Greenwich Bay (AVP 41) - Naval Cruise Book

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Ship ' Hi ' tci ' i The Greenwich Bay was the tv enfy-fifth and last ship of her class. She was built and commissioned at the Lake Washington Naval Shipyard in early 1945. Upon com- pletion of her first shakedown cruise, the Japanese had signed an unconditional sur- render, so the Galloping Ghost weighed anchor and set sail for the Pacific, where her first duty was tending seaplanes, for which she was originally built. Upon com- pletion of a tour of playing mother hen to a roost of seaplanes, the GB headed west around China and India, through the Suez Canal and arrived at her new home port, Norfolk, Virginia, in July 1946. Since tha+ time the Greenwich Bay has been on a shuttle schedule of six months in the States for repairs, overhaul, exercises and readiness for war and the other six months enroute to and on station in the oil rich re- gion of the Persian Gulf via the Mediter- ranean Sea and the Suez Canal. Most of the time in the Persian Gulf is spent at anchor off shore from Jufair British Naval Base, on Bahrian Island and serving as Flag- ship for an Admiral assigned as Command- er Middle East Force. While in the Gulf the GB hits many obscure islands and picturesque cities deep in tradition and Arabic culture. Each year the ship makes extended cruises outside the Gulf to Bom- bay, India; Karachi, Pakistan and Colombo and Trincomalee, Ceylon. This year we

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The 1954 Cruise Book represents a pictorial and historical record of the annua! Middle East cruise of the . . t(» ST. ST. feeHUfich Saif i Photoqraphs for this book were selected from oHicial Navy photographs and photos submitted by members of the crew This book was paid for with nominal contributions from those deslrinq the book, with generous help from the ship ' s Welfare and Recreation fund at no expense to the United States Government.

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were fortunate to visit Massawa and As- mara, Eritrea in the Red Sea. The Green- wich Bay is one of the elite trio of ships which rotate between the States and the Gulf, the other two being the USS VAL- COUR (AVP-55) and the USS DUXBURY BAY (AVP-38), both sister ships of the GB . They differ only in placement of guns and a few minor below deck altera- tions. The Greenwich Bay was changed to an all white mask from the traditional Navy grey in 1949 and also underwent the installa- tion of a complete air-conditioning system, and while in the Persian Gulf, is rigged with topside awnings fore and aft. These altera- tions are necessary to the health and com- fort of the crew because of the extremely high temperatures of the Gulf area which sometimes reach in the 140 ' s and 150 ' s in the shade, and there is very little shade to be had on Bahrain Island, except for a few palm and date trees and assorted huts. The overall length of the Greenwich Bay Is only 310 feet, approximately the length of a football field, and she has a relatively shallow draft which enables her to maneu- ver in and about the shallow waters of the Gulf with apparent ease. At the present time, the GB is under the very able com- mand of Captain J. G. LEWIS, and has a complement of 15 officers and 191 men in shlps ' s company. An additional 6 offi- cers and I I men come aboard with the Staff, MIDEASTFOR, foremost of whom is Rear Admiral H.H.HENDERSON, Com- mander Middle East Force. The ship ' s primary mission in the Middle East is to promote a feeling of good will and the show of power, with modesty and dignity to the people of the Middle East who look to the United States for protec- tion and guidance. Each man of the ship from the Admiral, who meets dignitaries, down to the last seaman, who meets the people, and whom the people watch and base their impres- sions on, has a responsibility to the diplom- acy of the ship and to their country. This year, as usual, all have done the job well. The whole ship hopes that in future cruise books, in the pages of naval history and in the annals of our government, it will go down that this crew of fine, young American men, their officers and the ship itself, have increased the already estab- lished welcome of the United S -ates in the Middle East. We also hope that we have sailed our ship with pride — pride in our ship, pride in our country and pride in our- selves for being members of that ship and that country.