Mount McKinley (AGC 7) - Naval Cruise Book

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PERSONAL CONTACT WAS MOUNT MCKINLEY'S THEME DURING THIS DEPLOYMENT WHILE EXTENDING THE HAND OF FRIENDSHIP BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES AND THE PEOPLES OF THE COUNTRIES OF SOUTHERN EUROPE. WHENEVER WE HAD THE OPPORTUNITY, GIFTS WHICH WERE BROUGHT WITH US FROM TH STATES WERE DISTRIBUTED TO ORPHANAGES AND MISSIONARIES IN MANY OF THE PORTS WE VISITED. OUR NEDITERRANEAN FRIENDS ARE NOT FORGOTTEN WHEN NE LEAVE PORT- FOR INSTANCE, DURING A MEDITERRANEAN CRUISE IN 1959, THE CE DIVISION UADOPTEDU A SEALL ITALIAN GIRL THROUGH THE FOSTER PARENTS PLAN. CARMELLA ERRICHELLI WAS THEN EIGHT YEARS OLD, ATTRACTTVE AND BRIGHT--EVEN THOUGH HER HOME WAS MORE OF A SHANTY THAN A HOUSE. i1-111-, CARMELLA'S SISTER, CARMELLA, AND INTERPRETER ABOARD MOUNT MCKINLEY DURING OUR VISIT TO NAPLES THIS YEAR, THE MEN OF CE DIVISION WERE ABLE TO HAVE THEIR FOSTER DAUGHTER, NOW A BRIGHT, FRIENDLY TWELVE-YEAR-OLD, ABOARD FOR DINNER AND A VISIT. THIS NAS HER SECOND VISIT TO MOUNT MCKINLEY AS SHE HAD PREVIOUSLY BEEN ENTERTAINED DURING THE MEDITERRANEAN CRUISE OF 1961 THERE IS CONTTNUOUS EXCHANGE OF CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN CARMELLA AND HER FOSTER FATHERS. W ALSO CORRESPOND WITH OTHER NEW FRIENDS THAT WE EET IN THE MEDITERRANEAN KEEPING IN CLOSE TOUCH, HOPING TO VISIT AGAIN.

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Captain Russell F. Flynn, USN, relieves as Commanding Officer, USS MOUNT MCKINLEY CAGC-71 on March 23, 1963. Captain Flynn was born in Leesville, Connecticut, on August 15, 1918. He attended Nathan Hale High School, Moodus, Connecticut. He began his military career by enlisting in the Army with the intention of attending the United States Military Academy. However, while attending west Point Preparatory School, Portland, Maine, he obtained an appointment to the United States Naval Academy, graduating December 19, l9Al, class of 'A2. At the onset of World war II Captain Flynn was ordered to the Pacific Fleet as signal officer aboard the battleship USS MISSISSIPPI CBB-All until July l9A3. During the war he participated in the amphibious operations at Attu, South Pacific, Lingayen Gulf, Leyte, Surigao Strait and Okinawa. In l9AA he studied applied communications at the U. S. Naval Post Graduate School, Annapolis, Maryland, and during the years 19Ah-19L7 served as Conmmnication Officer aboard the battle- ships PENNSYLVANIA QBB-385 and IOWA CBB-611 in the Pacific theater. He was on board USS PLNNSYLVANIA when she was torpedoed at Okinawa the day before World War II ended. After the war, Captain Flynn became Executive Officer of USS GAINARD CDD-7061 operating in the Atlantic Fleet. He then served as Communi- cation Instructor at the General Line School in Monterey, California, and as Communication Officer on the staff of Conmander Carrier Division 16 CHunter-Killer Force Atlanticl, before becoming Executive Officer of USS WATTS CDD-5673. Captain Flynn served three years within the Office of the Director of Naval Communications, Office of Chief of Naval Opera- tions. In June, 1957, he assumed command of USS HAROLD J. ELLISON QDD- 86Aj and from August 1959 until December 1960, Captain Flynn was Senior Surface Instructor, and headed the Trainer Section at the Anti-submarine Warfare Tactical School, Norfolk, Virginia. During the two and one-half years prior to reporting to MOUNT MCKINLEY CAGC-7D, Captain Flynn was Operational Communications and Planning Officer on the staff of Commander in Chief, U. S. Atlantic Fleet. Captain Flynn married Miss Belle walker Welch of Lothian, Maryland, in April 19A2, in San Francisco, California. They have three daughters, Patricia Gail, Kathleen Stirling, and Ellen Catherine Flynn, and thrge sons, Russell Francis, John J. M., and Henry P. Flynn. The Flynns cur- rently reside in Norfolk, Virginia. .,-.,,,.,,.,.,,-.,,,,...m......,.,.....,...,..-,....,... ....... A . Y,... A Y..-.-.. ...,,, N... THE NAVAL CAREER OF CAPTAIN RUSSELL F. FLYNN, USN, CCNNANDLNC OFFICER., use MOUNT MCKINLEY CAGC-75 'Mt

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RHGDES , GREECE THOUGHT OF BY MANY AS ONE OF THE LOVELIEST ISLANDS TO BE FOUND ANYWHERE IN THE MEDITERRANEAN IS RHODES. SURROUNDED BY DEEP-BLU AEGEAN WATERS, ITS MOUNTAINS ARE COVERED NITH JILDFLONERS AND THICK VEG TATION. SEMITROPICAL FLOWERS ARE IN EVIDENCE ALL YEAR ROUND...THE SCARLET AL- THEAS, PURPLE BOUGAINVILLAEA, ROSES IN LIMITLESS PROFUSION. IN THE SUMMER ITS LANDSCAPES ARE BRIGHTENED BY MILLIONS OF BUTTERFLIES. ON MANY A DESERTED HILLTOP STAND RUINS OF GRACEFUL TEMPLES. RHODES IS THE SECOND OF ALL AEGEAN ISLANDS IN SIZE, SUBORDINATE ONLY TO CRETE, WHICH LIES SEVENTY MILES SOUTHWEST. RHODES IS SIXTY MILES LONG. THE SUNSHINE FROM ITS COMBINATION OF DRY AIR, BLUE SEA, AND DENSE VEGE- TATION CASTS A BENEFICENT LIGHT OVER THE WHOLE ISLAND, A PHENOMENON WHICH IMPELLED THE EARLIEST OF ITS ANCIENT PEOPLES TO DEDICATE IT TO APOLLO, THE GOD OF LIGHT. RHODES, WHOSE NAME IS BELIEVED TO HAVE COME FROM ITS WEALTH OF ROSES, REMAINED A CENTER OF EDUCATION AND NAVIGATION THROUGHOUT ANCIENT TIMES. THE EARLIEST KNOWN NAVAL CODES FOR ADMINISTERING A FLEET HAVE DESCENDED FROM THESE PEOPLE, AND THEIR PRINCIPLES HERE ADOPTED BY THE BRITISH NAVY. . ' 1 f, L..f,.v......,k... ........D ..,......,,....... N. uasanudwfama-new-m:.s 1-Y' -ff ' ,A :9v'-wf?-'1- '1 f '