Randolph (CVA 15) - Naval Cruise Book

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the unnds ol western statesiueu lor hundreds ol years. and lor lllllltllftls ol years Russia has considered ll her destiny to Hllltllltll' the world. ln .XlllCl'll'2l, be- cause we are new on the world stage ourselves, and because fi0llllIllllllSlll is a novelty. we tend lo over- look the lacl that Russia had been expanding' mightily ,,.X f 'I' l fllllllll I x:,',gTl , 11 j N A, W -. -A 'YV' , ,xg 4 ' . If X Fl gf-r 25:3 if: United States Navy and irresistibly long belore the Communist Revolu- tion. Russia has been feared and lought by France, by Great Britain, and by Germany. These three have fallen from their eminence while Russia, with all her suliering, has grown and grown. The reason we serve in the Sixth Fleet is that there is now no one else to do the job of holding Russia. The first war in the recorded history of the VVest, the Trojan XVar, was fought over the rich commerce of the Middle East and the trade routes of the Mediterranean Sea. Today, three thousand years later, the commerce of the Middle East is in oil instead of spices, we sail in steel ships instead of wooden ones, we are armed with devastating special weapons instead of spears. The problem, however, remains the same. This prob' lem has passed lrorn Troy, lo Greece, to clilllllilglf, to Rome, to Bylillllllllll, to Arabia, to Spain, to Frante, to lingland, and now to us. Not. all these powers have passed awayg the problem as it passes to us is com- plicated by the lact that we must care lor the interests ol' England and France on the one hand, and the in- terests ol Arabia on the other. XfVe see that Greece and Turkey are still bitterly opposed. The problem of Israel, the oldest ol them all, is now also in our hands. Today the concentration of the modern forms of power, unimaginably destructive, into the hands of two governments, unalterably opposed, makes the problem of the Mediterranean far graver than it has ever been in its long history. Now that we have inherited this problem, we have resolved to cope with it to the best of our ability. It is our hope that in time, if we are patient, generous, and understanding, the vital business of the world, and particularly of the Middle East, can be made to run smoothly and peaceably. That is why the sailors of the Sixth Fleet are considered to have two missions rather than one. YVhen we were at sea we were asked to stand ready to nght again the interminable, heart- breaking wars of the world, when we were in port we were asked to show the world that men can live to- gether in peace. This book tells the story of how well we have succeeded in these assignments, it tells how at sea we endeavored to be strong, and how in port we endeavored to be friendly. Each of us remembers that we were strong and that we were friendly, we only hope that as world history goes on it will be shown that we were good enough. Nelson, Victor of Trafalgar, reflects Britain's great naval tradition. IZI

