Colahan (DD 658) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 56 text:

--- --- i l i l ll il ii l il 'Q 'i ll il ii i I. Sli I l ii i i rl i l l l l l I i Tl l i 1 li il l I 4 l The Captain and Mr. Crook inspect-ing Casey. How's my haircut? Do my shoes look okay? Hey, how about brushing off the back of my blues? How's this white hat look? When you start getting a compartment flooded with those questions, it means noth- ing else but 'Captain's Inspec- tion. Usually held on Saturday morning, it means a Friday nite spent shining shoes, re-rolling neckerchieves, washing white hats. When inspection time ar- rives, as you stand at attention waiting for the inspection par- ty to reach you, there's always that question in the back of your mind, I wonder if they will find anything wrong with me. When they walk on by, you mentally give a sigh of re- lief. Now, if they would only hurry up-l could sure use a cigarette. Page Fifty-four 'E division reaches for a smoke now that it's all over. Di-vision,A-ten-shun! First and Second di visions prepare to be inspected.

Page 55 text:

The Prnebes get ready to shove off we RE Sune Gemma.- A Loi- oe BOOTTS Aaomzb 1 P dv A ship s crew IS an ever changlng face Thus was especially true of the Colahan Recalled to active duty by the Korean war the ma jorlty of her crew were R serves For a good many of them returning to the States meant re turning to clvlllan llfe Each day the quarterdeck was the scene of goodbyes as those that were stay lng saw off those that were leav :ng These were tense quiet af fairs that consisted mainly of a few words C Good luck see ya J a handshake and then a flnal wave of the hand as the boat pulled away from the shlp After all what do you say to a person that you dont really know and that ninety nlne trmes out of a hundred you will never see agaln Gther portions of the crew dns as leaves went into effect New faces started appearing A pnle of freshly scrubbed creamy white sea bags stacked near the quarterdeck became a familiar sught Empty bunks started fllllng up as the klds straight out of boot camp and servrce schools caught their first shnp The new crew was begnnnrng to form and the old one as always had In herlted the job of breaking them Turner Hennum the Prlebes and Morse take their last boat In Page Fifty three n 1 I lj eu- , A - - I u I I appeared for lQ', l5, 25-30 days, X 1 . S 5 , n , f . ' Ta! if II ll ' w- ' - 5 ll- NK I' I . l - 1-l Y -- ln.

Page 57 text:

-YY ---t.l...,lv, Commander Felton, in his last official act as Captain of the Colahan, presents the Black Cat Award to the R Division. Off with the old-on with the new. It looked like the Navy was doing just that. ln a few months, the ship was going into the yards for a face lifting-the past few weeks had seen a large portion of the crew replaced and now-Commander Wil- liam K. Brooks was replacing Commander Gale S. Felton, as Captain of the Colahan. lt was a short ceremony. Before an assembly of the ship's crew and officers Commander Fel- ton read his orders, which sent him to the Bureau of Naval Personnel. Then, Commander Brooks read his orders to take command of the Colahan. Thus ends our story. The Change of Command Ceremony marks the beginning of a new story about new men and of- ficers-a story which we cannot tell you, because it has not as yet been lived. .:Co1mirniander Brooks reading his orders to take command of the Colahan. Page Fifty five