEREMONY WAS THE FACT THAT CAPTAIN M. A. ZIMMERMAN RELIEVED CAPTAIN W. C. P. BELLINGER ON BOARD THE ANTARES WHILE THE SHIP WAS UN- DERWAY PROCEEDING FROM ATHENS, GREECE TO BEIRUT, LEBANON. ALL HANDS ATTENDED THE CEREMONY WHICH WAS PRECEEDED BY A PERSONNEL INSPECTION. AFTER THE RELIEVING CEREMONY, THE CREW PRESENTED CAP- TAIN BELLINGER, AS A TOKEN OF THEIR ESTEEM, A SILVER-PLATED CHIPPING HAM- MER. THIS GIFT WAS VERY APPROPRIATE SINCE THE DEPARTING SKIPPER ' S NEW AS- SIGNMENT WAS SENIOR MEMBER, NAVY SUB-BOARD OF INSPECTION AND SURVEY, NORFOLK, VIRGINIA. THE COMMISSARY DP ISION BAKED A LARGE CAKE AND SERVED IT ALONG WITH PUNCH TO ALL HANDS.