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problem, but lf remains one of the most important and difficult that we face. dle East has always derived from the fact that they are at the center of the worlds trade routes. In nrodern times the construction of the Suez Canal and the dis- ffreat apprehension of an invasion of Fngland but as long as the lleet was fueled and the Impire re- threat to Britain s existence was that Germany might take the oil-fields of the Middle East and close the Nlediterranean. The slrort-sightedness of Hitler was . - - Q O Q Q J Q f ' J f Q Q . Q Q . . Q . Q - The importance of the Mediterranean and the Mid- mained intact this danger' was not very real. 'I he real u L C K ' J 4 C l I , Q , 1 4 I Q 1 4 1 1 if J Y Y y 1 A , Q covery of the ry orld s richest petroleum deposits in the Middle East have only increased this importance. Be- cause of these considerations, Great Britain has long made it the object of her foreign policy, second in importance only to maintaining the balance of power, to control the Middle East. It is also the fact that the power Great Britain feared in the Middle East was Russiag for centuries, Russia has striven to penetrate this area in order to gain access to the Southern seas. In the nineteenth century when the Ottoman Empire in Turkey was breaking up, Great Britain and France fought the Crimean XfVar against Russia to prevent her from establishing a naval base on the Black Sea. Russia eventually succeeded in winning the Black Sea, but by incorporating modern Turkey into the W'estern family of nations, the YVest has so far pre- vented Russia from reaching the Mediterranean. IfVe have seen that for a thousand years, the YVest has been constantly at war with the Moslem East. Con- sidering this, it is almost incredibly fortunate that Turkey should now be such a strong friend and ally of the YVest, and it is not at all surprising that the other Moslem nations should now be so reluctant to join us. Fortunately they are reluctant to join Russia for the same reason, that for centuries Russia has been strry ing to conquer them The Arab nations remem ber when the Christian nations trembled at the strength of Islam and like eyery other nation in the world they do not uelcome the idea that today there are only two powers There are 90 000 000 Arabs in the Middle East if they were united they would make the fifth or sixth most populous nation rn the world In both the First and Second YVorld Wars Great Britain deyoted a great part of her effort to the cam paigns rn the Middle East In YVorld VVar I Italy was on her side which greatly facilitated her problems of communication but Turkey was on Germanys side which gravely threatened both the main artery and life blood of the Empire the Suer Canal and petro leum Great Britain was able to hold the Middle East, but she was sorely defeated when she attempted to wrest control of the Dardanelles from Turkey in the great Gallipoli campaign In W'orld War II until 1944 when the defeat of the western powers against the Axis was concentrated rn the Mediterranean area The air Battle of Britain and the sea Battle of the Atlantic caused frightful suffer ing but the indomitable spirit of the British and the productive capacity of Amerrcr preyented them from affecting the course of ysar In 1910 there was one of the factors in his defeat' one of the greatest errors was to leave the Mediterranean war to Italy' until it was too late. It was a peculiarity of the war in North Africa that because the Axis held the center of the coast and Britain held Egypt their supply lines crossed in the middle of the sea. Throughout the war both sides found their supply lines in the greatest jeopardy. The Italian commander in Africa was most reluctant to mount an offensive towards Egypt because of this fact, and the British attempted to pass only the most vital equipment through the Mediterranean, only when absolutely necessary. The land war in Africa was the longest campaign of the whole war because every advance petered out in the desert as the delicate supply lines became over-extended. The Italians drove the British, the British drove them back, Rommel drove the British, the British drove him back, Rommel tried again, and again he was driven back. The ob- jective of the Axis was Alexandria, and Rommel came within seventy miles of it, but failed. At last, late in 1942, the Americans landed on the western coast of North Africa, a great effort was made, and the Ger- mans were pressed from both sides into a corner in Tunisia, where they were defeated There were many other campaigns around the Mediterranean 1n Greece the Italians were rgnomm- rously repulsed by the small Greek army with British assistance but Hitler bailed out his pompous ally and conquered Greece the Germans went on to take Crete in the only campaign of the war to be supplied en- tirely by air in the Middle East the British won cam- paigns in Syria Iraq and Iran against Germans and the Vichy Irench In 1943 the Allies were at last strong enough to take the offensrye and they did so in the Mediterranean, first rn Sicily and then on into Italy Italy gave up the ghost as soon as the first land- ing was made but the Germans were determined to hold all of Fortress Europe and the fighting is as so bitter that the Allies advanced at the rate of only one mile a day The result of Britain s long hnd struggle is as th rt she suryrved to help drive home the defeat of Cer- many It was brought home to us in the YN est that America at least to our friends in Luropt Mean- uhrle however the rerl issue of the is n is is being fought on the steppes and m nshlands of Russrr Hitler h rs been considered stupid to hue rttuked Russia but probably he would hue rs orded it if he had thought rt possrhlt Russia his loomed large in 0 Q , Q Q Q Q . Q . . . c ' . 4 . , , ' ' Q , , Q . . . Q Q Q . Q. . Q Q Q . r Q . Q . . . Q Q Q Q Q . Q Q . . Q . Q . . Q . . Q . . . . . . Q QQ Q , , Q Q Q . Q , Q . Q Q , . Q . Q Q - Q Q QQ . QQQ . ' ' ' ' ' ' '. , 2 ' t ' if 2 ! l . Y I . 'f ' Germany was certain, practically the whole effort of the Mediterranean is absolutely vital, if not to ' ' ' . . ' ' ' ' ' , if , ' 2 ' .'.' x f 'z ' 'z, ' Q f ' - ' l Q' 'r 'Az 21 t ' ' ' ' 1 ' 1 1 , 1 z ' - f :f'zf'- ' ' ' 1 ' ' '-- I ' L. 1 B v. as . ' l..fl . .,.. ,. . -

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Zn ilwmnriam LTJG THOMAS H. REID LT THOMAS A. BANTA LTJG JAMES E. PEARSON JR. LT WALLACE D. ARBUCKLE LCDR GEORGE H. GARDNER JR. LT BERT W. BISHOP JESSIE L. LAUGHLIN SN RAYMOND P. SZPAICHER AA LTJG RONALD W. CUMMINES VA-86 VA-72 VA-75 VA-75 VA-72 VA-75 Sth DIV V-1 DIV VF-71