Coontz (DDG 40) - Naval Cruise Book

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EZ SAF Q Perhaps one ofthe world s mostimportantwaterways the 104.5 mile png Suez Canal mns from Port Said Egypt to the Gulf of Suez. Coontz jrst transit ofthe Suez Canal lasted about a day and a half with anchor- iges at Port Said and the Great Bitter Lake. Coontz second transit was huch quicker: 17 hours with a short anchorage at the Great Bitter Lake. he anchorages were made to allow the northem convoy of merchant essels to pass. The second iransitwas also much more eagerly antici- , ated than the first-Coontz was on her way home. . The Suez Canal has a colorful history. The first version of a canal in 1e Suez was constructed by the Egyptians in about 1500 B.C. The Suez anal as it is today took 10 years to construct and was opened for naviga- on on November 17 1869. The cost: S40 million. During the Arab-lsraeli wars of 1956 and 1967 Egfpt blocked the anal by sinking its own ships in it and on the seoond occasion the anal remained closed until 1975. Evidence of these conflicts remain ehind: Bumed-out tanks and bombed buildings line both sides ofthe anal- striking a contrast against the beautiful oasis of Egypt and the arren deserts ofthe Sinai Peninsula. ,img f - 3 58 .2 i

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EXECUTIVEXNAVIGATIC DIVISIO YNSN Keppel YNSA Field PNSA Hendricks QMSA Stewart PCSA Erickson The Administrative Division consists of many diverse ratings which provide many different services to the ship's crewmembers. The command master chief chief master at arms, the DAPA, yeomen, career counselor, postal clerk, personnelmen, hospital corpsmen and ship'sjoumalist all perform duties which, when combined, are extremely important in carrying out the ship's mission. Reenlistments, school quotas, counseling, updated service records, medical attention, mail service, television and information dissemination would not be possible without the men of Admin. These individuals provided an extremely vital senfice to the ship and played an integral partin keeping a high state of morale throughout the MEF 2-87 cruise. ln addition to their regular duties during the deployment, the yeomen, personnelman and the career counselor stood MARREP watches in the Combat Information Center. The Navigation Division consists ofthe quartermasters, who have the exceptionally important task of accurately iixing the ship's position in the water as she moves from one place to another. During the MEF 2-87 cruise, the importance of the quartermaster rating became highly visible. These men were responsible for over 60 sea and anchor details and plotting over 54,000 miles of tracks while crossing the Atlantic and transiting the Straits of Gibraltar, the Mediterranean Sea, the Suez Canal, the Gulf of Suez, the Straits of Bab al Mandeb, the Gulf of Oman, the Straits of Hormuz, the Persian Gulfand the Sassan Oil Fields. Many sleepless nights were devoted to their profession as the ship transited many of these places in the dark. Even though thejob was tiresome at times, the men of Navigation Division had fun, and will fondly remember the experience in years to come. 60