Lansing (DER 388) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 62 text:

TROPHY DAY FOR THE LANSING Speech made by Captain E. December 1964. B. HENRY, USN, Commander Destroyer Flotilla FIVE on 29 Commodore ZARTMAN, Captain SHULTZ , Ship ' s Company of the LANSING. It is a priv- ilege for me to come aboard today to award the Commodore ' s Cup and Olympic Field Day Tro- phy to this ship. Excellence in athletics is often the hallmark of general excellence in team- work and effective leadership. This is especially true where men must live and work together under stress. The record of the LANSING certainly illustrates my point. It has been a source of pride to me to note your performance at sea and in port. And it has also been a source of satisfaction to me to feel confident that when the LANSING is there the job is well in hand, whe- ther it be on Barrier, Special Ops, or whether it be going into an ARD for repairs. Turning specifically to your performance in winning the Flotilla Athiletic Competition, I am reminded of the story of the first time the United States won the AMERICA Cup, which we still hold after 100 years. This is the yachting cup that America brought back from England in 1851. The rules have changed a little bit since the original race and of course you have read about the 58

Page 61 text:

FOOTBALL TEAM Front row (left to right) - Evans, T. R. , Pauley, R. V. , Brewer, C. E. , Gilmore, K. D. ; Second row (l-r)-Smith, M. J., Lester, C.W. , Blca , H.B. , Culbrctli, J. L. ; Third row (l-r)-Dcjanovich, J. P. , Tillman, F. K. , Escobcdo, R R. , Betts, J. L. , Langford, J. L. , Walters, C, W. BASKETBALL TEAM Front row (left to right) -Stafford, W. D. , Evans, T. R. , Pauley, R.V. , Brewer, C. E. , Gilmore, K. D. ; Second row (1-r) Langford, J. L. , Blea, J. B. , Betts, J, L. , Gary, J. P., Watters, C.W.

Page 63 text:

races at Newport, Rhode Island, where the attempt to take the cup away from us is made every few years. But the first time America got the cup, it was done by the yacht AMERICA that sailed across the Atlantic to England to enter the race. The race was held by sailing around the Isle of Wight. There must have been at least as many yachts there as there are ships in Destroy- er Flotilla FIVE. The performance of the AMERICA that day was something on the order of the performance of the LANSING in 1964. Queen Victoria came down to watch the race as the yachts started out around tiie island. I guess the course covered at least 100 miles, maybe more. She had her Royal Chamberlain, who was her number one advisor, with her and waited at the finish line for the sailboats to come in. Finally, the first yacht showed up and as time went by they finally identified the yacht as the AMERICA. As time passed and still no other yachts approached, Queen Victoria turned to her Chamberlain and said, Who is coming in sec- ond ? And the Chamberlain said, Madam, there is no second. That is about the way LANSING did in this competition. Captain SHULTZ , I want to congratulate you, your officers, your leading petty officers, and your team captains on an outstanding performance, and I would also like to congratulate each member of the Ship ' s Company. 59