Cotten (DD 669) - Naval Cruise Book

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A few days at sea seemed very long, But we soon entered the port of Hong Kong, We bought our tailor made suits with pride, From the dozens of merchants that came along side. November 22nd, a date never to be forgotten, Especially by the crew of the U. S. S. Cotten, First the ' pollywogsi' had their say, Then the 'shellbacksn had their day. The royal baby we did kiss, Bow to king neptunen whom you couldnit miss, Then off to the royal barber with you, And a flogging from the royal cops too. All this happened when we crossed the equator, Davy Jones must have laughed at us later, But a crew of merry shellbacks we now are, Sailing ever homeward by sea and star. The next day we entered Singapore, She showed no trace of the last world war, Though many thousands had been killed, A modern city the British rebuilt. Ceylon, a land of spice and tea, Is a tropical island rising from the sea, Its jungles are full of wild beasts, Its cities a paradise and year round feasts. Ras Tanura, Arabia, a desert land, With oil fumes flowing o'er sea and sand, Where people bow and the women wear veils, As a boy in school we read of these tales. Refueling again in an Arabian port, The port of Aden, our stay was short, The month of December was fading fast, Already the half mark we have passed. From the Red Sea into the Med, By way of the Suez, our stop Port Said, Our stay in Egypt was but a few hours, From the ship you could see the steeples and towers Each man said his prayer on this Christmas day, Some alone, some together, each man had a way, In the town of Athens somewhere in Greece, Four Destroyers rested this Christmas in peace. We started the year of ,54 in Cannes, France, Wine for your dinner, Chanel for romance, Oui Oui, it was time for us to depart, We're heading for the place most dear to our heart. To Gibraltar, Bermuda then a place called home, To the men who don't travel this is but a poem, But the sailor who has seen the foreign lands, ' Is always glad to be back to Shake familiar hands.

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,Cooking ac The U. S. S. Cotten left Newport ont e eighteenth of May To venture to lands far over the way, The weather grew hotter day by day, Soon to be in Panama but not to stay. Refueling soon done, a liberty we had, The skies were clear but the air smelled bad Bring in the lines we are off again, To where the sun shines bright and our trip began We left California on the fifth of june, To a foreign land we'd be there soon, On our third day out, a ship we spied, An AE far off on the starboard side. We guarded her closely for we all knew, A heavy load she was carrying too, We stood our watches condition three, And all grew tired of the roving sea. Alas, land dead ahead was the report, T'was the voice of the lookout and his message was short We pulled into Midway till the fueling was done And left again by the noon day sun. Now our stay in Japan was very brief, We were off to Korea, some other ship's, relief We sailed through the dark like a thief in the night Our five inch were ready but there was nothing in sight A letter each day was a thing of the past, Though Uncle Sam gave us free Air Mail at last We'd talk about liberty though our thoughts were of home And wondering what it'll be like to spend Christmas alone Each midnight into the beach we'd glide, The St. Paul and New jersey at our side, We'd shoot until a quarter of four, Until another midnight then back for more. Now the Generals decided to sign a truce, We were all happy from Captain to deuce Still we hung around with seventy seven, Carriers, Cruisers and Destroyers eleven. !! We all knew our ship was the best, Even Admiral Hickey put us to a test, But he finally brought over the Navy E , And even stayed with the Captain for tea. On November fourth we left the task force, Straight for japan we set our course, For five long days we loaded stores, And took our last look at japanese shores.

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