Roanoke (CL 145) - Naval Cruise Book

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LIRE TO POUNDS TO LIRE TO DRACHMAE We were at sea again, on our way from Messina to Eamagusta, Cyprus Cvia Sfax, Tunisia, a port we never saw because rough water prohibited putting boats over the sideb, basking beneath the warm Mediterranean sun, 5900 miles from snowbound Philadelphia, At Eamagusta we were to embark Admiral R. L. Conolly, Commander'in'Cbief, US. Naval Forces, Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean, the big boss as it were, with a part of his stall from London, for a courtesy visit to jidda, in the land of King Ibn Saud-Saudi Arabia. Needless to say, since the Roanoke was to be the Admiralls flagship for this trip, our sun basking was inter' rupted by frequent field days throughout the ship- holystoning the decks, shining brightwork, chipping paintwork and chipping teeth. But this was the life, we thought, cruising in the balmy Mediter' FAMAGU S TA Cha lain Hartun , P S with a U'Drii'c'lt Caravan in Famagusta, Cypr ranean in mid'Eebruary, on our way to the farfaway enchanted lands of Egypt and Arabia. Cccasionally our thoughts wandered homeward: what were our wives and families doing? Shovelling snow and coal, making payments on fur coats, snillling and sneezing, feeding the baby codfliver oil and putting chains on the car? . . . Such a lot of botherl Cnce ashore in Eamagusta, on the ancient island of Cyprus, we found ourselves back in the dollar' pound money exchange again. We were old hands at it this time. We'd spent five days in training in the British Crown Colony of Gibraltar. Our now familiar American Express agent was awaiting us in Eamagusta to take us touring to see the Cthello Tower in the old walled city, scene of Shakespeare's great tragedy , the nearby city of Salamis, founded in ancient times by the Phoenicians, where the dust HS

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-4,4 '+L 'J 64 Roanolce in full dress on Wasl1iv1gtoi1's Birthday of the bones of Barnabus, traveling companion of the Apostle Paul, lie buried near the ruins of the church of early Christian times, and outside the limits of Famagusta itself the sites of camps which were used recently by the British to care for jews attempting to illegally enter Palestine. Arriving on board by helicopter from the air strip near the center of the island, Admiral Conolly and his stall' saw the Roanoke full dressed in honor of Washington's birthday, with signal flags strung from the bow over the masts and stacks to the stern, in a rainbow of color. Weighing anchor in the late afternoon we departed on a southerly course, ac' companied by two destroyers, toward Port Said, Egypt, the entrance to the Suez Canal. We were scheduled to begin transit of the canal two nights later, a little after midnight. Liberty was not granted in Port Said, for it was a Friday, the Moslem holy day, and during the greater part of the day while we waited for the convoy of which we were to be a part to start through the canal, we observed the city from the level of the main deck. Toward midnight our Canal pilot and six natives came on board, and, while most of the ship slept, the first part of the big ditch was covered. In the morning, the natives who were making the trip unveiled a horde of curios from their small punts to sell to the travelers from America, so that before long, in spite of no liberty in Port Said, leather belts, painted purses, mosaic jewelry and tooled 25-ff ff,- 5 f1n'- ,. .Jf,l 1 .4-W. I 1 z , 1 I, ' 1, ,if - - W '45 ,. ,fa . 1, ,fy , f Ml M. ,Ivy ef Fleet Landing in Famagusta You look just as goofy to us