Roanoke (CL 145) - Naval Cruise Book

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wallets had found their way into lockers throughout the ship and would some day be proudly displayed at home as souvenirs of Egypt. The Suez Canal has its southern terminus at the citynof Suez, a metropolis that we saw only from a distance across its harbor. The canal itself, traversed at a speed of eight and a half knots, is flanked by desert on either side and we wondered at the feat accomplished one time by Moses in leading the people of lsrael across that very desert to the Promised Land. Here we saw the ancient and the modern side by side. In the few cultivated areas which we passed occasionally adjacent to the canal we saw Egyptians plowing with plodding oxen, and at the very moment we were watching one of them a modern railroad train roared past at high speed on the line that parallels the water highway. Two days in the Red Sea-what a disappoint' ment when we found it to be as blue as Alice's gown-brought us to Jidda, the diplomatic capital of Saudi Arabia. From the harbor it didnlt look like much of a city, and when we got out of our boat that took us to shore it looked little better. The small, crowded town, Where Lawrence of Arabia once had his headquarters and which today is the residence of the Embassies and Consulates of all the nations which have diplomatic dealings with the government of King Ibn I Saud, offered no opportunity for gen' J eral liberty. We were allowed to make conducted tours of the city, with a stop at the local market place, fifty men at a time, with a quick return to the ship to allow fifty more to see the sights. It was here in jidda that the ancient and the modern side by side were most noticeable. The few women we saw in the streets were heavily veiled, the men wore bulky cotton robes in the timefhonored custom. Men who are wealthy enough are permitted to have up to four wives each. Along with the old customs, money made from rich oil concessions has brought 1950 automobiles from America-nothing smaller than a Buick-the construction of new No camels, no shicks, no oascs, just saml anal sun along the Suez Canal 1 5-4.5,

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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

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N f -s Ml N I l 1 ., N .1 ' i M U - E ,,.-..... l .., 1 Prince Mansour inspects personnel with nltlmiriil Cfimolly in ,li.l.la, Saudi Amhiu buildings, a modern road and a new dock for small ships. Prince Mansour, son of King Ibn Saud, and minister of defense of the country, represented the government at a luncheon held for him and other important guests by Admiral Conolly on the Roanoke. After landing on the Roanokc's fantail in the heli' copter, the Prince inspected the Marine guard drawn up in his honor, and, after the luncheon, enjoyed a pleasant twofhour trip to sea for the purpose of a demonstration of a good oldffashioned drone shoot. Later some three hundred invited guests-plus a couple of dozen uninvited guests who crashed the gate -attended the Admiral's reception under awnings on the forecastle of the ship. Cn our last day in jidda, the Roanoke looked as if it might have been turned into an ark, as six sheep from the royal flock grazed on the main deck aft. Gifts from the Prince, the sheep were given in gratitude for the visit and the reception given him by these representatives of the government of the United States. A problem in diplomacy developed, 27? 6 poutlar case inscrilml with Araliimi clmructcrs, as gift from Adm Conollv to Prmcc ,Xlunsour lk h..,a-vaannni ,