Oriskany (CV 34) - Naval Cruise Book

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ff-if . ..f 'Mr ..f V El-IE Italians, too, have their Riviera, stretching east and west from Genoa l where the Oriskany anchored late in August. In addition to good swimming, A this most active seaport in Italy provided a lively nightlife made particularly for sailors, as well as museums and palaces for daylight visiting. On foot or aboard tourist busses, Oriskany sailors spread out over the city from early in the morning until after midnight. Everyone saw the protected inner harbor, the Porto Vecchio, where transatlantic liners flew the British, French, Panamanian, Italian and American Hags alongside dock. Towering over the warehouses, silos, piers and other waterfront structures shone the Genoa lighthouse, tallest in all Europe. From Fleet Landing, it was every man for himself. Some few never got past the first few bars and restaurants on the waterfront. MI might as well have stood in Brooklyn, said one P.O., returning to the ship at the stroke of 2400. The city was simple to get around. Narrow trolley cars and modern busses crowded the 668,000 people of the city on their way to shopping, the movies, and home again for the Italian equivalent of three cents. What made Genoa easy to figure was that the farther away from the waterfront, the higher one had to climb. The city was a huge natural amphitheater. If a sailor refused to walk uphill on liberty he was confined to the first few blocks from the bay. In the old days before taxis and trolleys, even the Genoese thought twice about walking uphill. This led them to crowd the ancient walled city into a few thousand yards, with narrow winding streets, suitable for defense with lance, sword and arquebus. X I ff!!! Tours entrained from this station for Milan, the Alps, Rome and Venice. A bewhiskered newsboy sells papers and Iot- tery numbers. Everyone stops to admire u new accordion, one ol Ifuly's best buy5. In such vias and piazzas Cstreets and squaresl, some famous men were hom, worked, married and died. The house of Christopher Columbus stands, IVY' covered, in an open piazza. Another open space gives access to the birthplaQC of the patriot Giuseppe Mazzini. On a wider via, the Town Hall keeps the y10l1U of Paganini and the ashes of Columbus. As usual with relics and memories Of famous men, Genoa is not alone in claiming to possess the ashes of the great navigator. On the edges of the city, too, the city showed concern with the PHST, the illustrious and the unknown dead. Genoese call the Staglieno the most beau' tiful and artistic cemetery on earth. One of the Oriskany sailors commentcdi HA family must go into debt for life just to pay for such monuments to parents and relatives. But the city has not forgotten the living, the houses and the Commerce, for war and for peace. Reconstruction of bombed-out homes and churches is neiifll' complete. The tallest skyscraper in Europe. a grattacielo, keeps many Clerks and lawyers in modern office space. A niffht club on the roof entertains them C' ' 7 after hours. A huge electric sign over it all reminds visitors of New lofk' Qnfiglef night club, The Golden Spider, is loeatediin ithe iStock Exchange ul mg. For another war and more bombing, the city has prepared. Most first-class movle houses are UUfl9Yg1'ou11cl, easily converted to shelters. The last war an defeat have been forgotten. The insignia and monuments of Fascism have been TCITIOVCCL and only il few war ruins remain. The Arch of Victory COH1H1Cm0rates the dead of the H1915-18 War. With all its human CllHT30ll'T, Geona was rated No 1 port in the Med by many glrisgcanyl sailors.l Some of them, going along with fradition, tossed a coin into e Ollfl 21111 Ht tie Piazza de Ferrari to insure a return visit another Year'

