Columbia (CL 56) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 43 text:

festivities at several small cocktail parties and at the Ofhcers' Club, but it all distilled down to the most spectacular orgy in the history of the cruise, well seasoned with the presence of Xavier Cugat, his blonde companion, the ex- ploits of our own father of the C 8: R Depart- ment, and a few other odds and ends. Jeeps pulled disappearing acts on all sides only to reappear in unexpected places with unexpected cargoes. There weren't nearly enough femin- ine companions, but no one was in a condition to care. Somehow everyone managed to return to the ship, and somehow the ship managed to return to New England, with one evaporator brewing fresh water, and the other, Bromo- Seltzer. Putting away our bottles of suntan lotion, swimming trunks, hangovers, and the British pennies hoarded to use in the half-dollar slot machines, we reluctantly left our vacationland paradise and proceeded to make our way lei- surely up to the great Northland. Skivvie shirts were again in demand, and shirts once open at the collar were covered by foul weather jackets. Best-seller aboard the Columbia was no longer Tourist Guide to Bermuda! And so it came to pass that in about two days we were anchored in Casco Bay, Maine. Just fifteen minutes from Portland by Picket Boat, and just forty-five minutes by Motor Launch. But in spite of the fact that some of the boys swore they couldn,t get into town without a Vvxww 'M lNNT'Kxv-ye-'N as c L as af1,'-- I . s. -2 , Q 'aw 'lf' C ,ti- s '- 1 mv I' 71. I I

Page 42 text:

baseball games played on one Held at one time-all these may be forgotten, but never to fade is the memory of the beauty of that spectacle, a hundred foamy geysers spraying cold, fragrant beer to the winds. All hands sported happy glows at the end of the day g some were sunburned. The thing about Bermuda that we enjoyed most of all was the liberty. And the most in- teresting sport was the search for pubs not out of bounds. The trip to shore from the COLUM- BIA was nearly an hours' cruise by APC, but no one really cared. Cameras sprouted from the life lines. Hordes of navy men stormed ashore and swooped down on glove and per- fume counters, buying American made goods at only twice the price. Sightseers, exercise fiends, and just plain crazy men rented bicycles and pumped furiously off in all directions, dumbfounding the local citizens by pedalling uphill. Even the mad dogs stayed inside. Horse drawn carriages were enjoyed by those with little respect for their money and by those thirty-eight who were not up to handling a bicycle for some reason or another. For long-distance travel there was the Toonerville Trolley, the three- car railroad guaranteed only to make it from St. George to Somerset before Summer did set. A favored few even managed to procure jeeps and free rides with the SP's. There were very few motor driven vehicles, but those few were intent on downing as many pedestrians as pos- sible to make up for it. They even had a neat trick of sticking to the wrong side of the road, where our boys were pedalling in the opposite direction. There was plenty to see and do in Bermuda. The weather alone was enough to keep all of us contented, aside from swimming at Coral Beach, goggling at the Aquarium, Devil's Hole, and Crystal Cave, window shopping in Hamil- ton, dancing and cavorting in general at the Bel- mont, and gawking at grown men in shorts. The Bermuda gals, few as they were, added pleasantly to the surroundings. Among the best remembered activities of our stay were the

Page 44 text:

beard, the two-week stay was far from dull, what with dances at the Great Diamond Island OHicer's Club, a lobster feed on Little Chebeag Island, a six-hour bus tour of Maine, and most of all, the hospitality of the Portland lassies towards the heroes of CRUDIV 14, plus the speedy location of Spas which were not too anxious to examine ID Cards before serving the usual Pepsi Colas. After the many weary hours at our gun sta- tions in the turrets and mounts, we were finally to fire the guns. The scene of this great event was in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Portland, Maine. We predict that this spot shall some day rate historically with Bikini Atoll for this was truly a great experiment. We manned all of the gun stations from the directors to the loaders, and this was to be a test of our ability to assimilate a lot in a very brief period of time. On the return trip from Bermuda, while our Officers' Club pallor was still peeling off, we had been initiated to firing when we test fired all the guns. Now we were ready for the Big Push. The six-inch guns were to fire telescope con- trol which was Hring by the pointer whenever he was on the so-small target, and director control, which was automatic firing. We were to forty fire at a target towed fby a very lengthy xcablej by a tugg but, unfortunately the tug seemed to make a better target. The Hve-inch guns had Hred proximity fuzes' earlier, and were, during this period, to fire AA Hre at sleeves towed by airplanes. The planes also made nicer targets but were a little more fortunate than the tugs because of their speed. The 40's and 20's were also to fire at towed sleeves. For day after day we sat calmly munching our fingernails as we waited for H Hour. Fog kept rolling in, bank after bank, frustrating our efforts to fire. Some days the bank would lift and we would dash madly out to sea to catch up with it. Finally fate relented and we had a few clear days. We sailed forth to fire. The main battery fired first, then the 5 and 40's and 20's tired. All the guns joined in to end the Big Push in a day's battle practice when we let go with everything but the Very Pistols. Mirrors crashed, clothes fell, cans jarred loose, but we came through without a casualty. During the firing period we fired 161 six- inch rounds, 325 five-inch rounds, 1029 forty- millimeter rounds and 2866 twenty-millimeter rounds. There were no casualties to personnel,