Shreveport (LPD 12) - Naval Cruise Book

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A 1210, 22 Ju1 , the s TP has U 3411.2 mi1es ahead before arrivinn at IVNNNHVEN R93 3 Whi1e enroute the ship had at v011evbd11 t0UCUam9nt t inc1uded practica11y every division on the 5010- Enthu siasm ran so high that after awhi1e there NGVG WDP? QPQC' tators than p1ayers present at the matches. In the final S-5 beat S-1 by winning two out of three QHWGS- The QHNES were hard fought a11 the Way. On 31 Juiy at 1900 the ship had its first smoker--13 matches. The embarked band con- tingent p1ayed the Gi11ett Song. The CPOS had taken Cafe of a11 the rigging and competed with each other--conSe- quent1y there were 1ights from overhead cranes, signal f1ags a11 over, an announcing system set up, and several hundred spectators sitting on the ramp to the We11 Deck. h' 1 nderway for CGNUS with ' ' -B 68. C hai 5 Boats were 1oaded into the Ne11 Deck at Litt1e Creek on 04 August. The ship proceeded to Annapo1is where she ancho- red 1630 and the Middies were off-1oaded in the embarked boats. It rained heavi1y, and the canvas used for the boxing ring gave some protection to the Middies in the boats. It was we11 into the evening and Mr. Pochkowski, the senior Aviation Bos'n of the who1e U.S. Navy, had the deck at anchor watch. The X0 was visiting on the bridge when the Captain said, HLet's get the ship underway.H S0 the X0 acted as Tee he1msmanI' The ship' moored 0823, O5 August, to Pier 5, Navy Base, Norfo1k. COMPHIBRON 2 embarked the ship one week beginning 18 Aug- ust. The ship was underway from 1001, 23 August. unti1 1622, 27 August, and again at 0824 on 30 August, anchoring near the Nava1 Academy at 1758 the same day for a visit to give 1ectures and fami1' ' ' N ' .iarization tours of the ship to the C1ass of 1975. The ship departed 1550 on 02 September and moored 1725, 03 September, to Pier 7, Navy Base, Norfo1k. The Ship was underway 0656, O7 september tb 1943, 09 sep- tembef, 304 H9510 at 1448, 25 September for the Seapower Demonstration of the NATO Review for students of the Nat- tiona1 War Co11ege and the NATO Mi1itary Committee. Ships participating inc1uded the HNLNS OVERIJSSCL CD815J from 523 Ngfhgglagdsg H205 A5SINIBOINE fDDH2341 from Canada, . . s ips inc d' , th CCVA671. SHREVEPORT retur 3 mo e USS JOHN F' KENNEDY ne t N f A mooring starboard side to Pier E, Nav31EaseT4, O1 Gctober, Five days Tater, at 1446, O6 0 t - underway for Phi1ade1phia Nava1 EEQP, the Shwn was aqain 07 October, and remaining unti1 221pyardS5 arriving 1248, , , November. The crew hadn opportunity to visit Ind d . , Frank1in Institute, and reipgn ence HB11' the m'nt' the' the 1oca1 USO to ath1etic ggmei aggnguitee t1CketS through ,J - ',2.s51, . 1 A - Q A at f e C ' T '1i ura1 events. ,C

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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

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At 1545, 21 October, the SHREVEPORT was underway co1d p1ant to dry dock 44, passino USS WISCONSIN and USS IOWA on the Way- The Ship spent one week in the dry dock whi1e the hu11 and mast were sandb1asted and the ship comp1ete1y red- 1eaded at one time. During this period the ship was tight- 1y closed to prevent grit from entering and venti1ation was secured. Access was Iimited to specified periods, the ship was opened for fifteen minutes to ha1f an hour six times during the 24-hour period each day. Whi1e in the Hyardsu our footba11 team continued its win- ning streak in Norfoik. On Friday, O5 November, the POD announced that our team had won the af1oat footba11 com- petition in PHIBLANT, and wou1d represent COMPHIBLANT and a11 his ships in the LANTFLT championship tournament. The ship was underway for Norfo1k O93O, 23 November, and moored starboard side to Pier 2, Navy Base, at 1437, 24 November. COMPHIBRON TWO embarked O9 December as the ship continued its POM for CARIB 2-71. Prior to departure on CARIB 2-71, however, the ship was underway from O931, 1O January, to 1602, 13 January, and O93O, 17 January, to 1746, 2O Janu- ary for type training. The ship departed 0953, 28 January, on CARIB 2-71 a1ong with USS NASHVILLE QLPD-131, USS PORTLAND CLSD-371, and USS GRANT COUNTY CLST-11741, arrived O722, 29 January, at Morehead City, North Caro1ina, and embarked BLT 276, the ship's first embarkation of Iarge numbers of Marines. Embarkation was conciuded and the ship underway at 1642 the same date. For most of the crew, having Marines on board simp1y meant Ionger chow Iines and Iess space avai- 1ab1e at movies. After a brief stop-over at GTMO CO908, O2 February, to 1158, O5 Februaryi to five the embarked Marines enough time to fi11 sand bags for the Marines at GTMO, and enab1e the ship's officers to beat the chiefs in two games of baseba11 C24-15 and IO-21, the ship was underway for Vie- ques Is1and, anchoring off the southern coast at O731, O7 February. From O7 to 1O February, the ship participated in Exercise ESCORT TIGER XI, simuiating rescue of American nationa1s from a country torn with a deteriorating po1itica1 situa- tion. Seven men from SHREVEPORT simu1ated American citi- zens at Camp Garcia, some simu1ated pregnant women about to give birth, some simu1ated foreign nationa1s, some sim- u1ated Americans without va1id passports, and the chan1ain simulated the weaithy oi1 tycoon, Dr. Punt, who 1ost his Hdaughterzn HDr. Lamar Punt reported his 17 year o1d dau- ghter Eudora missing. Eudora found aboard PORTLAND dis-