Samuel Eliot Morison (FFG 13) - Naval Cruise Book

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On 2 April 1984, early in the moming, SAMUEL ELIOT MORISON steamed out of Mayport Basin on her second Mediterranean deployment in her four year history Following an eleven day transit, our first stop was a one day layover in Rota, Spain on 13 April for refueling and bringing on stores. Our southbound transit of the Suez Canal began on 18 April, was interrupted to allow northbound traffic to pass, and continued to completion on 19 April. Djibouti, Djibouti was our first port visit from 21 to 23 April. Our only port of call in the Persian Gulf was Manama, Bahrain Island, where we stopped twice, on 30 May and 8 june. We transited the Suez Canal for the second time, during daylight hours this time, on 30 june. Alexandria, Egypt was our first Mediterranean port visit, from 1 july to 8 july. 10 july found us mooring in Haifa, Israel for a three week availability alongside USS PUGET SOUND and a super time of sightseeing until 2 August. Our visit to the French Riviera was in Cannes, France, where we anchored from 10 August to 23 August. We dropped anchor in Athens, Greece for a four day visit from 28 August to 31 August. Caeta, Italy was our next port of call from 8 September to 22 September. Our last, and an unexpected liberty port, was Naples Italy beginning 29 September through 5 October. A stop in Augusta Bay, Sicily on 6 October and a final stop in Rota, Spain, on 9 October for refueling, brought to an end our visits to foreign ports for this cruise. At mid morning on 20 October, The Sunset Patriots of SAMUEL ELIOT MORISON eased into our beloved Mayport Basin, home from the sea.

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14' Admiral Samuel Eliot Morison Rear Admiral Samuel Eliot Morison, USNR 11887- 19765 was one of the nation's most distinguished naval historians. His legacy to his county comprises over forty books and more than a hundred articles including The Oxford History of the United States f1927j, Growth of the American Republic fwithl Commanger, 119305, The Euro- pean Discovery of America fSouthern and Northern voy- ages 1971, 19745. Born in Boston and a faculty member of Harvard University for more than half a century, he was the recipient of many honors. The American Academy of Arts and Sciences awarded him the Emerson-Thoreau Medal in 1961 for distinguished literary achievement, and he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1964 as one of the great Americans whose lives and works have made freedom stronger for all of us in our time. But he was, first and always, a Sailor. Before he wrote the biography of Christopher Columbus, Admiral of the Ocean Sea, in 1942, he and several friends purchased and fitted out the barkentine Capitana to sail the ocean in Columbus' wake and view islands and coasts as he must gave seen them. This book was awarded the Pulitzer rize. The way was now clear for another seagoing project that was to 'become the most extensive and difficult of guy in Morison's career - The History of the United tat f N V . ' ' 1 es axal Operations in World War ll ffrfteen vol- umesj. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who had a life- long taste tor naval history, after reading some of Admi- ral of thelOcean Sea, accepted Morison's proposal to be me NL2NB'7Sll!l1StOr1af1, based on actual participation. ln C 85 -A t e professor was commissioned a Lieutenant Omman er in the Naval Reserve and given a set of orders that permitted him to move about the World at will. But having such a set of orders is one thin and . i g, Settmg to 3 S0OCl vantage point to observe an action nw.,-1..,.. . whose planning has been cloaked in deep secrecy is an- other. That he was invariably in the right place at the right time for the next three and a half years was due more to his qualities as a man and a sailor than to his formal credentials. He later recalled the problem tl1l1Sf As my position in the Navy was unprecedented, l had to move warily and gingerly in order to obta1n.C0- operations from those who were doing the fighting- Amusingly enough, their initial suspicions of a long haired professor in uniform were dissolved by a P9- rusal of my Admiral of the Ocean Sea, which told them that I was a sailor before I became a professor, and thus exorcised the academic curse. So, thanks to Columbufii the Navy accepted me, and with many of its membersl made warm friendships, which even survived when felt obliged to write about some of their mistakes. 'I After his death in 1976, one of his daughters, EIIILY Morison Beck, edited a highly readable treasurY of tu? best and most representative of his writings. She saySC e was fortunate that my father lived enough to examggr and approve the final choices, after discardmga nurnt to of pieces as 'ole hat', 'hackneyed', or 'of little lrlfef'-Q5 ed the genearl reader '. Therefore, Sailor-Historian lslilglnd to give pleasure to the general reader, who W1 wen chapters from favorite books and prized articles, if as forgotten pieces never before printed 1111? boi ' and President Lyndon B. Johnson remarked: .SCM Eiife of sailor, this amphibious historian has combined a itions action and literary craftsmanship to lead two g9f19,faAs B of Americans on countless voyages of discovery - ned naval historian on active duty in World WHY H1 h? efxhile seven engagement stars and a Legion of Merit anew serving in combat areas of the Atlantic, Mediterr and Pacific.