Shreveport (LPD 12) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 12 text:

Q , T Flor HREVEPORT departed- enfolflf Wf'f? t' ii April, Easter fiVQ'i 'l'if i'0'Tlll? 0'3'5t and Catholic worship services had been i. ear ier in aa on the fiiqm deck. ine shin WHS U'iflf?fWfi-Y W' 'iffff l7g3 l2 April, and moored at Pier 3, NGVY 3359: Nvrfvh 0937, l4 April. Her stay in Norfolk was aqain very brh getting underway 0753, 03 May for Onslow Beach for M CType Traininql. During this time, the eoorn safe land was made on snetvepoei by l!LT J- R1 'iClNl05H- USMC, HMMT-402, on l3 May. A documentary film was made to cord amphibious operations. Sixteen Llls and twenty Ai LARCS were also brought aboard durind the exercises. The ORI occurred on Good Friday, 09 April, and at l42QL leld 1 The ship was underway l7-l8 May for deperminp, 24 May 1 Contractor's Trials, 0l-03 June to load L-FORM, makinc 1 ship logistically prepared for its amphibious role. Cl PHIBRON 8, Captain R. A. HOGSHED embarked on O4 Juneg 1 Midshipmen arrived in force the evenino of 09 Juneg and 0906, l6 June, SHREVEPORT sailed alono with USS RALEI CLPD-ll and several hundred Midshipmen from the U.S. Nav Academy, Annapolis, Maryland, on NATRONLANT 7l. Enroui the SHREVEPORT participated in Project RICE to devel future ocean surveillance systems. After leap-frogging across the Atlantic to give the Wi dies practice in ship handling and a mail pickup off TE ceira Island, Azores, the ship proceeded up the Tagus Ri G d Po t 0 44, e Li bon ve friendly and recent e no t which ill n r an anchored off Lisbon, r ugal 8 28 Jun . was a ry X A iv, r ' W' remembered for the beautiful Sintra town in the mountai the Texas Bar, and the German sailinq ship GORCH FOC The ship was underway l504, 02 July for Cgpenhagen, De mark. There was much apprehension in the enoine space D the guarding valve on USS TRENTON had just blown uo. T navigators were also apprehens' I . ive as we steamed throu the Straits of Dover in fog so thick we could see neith the white cliffs nor the coast of France only five mil distant, while about l00 contacts were made bv our rada each of which had to be plotted for CPAs. 0ne contact h H SDGGd Of flfty knotsg it was a hovercraft. As we pr C?eded thV0UQh the Katteqat we were in company with a Ru Zgggpggstrzgerz Sheyfsteamed around both our ships and 1 usan s o pictures f th i pictures of our two ships whileo bem and they Snapp naded the whole affair. , our and Continqent Ser 1 sf

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Her stay in Norfolk was very brief-ejust time enough to load some supplies and equipment. 0ne day the word was passed: HNow the chaplain lay to the ouarterdeckg your organ is on the pier.H At 0759 on 05 March the ship was underway for HGITMOH CGuantanamo Naval Base, Cubai, for Refresher Training. 0ne of the men had to depart on emer- gency leave, however, and the ship was turned around so he could depart 0529, 06 March. The ship arrived at Wharf BRAVO, GTMO, 0742, 09 March. GTMO is always a most trying who hardly knew each other. To emphasize damage control awareness, division officers were required to sign YOKE re- ports and special YOKE awards were given to men who could discover five YOKE discrepan- cies. The ship was awarded the highest marks ever awarded any type ship by FLETRAGRU GTMO in damage control and communications. while at RefTra, the ship em- barked several civilians and was underway l8l5, 25 Warch, for Montego Bay, Jamaica, an- choring 0730 the 26th. Monte- go Bay will be remembered by the Fleet Landing littered with venders, the luxurious Holiday Inn located seven miles outside the city which served delicious rum-coconut drinks, the Pelican Inn, and a place called Jollies. Divisi- on officers had to return to the ship from liberty at odd hours to sign YOKE reports even if they had no YOKE fit- tings. The ship was underway l749 on 28 March. While at GTMO the ship received its l00th safe landing as LTJG Buck BURNELL, USN, of NAS GTNO landed on 3l March. Also while at GTMO, the officers won decisively over the chiefs at a baseball gameg the tac- tics were to place the large can containing the ice and beer in the chief's dugout which caused their coordination to suffer somewhat. time, especially for a crew

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The ship moored starboard side to the pier at 0800, 09 July, at Copenhagen, Denmark. It had been cold and rainy, but during SHREVEPORT's stay it was sunny and warm. Danes were very friendly, relaxed, and the men were impressed by the extremely clean city, Tivoli, the walking-shopping street, and the topless on the beaches. During general visiting on the l0th, 350 people were hosted in a 2-hour period. Taps might have signified extinguishing white lights inside the ship, but the daylight hours continued for many hours more. The ship was under- way 072l, T3 July for the 8l6.8 mile voyage to Ports? mouth, England, where she moored l233, l6 July at the South Railway . Jetty, near Lord Nelson's flagship, HMS VICTORY, famous from the l805 Bat- tle of Trafalgar. Clubs attended in- cluded Mecca and Pembrook. Places visited included London, Winchester, and Stonehenge. It was one foreign port where everyone spoke English! A band of bagpioes, drums and fifes from T S EXPLORER gave a concert on the flight deck of SHREVEPORT just prior to departure, and one of our sailors was able to try his hand at playing the upipest in