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pol Z I R Continued . . . there he goes . . . got him! RISKANY sailors will tell their grandchildren about this one. ln the old days when the British Empire policed the East, whether Near, Middle or Far, Kipling and other writers started the line of tall tales about la ing in Egypt, tiger hunting in India and elephant shoots in ,Africa- o P Y . , other twenty years and some American old salts will reminisce about lxyu ' 3 1 l ,kg going out into the hills of Turkey to bring home wild boar. While the ship swung at anchor off Izmir, four hunts were organized for f Americans in the Heet. Thirty men left the ship before dawn each day or on native busses. Three hours later, four days running. They rode inland they reached the scrubby hill country where the wild porkers forage for young roots and berries. Leaving the primitive highway on foot, the men were posted at strategic spots. There they were told to wait for the animals to come to them. lf they wanted to, under the hot sun, they could smoke a quiet cigarette. The native bearers, we can almost hear the Old Salt saying in 1971, ' moved down wind two or three kilometers. They figgered to drive a dozen ritters toward us. We could hear their shouts-you or so of the mean little c know the Turks in the hills have a long-winded language different from the Frenchified school dialect introduced by old Mustapha Kemal. The home- made drums and bent washtubs sounded muflied by the hills. Then a thou- sand yards to the left, old Clete Harrison-she was just a young fellow then- shouted, iThere he isl There he goesl' i' At first, novices and eager beavers were impatient, spoiling the chance for a kill. The first few boars sighted were warned off by premature fire before anyone could see the whites of their little eyes. They ran like jack- rabbits, raising their hindquarters as they zigzagged away. Later, Oriskany gunners held their fire. Then, when the boars were driven within range, everyone let loose at once. lt sounded like the original Battle of Oriskany. Usually more than one man actually hit the animal and all claimed the game as it dropped. The Turkish farmers engaged to make the hunt successful stayed out of range of the M-1 riHes. Each of them earned 100 Turkish lire for beating the bushes to Hush game. The sailors chipped in 353.50 apiece to make this pot. lf a bushbeater were fast on his feet and lucky besides, he could make an additional 10 lire, All he had to do was crop off the tail of a boar once the Oriskany sharpshooters had done their work. The Turkish government paid a bounty of 10 lire for each boar's tail. The race to snip the tail each time was something to see. The hunts bagged about six boars a day. Ronald A. Cessna, CM2, was credited with two of the ugly little porkers. Gerald J. Soloman, MM1, shot the larffest: 300 pounds. D To protect themselves from berserk boars charging with huge tusks, the Turks carried shotguns. One barrel was loaded and the other contained a ' h blank to scare the game toward the hunters at their posts. The Turks t em- selves were excellent shots. After the hunt, they were eager to borrow an M-1 for a little Hexhibitionf, With the rifle, the Turk would sight a rock about 300 yards off. ln a couple of tries, he would get used to the sights and then start bouncing one right after the other off the rock. Back aboard, the day's kill was skinned, butchered and stowed in freezing compartments. But no one ever satisfied his taste for wild meat. The Medical De artment decided that the risk of infection was too great. The meat was P disposed of without a feast. Oriskany hunters wearing boots and carrying rifles, knives and canteens were well-prepared for u day in the arid hills of Turkey. M 'V We 3' gf' ,i .' v X ' 1 y 1 I 6 . wiv-Tek A ' -.n ,Q -3: .1 H f ,-'xii' v , . , V1 . ' A ' - . -at.-wifi mil .- H fi! s - Riirti 'rr. i 's y, he 1. 'ft , , -,i4 g f A. ',,:3,LM 4, ,I ,V I . we f .Zi if -35 jfrsfls ,, PM ,,s .t-- ,.:,:.1k!:aAvi: A , 1 If I K-.. s.. The hunters and the kill. Returning from the hunt with trophiei D909 'he FUS- Unloading the wild boars from the bus at the pier. ft '92, . if . ' 4 A: 1 .... 'Tr' r K . -5:3 N , ,V 4 - stun- Tw. -lni'P'x , ,- M

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..the sailors' city Pilots relax atop the Capurro, Genoa's highest building. Classic beauty marks the central Mausoleum of Cam- posanto, the Holy Field. COLOR! BCG Q X Ax., ..L LA FATRIA ,WX f Memorial lo Cl great navigator. Cemetery of Staglieno, one of the world's most grounds. The dust of generations gathers on heroic sculptures in the Camposanto galleries. The Borsa, stoclz market of the Ge Q.. v ' i MOOSE. .. .Wu Y K, 3' Z ' 2-V4 A ' i , V 'lim . , u if '- Y ew, -' VA ' 4 W'1f'ffyV3s 1--:2i'l1,14 'Y' 'M' 'c ' ,-if . T' 'iw 'i71.'L,ufr5:3- 1 lg A ' ' Emir- l l I H A J in , A' F1474 1 N 'W , ,, Vywzjyfyi eww- ,Tiff V ,V , 'Mf f ,I -15 fl , sw mf -gwsgi.g,g,h .. wait , :?',f,. l V T5 ' V A Lil'-xl 'V-lf' QW 1-1 :y.T,,1 V. , w f f - ' .V ' f- ' I V M . - A- -. e 2 -5 ,Q-,5ffp:,,. -.A 1 - Q- ' , v ' ' ,Q -9- A ' 1 x wawatewf ' .ig fx r' mff ft. . , ,. g ' ,wax -' s ' or '- ,V with -w e si' 'gf , ' 2 g , ' .,11.m.4 be v ,4 5: ' , 4 L re -A - ftjqqc i , 4' - , , .QAM Q ,.., ,fr 'g---E 3 4 ,QW , , 5 -A , , I ,, f , , . N Q I .te ,f e at , 2 f 4, .- 5 ' iffy , t 41 , ,q , jigpf I 4 ,y Mg- ? 5 f E ,ty , N x g 3 A, f ? Vi' P . We f 1 Q 72 V 1 - 1' +'- P aft' ,,t-,- M, r f '11 , 'T' 'i'rg v' 'iv , K ,Z as 4 f . 4 e A s ,Q g 1 .rf gran 5 4 I 1 ,, 4 in W ,, ' f 'rf , l X X, 'W 1 fp'-v-we -11,---s,...... ..,. '9V?ti MQ' as