Samuel B Roberts (DD 823) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 13 text:

One could say the cruise began not as might be expected with our departure from Newport, Rhode Island late in September, but over a month earlier. We were in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, undergoing a very difficult refresher training period, following shipyard overhaul earlier in the year. On the thirteenth of August, a Friday, with much training still ahead of us, we received an or- der to return immediately to Newport. No reason was given. We arrived in Newport the following week and began a month of tender availability. We still had no firm news of the reason for the change of plans but we heard plenty of rumors of what was in store for us. One month later the rumors became the truth. We were told that in one week we would be leaving for the Western Pacific to ease the workload on the ships of the Pacific Fleet operat- ing off Vietnam. We couldn't tell anyone, but most families knew our destination before we did. We spent our final few days preparing for deployment, arid, for those of us who were newly arrived on board, in becoming familiar with our home for the next six months. On 29 September we left Newport with five other ships of Destroyer Squadron Twenty-four, amid the sounds of a Navy band and the good-byes of our loved ones. . sxI?,,. . I' in 'sf' l l ii -C ,Sw ugly - ll X as f 1 , AMPS gg, bl lQ,,TX -5 '5 1 l,.. 'il Li' ' tl e we w e l metgt- ii, ...M '2'f1, f - A :LJ g ff .H ,iii xxx S-fs. T' ff 'Z xx 3?

Page 12 text:

,4,...........-.. . -Ms-. .,l ln li 1-1 11 l , i Arnaud the Warld frm ewparf ep! 29, I 965 to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba ..... .------- 41 OCTO1D9l' Transit Panama Canal ....... ............. 6 October Pearl 1-larbor, Hawaii ...... ...... 2 O - 22 October Midway lsland ....... ............ 2 5 October Yokosuka, Japan... ...... ...... 1 - 3 November Sasebo, Japan ....................................... ........ .......... ' 5 - 13 November Subic Bay, Philippines lQperating Basel ....... ...................... 1 6 - 29 November On the Line, South China Sea and Vietnam ........... 30 November - 16 January 1966 Subic Bay ............................................... ......................... 1 7 - 211 January Hong Kong ...... ................. . .. ............. ...... 2 6 January - 1 February Subic: Bay .................................................... .................... 2 February Back on the Line, South China Sea and Vietnam ..... ......... 3 20 February Subic Bay .............. Crossed the Fauator Penang, Malaysia.. Cochin, lndia ....... Aden Protectorate .... Port Suez, Egypt ..... Transit Suez Canal.. 24 February ........28 February .1 - 2 March March ......12 March .......15 March .......16 March Naples, ltaly .......... ,,,,,, 2 O - 23 March Barcelona, Spain ..... ,,,,,, 2 L1 - 27 March Gibraltar ..................... ,,,,,,,, 2 9 March Ponta Del Gada, Azores. ,,,,,,, 1April cwparf April 8, 1966

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Ula Paaaaza Eaaal i if 4 -o':'4 k 1'-5,410 f X W! I -7 - -fd N. Sailing souTh, we again sTopped aT GuanTan- amo Bay, This Time iusT To refuel. We had been joined enrouTe by Two desTroyers from Norfolk, Virginia, bringing our ToTal force up To eighT. Our nexT sTop was The Panama Canal. In one day we passed from The ATlanTic To The Pacific. Few people realized we had become The TirsT ATlanTic FleeT DesTroyer Squadron To enTer The Pacific in a good number of years. AM.: X 2 T -,,,,,,. ' J , fl Fig. I 4 A O I A 4 if