Essex (CVS 9) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 239 text:

a ll ti T i i tl Yi H 11 1 w i .E t nl' .1 l 1 l it t 4 Ei lt .5 49 129 i sem... Q Port Said...Suez CanaI...Porl Suez...Red if Captain Searcy moved from his custom- ary vantage point on the bridge to a specially constructed platform . . . ESSEX takes a watery short cut through a very dry land . . . anyone for a date and a mile walk? The trip to Karachi from the Mediterranean area is thousands of miles shorter today than it was little more than one hundred years ago, because of a man-made short cut, the Suez Canal. On l6 October, ESSEX arrived at Port Said, an Egyptian city which serves as the Mediterranean entrance to the Canal. It remained in that harbor overnight, to assure a safe passage through the Canal the following day. On the next morning, ESSEX began the thirteen hour, 105 mile transit of the Suez Canal. During the very hot and often tedious trip, the course was directed by Captain Searcy from a thirty foot conning 4 tower, specially constructed on the flight deck for the transit. The ESSEX spent the night of the l7th anchored in Bitter Lakes -1 to wait for daylight before travelling on, and the following morning, reached Port Taufiq, the southern terminal of the Canal, which lies on the shores of the Red Sea, only a few miles from the City of Port Suez. The ESSEX travelled across the Red Sea, and made a short refueling stop at Aden, principal port on the Arabian Peninsula. After the CENTO operations in Karachi, ESSEX once again transited both the Red Sea and the Suez Canal, becoming the first American aircraft carrier to make this trip in both directions. On the way home, ESSEX set another record, completing the trip in ten and one half hours, which Canal authorities believed was the shortest transit time in the history of the waterway. . . on a thirty foot tower built on the flight deck, in 'Z3' order to direct the ESSEX's transit of the Suez Canal. I 22 S

Page 238 text:

J .. L ..7 . , ,, ' .-.ng .-,, .-.nw .. ' 7... -:fa:,-1.15:a.-Ulf.-:ina'ififzh-'F-wi::'ff.2Fffi:Tv FF'iff? l -fini' j'l-Ziiffj,-,'i45' 25124 'L3-E'T'f-1313. 'If -fly 'iff-3311:. f5-.zgr-t: 151, A',5Tl-'-1f'fS'r IF i'f'5i-iii! f '7Q5ff-Fi.Q-2'L '?45f35.75'f7L1:'FYf'5'? Chaplain Tillberg smiles for the camera be- fore riding helicopter to the destroyers to administer Protestant services. Chaplain Tillberg gives Holy Communion at Members of the Jewish faith conduct their Protestant services aboard ESSEX. gown services in the Crew's Lounge. I 231

Page 240 text:

ea...Adel1 5 i Port Suez, a new and old city at the southern end of the Canal The center guide post and platform ESSEX sailors dlsembark from liberty launch used for connmg of ship through the at Aden, B.C.C. Canal. Cdptain Searcy and pilots direct the ship. Souvenir hunters find the flavor of the Orient in their purchases, as they shop at Aden. L 2