Knapp (DD 653) - Naval Cruise Book

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,nf Bahrein Bahrein is an island of the Bahrean Islands off the coast of Saudi Arabia in the Persian Gulf. Bah- rein is an independent kingdom and a British pro- tectorate. BAPCO, the 3rd or th largest oil refinery supplies Phillippines, Okinawa and many of the South American countries with oil and asphalt. BAPCO is an American-owned company. The com- pany has a 99 year lease on the land. Starting out from the dock we were confronted with a long walk. After walking a useless mile some of us took the bus and were roped into a tour of the oil reHnery. We were shown four plants by the fore- man of each. They were the Power plant, both the catalystic and fractional distiller crackers, the as- phalt and barrel rnakini plants. Some did get to e nearby village bringing back some souvenirs and being good sa' ors eventu- ally found something to drink. The city itself was typically Arab in design and layout. As the majority of stores didn't open until 4:00 in the afternoon, buying was limited to street venders selling silver and gold trinkets. Most of the streets were narrow and dark with the shops dimly lighted. Articles, in the stores were mainly Britis and Arnrican and were reasonable in price. -s -. r '

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Colombo Colombo, a well known seaport and commercial center, is the capitol of Ceylon a British protectorate. Located on the west coast having a population of 284,000. A number of us, still low on funds from Hong Kong, managed to scrape up enough money, too the tour to Kandy, The Botanical Gardens of Kandy exhibited the various spice trees of the Orient. The six hours of jouncing on the bus didn't go over too big. Rubber and tea plantations were pointed out. Stops were made at the Temple of the Toothg a Buda dhist temple and some were able to see the native elephants being scrubbed down. Beggars were en- countered everywhere. Some of the Crew stayed in town picking up souvenirs or sampling liquor at one of the local es- blishments, and F akirs were to be seen exhibiting card tricks and the pea and shell game. One could also watch the charming of the king cobra. fi t iw, iff -an p .,f tif., JN , X355 5 l..

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Aden It is a British Crown Colony in South Arabia, on the Gulf of Aden. The colony mostly comprises two extinct volcanic craters joined by a flat sandy fore- shore. A gap in the rock wall gives the town of Aden fthe major port of the colonyj access to the well- protected harbor. Aden is a free port which attracts much shipping on the trade route served by the Suez Canal. The inhabitants are Moslem, directly ruled by Sultans or tribal chiefs. The KNAPP arrived in Aden on February 9, 1954 and left the same afternoon after refueling. Suez Canal The Suez Canal opened to trafHc on Nov- 201 1869. It is unlike the Panama Canal. There 15.110 need for locks because the sea levels of the Mediter- ranean Sea and the Red Sea are practically ident1C21l- The Canal is 87.5 miles long, width is from 390 feet to 295 feet. The overall depth is 37 feet The largest ship to transit the Canal was 888 feetulmlg 129 feet wide. The maximum speed permitted 15 7- knots. The average time of the transit is 13 h0l11'S- f