Essex (CVS 9) - Naval Cruise Book

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, 1331 M1.1513243:-gl--af.i,:1-.,g1:-gg.fr,geg-11..,L:p-1fi:y.i.-fawe, 1.31. , Y .NH , ....,2-..,- A - 4.-.,,-. ., . , 1 l ESSEX JOINS THE SIXTH FLEET ESSEX ioined the Sixth Fleet in February of 1958. The majority of the cruise was spent operating in eastern Mediterranean waters, and stops were made at many colorful ports- of-call, among them Genoa, Naples, Cannes, Palma, Barcelona, S-uda Bay, Salonika, Piraeus and Rhodes. It was during ESSEX's stay at Athens that the call to action came again, and the ship departed Rhodes Bay hurriedly in the early morning hours, to provide support for the Marine landings in Lebanon. ESSEX was first on the scene and remained on the line off the coast of Lebanon until August 20, providing continuous air support, through day and night flight operations. ESSEX then returned to Naples, looking forward to a well-deserved rest period, on 23 August. But by the 25th, she was underway again, and a scant two weeks later she was operating in support of the S-eventh Fleet oft the Formosa Coast. ln company with FORREST ROYAL and ROAN, units of DESRON 10, she departed Subic Bay 3 October 1958, and proceeded to Singapore, Colombo, Ceylon, Capetown, South Africa, and Rio de Janeiro, arriving home in Mayport, Florida, 17 November 1958. This marked the completion of what is believed to be the longest naval cruise in modern peacetime history, covering 78,000 engine miles in nine and one half months, nearly one third of the entire distance she covered during her activities in World War Il. f ESSEX operated with FORRESTAL, MACON, ALBANY, IOWA, and NORTHAMPTON during the NATO exer- cises in 1957. The training maneuvers were conducted Q in the North Atlantic.

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' fu Lia, A . . , ,, A N. ,. -rf, v, i, ', '9' ,mv + -gy,--W A gf , . -.nh 1. - ,,. , ,,.A3.l- ESSEX af anchorage in Sasebo, Japan and af Cubi Point Pier, in Subic Bay, Philippine Islands, during her final cruise to the Pacific. yi muy f wifffiifw I 'Q '77 7. -+ ul Y ' 'V . an Ulla V84 '1

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,1.-.3-sfsfzf1f3.gw.J-1wfr55'sfv i 71. i i K Units of the Sixth Fleet lie at anchor at Rhodes, Greece. lt'was during this call that ESSEX departed s for Lebanon to stand by for any eventuality and to support amphibious operations. ESSEX conducted extensive air operations during the NATO exercises. Maintenance of fighting readiness means sacrifice and hard work. Trained crews hastily fought a fire caused by the crash of an FJ3 during routine operations.