Rehoboth (AGS 50) - Naval Cruise Book

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PROLCGUE Wlwellier rain, sleei, or gale from Jrlie frigid walers of 'flue Hlvlidniglwi Sun lo llie glaring lneal and warm lepid wafers oi Tlwe egualor, no pain clo we ieel as much as we clo 'flue pain oi loneliness for our wives, families . and loved ones. We iry lo express our 'rliouglwls and ieelings in our lei- lers, buf wliai can a leller say llial a loolc in one's eyes or llfie lone in one's voice says so mucli more easily. Try and underslancl llsie sacriiice ol a sailor and lwis iam- ily. For 'rlieir sacrifice lceeps sale, ine nalion ol llwe siars and slripes, 'flue nalion ol liberly, iree speeclw, clwoice of religion, and The pursuil of lfiappiness. Bui mosl of all, il keeps our couniry a lree nalion.

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. HlP'S HISTORY A , '9'sh xory is oTTen a dull, unsTimulaTing chronicle OT evenTs Trom The commissioning dal :OT a ship Through The presenT. IT is our inTenTion To make This cruise book more in- Teri,sTing and eTTecTive Than The usual example-so To This end we shall Try To cuT unin- TeresTing daTes, eTc., To a minimum. The USS RET-TOBOTT-l is named aTTer RehoboTh Bay, which is on The coasT of Delaware near RehoboTh Beach. She sTarTed liTe noT as an Oceanographic Ship, buT as a seaplane Tender. She was commissioned on February 24, I944, and spenT The TirsT year and a half on convoy duTy, having noThing To do wiTh seaplanes. IT may be oT inTeresT To noTe ThaT The RET-TOBOTT-l goT oTT To a smashing sTarT in life. lT seems ThaT her TirsT capTain did noT believe in TugboaTs. As a consequence, iusT aTTer her maiden voyage, she managed To make a very deTiniTe impression on Pier 9I in SeaTTle. To be more speciTic, she smashed inTo iT. An inTeresTing comparison can be made regarding The number oT men aboard when she TirsT served as a seaplane Tender, and The number oT men she now carries. Appar- enTly she had a war-Time complemenT oT over 300 men. T-lammocks even had To be sTrung Through The mess decks To accommodaTe everyone. Now she only carries around I6O men or so. ln addiTion, The ship was quiTe diTTerenT Then, in ThaT she carried Two 5 gun mounTs Torward and one aTT. She was really a TighTing ship in her heyday. ln her capaciTy as a seaplane Tender she had To The unique disTincTion oT preparing a plane called The TruculenT TurTle Tor a record TlighT lnon-sTopl Trom FremanTle, AusTra- lia, To Ohio. This plane is now on display in NorTolk, Virginia. ATTer a brieT period in The moThball Tleef, The USS RET-lOBOTl-l was converTed inTo an AGS-General Survey Ship. She was recommissioned in l949, and assigned To The ATlanTic FleeT. She was laTer TransTerred To The PaciTic FleeT, To be home porTed in San Francisco. ln The course oT her Travels she wenT all over The world, and has enTerTained such celebriTies as Prince Rainier oT Monaco. As an oceanographic survey ship, The USS RET-TOBOTI-l has discovered several sea mounTs lone named aTTer herselTl, and has relocaTed many oThers. She has made exTen- sive surveys oT The gulT sTream, and aT various Times has held various oceanographic records, including The deepesT anchoring ever successfully compleTed. The USS RET-lOBOTl-l is presenTly conducTing oceanographic survey operaTions in The PaciTic Ocean. She is much diTTerenT now Than in her early liTe. No longer do we have 5 guns To deTend ourselves, and now we only have around I6O men aboard. While The RET-lOBOTl-l is no longer a TighTing ship, she is a navy ship, doing a very imporTanT job ThaT is very viTal To The deTense oT our naTion. Our iob is every biT as imporTanT as any desTroyer. She is a good ship, and will sTill be serving an imporTanT purpose in The Tor- seeable TuTure.