Cotten (DD 669) - Naval Cruise Book

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1- l F' ill r .1 H R I I a I .- 1 ' 'O-x Li' f A if! A AL, 1 jf! . fy , A ri! Al'-X K Z ' A AA -33,-XA, A go Q , . 'l - -'I' ' Eff 1' sf n G .,.,- J ps f -ml all i' I',l If ff 4. .. . . f Q .T V U 6 g ' , G' V . A, a 43:-2 1, - A A A 2 W ' A - :T xf A 1 1 Jw X , , A,f M A E ---- NN Q 1 ' I 1 TA I, . A , Z K' THE WAY HOME Dependents, friends and those only mildly interested were confused by reports that we would arrive in Newport, R.I., U.S.A., Tuesday, Sunday, Monday, we would tie up at newly constructed Pier No. 1, would moor in the bay,would arrive in themorning, the evening, the afternoon. About 16 messages later we put our first line over at Pier No. 1. It was approximate- ly 1400 Monday 28 November 1955. We had our months of sea duty behind us for which some of us received the Occupation Ribbon. W The road back was a rough one. Our last three days were spent riding out a North Atlantic Storm. During the storm we pitched, we tossed, we stood on our beam end with a 51'roll. COTTEN was damaged - not serv- iously but enough to be felt by all hands. Ovens broke loose inthe galley and were adrift. The result: we had a boil 'd d' - h ' ' ' e inner t e kind you couldn t .buy. The big- gest hurt was no bread, we had 44 inches of water in the cracker locker so we had no crackers, either. Happily we had our Thanksgiving meal before the storm. The menu featured Turkey, trimmings and fuel oil. Everyone milled around topside at first, talking and wondering who would be waiting to greet us. As soon as the Special Sea Detail was set and our call letters were in the air, we fell in atAquarters to enter port. Then we just stood there - waiting, watching and feeling very excited. . . ik, As we steamed by familiar Castle Rock and around- Coddington Point we had many places and thingsAto rAe- member since last we were here. We'd been to six dif- ferent countries...could say Thank you in five dif- ferent languages.--, We were loaded with Italian lire drachmae, francs, pesetas, Turkish lira and shillings which we could not exchange for American green . We had sets of undress blues that could walk alone. White hats long overdue for the rag bag, enough sou- venirs to furnish a Sultan's palace and sea stories to tell our grandchildren in years to come. A In our crew we had new fathers who had not seen their offspring. Somewhere there on the beach brand new little girls and boys waited to meet their daddys for the first time. Pretty soon we began our approach and a couple Of tugs came out to help us. We could make them out nowr.. all the people on the pier and the Yo-Yo ...girlS III bright coats - some bundled against the weather..some standing with babies in their arms, others waving fran' tically...children running up and down the deck...parentS standing with searching looks on their faces. Everyone smiled. The brow went over. There was a mad, confused rush. When we saw those happy, smiling, wonderful American people, we knew we were home! Only customs inspection stood between us and leave and liberty.

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'A ,KAI ini i'J.l'llxllf. 'l..-1'ffl,fi 'K . 1- .H- I 'l f..'W' VZ- -. 1. . s 'P In H-A.. ' , , Qrqyfwwfl ,.fff, . .f Wray' X THINGS WE'l.l. ALWAYS REMEMBER A -little Rough N . as Go west, young man, go west, was ad- vice we didn't need.from Mae West or anyone else. We knew the direction, the lonelines s of separation, andphad the desire to go home. Out of Malta we wound up our training exercises, chopped Sixth Fleet and headed home. 5 We steamed two days before we passed the Rock which we didn't see because it was fogged out. Now there was only the small matter of about 3100 miles of' Blue Lagoon between us, and Ccrldington Point - only 3.0100 wet, angry, stormy... Itwish I weren't a lookout sandwiches for chow...miles between us and Gene's Cleansers. e - :Our thoughts were of home, of those that would be there to greet us, as we pitched and rolled along but we couldn't forget for a minute that we were at sea. We felt it every inch of the way. As We plowed along the navigator's selected course Westward we were comforted with the thought of a month- long period for leave and upkeep. Our leave schedule The Rock was planned...some of us, at least, wouldgbeshome for Christmas. Our occupation turned to preparing ,forthe destroyer's everneeded tender period ...even ,further ahead to an upcoming yard period. A Thanksgiving dinner, which featured two complete menus - turkey and ham dinners, was intger,r,up,ted and prolonged by refueling at sea operations. ,1,Aga-in,we realized that the Navy's mission mustloften take pre- cedence over such commodities as eating and sleeping. As we marked days off the calendar, and ,drew nearer to the States we became enmeshed, in a North Atlantic storm which tried us and,our.1ship. Already dampened spirits weren't helped, any. 'when we learned Army had defeated the Midshipmen in the annual Army- Navy game. A Then, at last, there. was? land on the horizong we had the thought that OI1CC,'Il'2O!Cg,WC. would be wrapped in the loving arms of tropi'cal ' Newport in the winter. We began to think of leave, seventy-two's and. forty- eights which would soon become reality. .It was almost unbelievable. No Captions required this IS HOME

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avi i A . 3 X X - -.auf ,xX- M W. ...' '1 Q w N iii 5 Si ,Lil My 1, itil U 1: .1 I i I I 4 .w v- rig N' gil' 101 l rl Q' 4' 46' ie! as rr-42 N' 35 'Z '54 ' if 2 '-. fm 1 PARTY FOR CHILDREN PIRAEUS GREECE ust a small contribution on our part did wonders for 35 underprivileged Greek children at Pireaus It all started with payday donations and a trip to a local Newport merchant Mr Sideris of the Naval Attache Staff in Athens arranged with a Catholic Priest to bring the children aboard the ship for lunch -and to receive gifts of toys and clothing Mrs Watts, wife of an American engineer, accompanied the children, as did Mr Sideris to act as interpreters and chaperones Spilliotis was on hand to interpret for the children but language didn t seem much of a problem for crew mem The children seemed to enjoy everything and had a wonderful time with their boat trip to the ship, touring and climbing all over the COTTEN, a good Swiss steak meal with ice cream movies and of course, much needed clothing Toys that were given will be used in a sum mer camp sponsored by the priest But 12 dozen ballons disappeared in practically no time As photographers snapped pictures, Captain Stow presented the Father a gift of children s clothing The orphans then danced in a circle around the Captain and sang a Greek song of thanks. I J . . . , . D . , - bers who acted as guides. . , . The ultimate of their appreciation was apparent when, as they shook hands with the Captain and Mr. Scholle, each child took the hand, kissed it and placed it ag- ainst his forehead. Everyone had a lift of heart as they watched those Greek children accepting our small gift. . , - ,-.,. .. ,, . . A ' .,.,,f.A :Lice-r 1 .4111-if--fi -- -A1W-'--'ff'T,j f:1i,-..1.,,C.,--..,..-A-. t ., f .... A, ' - ,gl ,, - ' . 1-y,.s.r-.......,a...fw-rr+-vs-H ' A' T' c Y. --Q-rc-1.7-- -- ' ' ' . 1, E . . , f 1 - .He-V - M -K ' .' . , ,, .., . . .. .,..,,.- L. L' rf f - -N' . . ' -- . . , .r - , .V r 1 1 ,--,I -I -- f ff--' - ' . , ,..-..r..,J...,--,-.,-+f.--.A4a-'H-'--A' .,-.-...-.a.a,,w,,,..,,,,,.,s,.4.-1A-'fd--''Nj'- ' QT .- r.4,,f.w-wr' 't : -15'f'. .1'.. ji., at L + +f- '+f '- J. J V , - M- 1'