Columbus (CA 74) - Naval Cruise Book

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F TVIAGUSTA, CYPRUS 7m AugusT l95O we pulled inTo FamagusTa Bay, Cyprus wiTh oTher uniTs oT The SixTh FleeT. LiberTy was granTed ThaT nighT, and alThough There was liTTle To see in Fan'1agusTa iTselT, iT was a pleasure To geT OTT The ship and sTreTch, and sample The local vinTage. The nearby ruins aT Salamis and some local color gave camera Tans some pracTice, buT prices were high, The Town was small, and FamagusTa raTed only Tair as a liberTy porT. CinCNELlv1 Tlew down Trom London The nexT day, and The COLUMBUS helicopTer was senT To The airTielol To pick him up. ln landing on The reTurn Trip. iT sTruck The porT boom, broke in Two. and sank in I4 TaThoms oT waTer. There was no loss oT liTe, and Thanks To The quick acTion oT SN Z. C. Kleczlcowslci, who imrnediaTely dived over The side To render assisTance, There was no serious iniury. ThaT aTTernoon . CinCNELlvl made The oTTicial presenTaTion oT BaTTle ETTiciency Award To The commanding oTficer, and The E Tlag was broken ouT aT ,The main. Diving operaTions Tor The helicopTer were begun aTTer The ceremonies by QM2 R. L. Miller, and compleTed by HMI L. E. lvlapleThorpe. The helicopTer was Tinally recovered shorTly before midnighT, and The ship goT underway Tor BeiruT. Lebanon. The hard way The remains of wl1aT once was in The cify of Beirui Wham' now?

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The Roclc GIBR LT R 6inCNEI.lvl reTurned To his headquarTers in London on The 22nd July, and The nexT day we leTT RoTTerdarn Tor PlymouTh, England. The morning oT The 24-Th Tound The COLUMBUS again Tied up aT Buoy No. 9. Days passed, and each one saw The Tlames oT war creep TarTher over Korea. Then on SaTurday, The 29Th OT July, iusT as The liberTy parTy was To leave Tor The weekend, The word was passed ThaT The ship would geT under- way aT 2000 lvlonday nighT - desTinaTion 7 And how The rumors Tlewl Monday nighT, 3l July, and we were underway again. ShorTly aTTer clearing PlymouTh l-larbor, The command- 'ing oTTicer CapTain E. R. McLean Jr,, inTorrned The crew ThaT The ship was heading Tor The lvlediTerranean To ioin The SixTl1TleeT, and ThaT our nexT sTop would be aT GibralTar. ' We arrived aT GibralTar on The 3rd oT AugusT, and immediaTely began loading on sTores and ammuniTion Trom The BELTRAMI. There was no liberTy granTecl, and load- ing conTinued on inTo The nighT. AlThough iT has an 'area oT roughly Two square miles, iT enjoys a presTige greaTly ouT oT proporTion only To iTs size, Tor iT commands one of The Two enTrances To The lvlecliTer- ranean. lT has been a BriTish Crown Colony since I7I3. The Spanish aTTempTecl To capTure iT in I779, buT aTTer a Tour year siege, which ended in The sinking oT The maior porTion oT The Spanish FleeT, leTT iT To The BriTish. IT was while in GibralTar ThaT CapTain McLean congraTu- laTed The crew on Their winning oT The Ba+TIe ETTiciency Pen- nanT, on The basis oT The excelIenT showing made on operaTions aT GuanTanamo Bay, Cuba, in April and May. l950. Close up of The Rock

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BEIR T, LEBANON We arrived aT The capiTal-ciTy OT BeiruT wiTh oTher uniTs oT The SixTh FleeT. BeiruT was a ciTy oT conTrasTs wiTh iTs ancienT donkey-carTs and modern Amer- ican auTomobiles, The TourisT, and The deserT Tribesman: modern buildings and Tiny naTive shops: ChrisTian churches, and lvlohammedan mosques. The ciTy DownTown, Beirut had Ii++Ie To oTTer excepT iTs local color, buT Tours were conducTed To The ciTies oT Damascus and Baalbek. Damascus, which lies iusT across The Lebanese border, was a leading ciTy even beTore The birTh oT ChrisT. AlThough noTed Tor iTs Tine swords and knives, iT is a Trade cenTer Tor many oTher arTicles broughT Trom Through- ouT Syria. i Baalbek, considered by The ancienTs To be one oT The Seven Wonders oT The World, is a remarkable spoT. Thereon sTands a Roman Temple, The consTrucTion oT which amazes scienTisTs even Today. The sTones OT The Temple are' almosT The largesT ever quarriedy and yeT, using only The simple machines oT ThaT day, and manpower, They raised These giganTic blocks carved Trom a single piece oT rock, and placed Them on sTone columns more Than 60 TeeT high. Considering ThaT The Temple is IOOO TeeT long, iTs consTrucTion is as amazing as iT would have been iT The Panama Canal had been dug wiTh picks and shovels. ' i E.f-Zia E Hey Joe, whoT does ThaT sign say? 'ren A -7 fly J62 l 'af ,H D - 4 -+41 ' T f X -5 x iz if A2 55- gif' . a l fx 5g Y? fl '- x ' .3 ,ff 'Ta 2 ,r .i1,::f if A 1 'A -'GSK uomf' -'ifi Z X Y XIX A Frawswx , Mfr 699031 ' 9 ' 'Q X y 3 f sf? , ' I W X 5 '1 A If 15' , fi - f W, 4 s X' T s ?f' J H ff