Smalley (DD 565) - Naval Cruise Book

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Looklng em oxer Before the llghtshlp had vamshed astern the clanglng of the general allrm shatte1ed the preva1l1ng mood and summoned the crew to battle stat1ons Th1s dllll set a t111n1ng pace 'km ws? M Ah. Chi? VICW whrch was to characteuze our shrpboard 1ou t1ne throughout the voyage In the days ahead We would wrstfully 161HGIT1bC1 the V1k1ng Bar and the Rathskelle1 at the M K the Club 200 and the Blue Moon Ocean Drlve and Washlngton Squale As the fam1l1a1 coast dlsappeared and the strange seae engulfed us we mtensely reahzed that fO1 many months to come Newport fO1 us would be nothmg more than a burn1ng II161I101y awww Naval War Colleffe , 7 HHH? . 1 1 f W9 X , 'Wt' 21- X.. K. fr W A a -Q 4 Y' Q- , J 7 J -gc3f - ' ' S f'.va4, 432233359 .mt 344 aff , X eww ' ' wi? ' . l 4 . l . , . . CC 77 . . 7 . . . . . . . 1 , 4 1 1 ' 1 ' 4 C 7 . . .E . o 't M if .t nw .ft ' M' ,f,..f . -f f ' ml . V ' I wa , , I x A K- y 1, f,,.,.,,gf,-T Q , - fa. 4 4 , Y -K ,ig fm- - ., 4 e , .f 1 x, 1 2 4 - - s 4 Q T , Q , 1 K L 5 1

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Newport from a different angle The moment for which all hands had so industriously prepared had now become a reality. At 1215 Queen CC-reenwich Civil Time plus four? on 18 May 1958 the Smalley, in company with the other ships of Destroyer Division 302 -Daly, Cotten and Bronson, passed the Bren- ton Reef Lightship at the mouth of Narragan- sett Bay and set course 188 degrees true for Panama. A dense fog prevented the division from getting underway at 0900 as previously expected. However, as we passed the lightship the May sun had started to melt the morning haze and we c.aught a glimpse of the Newport bluffs as they faded in the distance. Before those bluffs would be seen again by Smalley men in bleak January the ship would have steamed over 60,000 miles through more than fifteen seas and oceans and visited at least twenty foreign ports. That thought made the day one of loneliness, wonder and expectation. It was a day of loneliness because of the loved ones and the happy homes we were leav- ing behind us for so many uncertain months. Sfnrewell Ncw,v1frf.f It was a day of wonder over a future which seemed to be measured in endless times and distances interwoven with a myriad of new scenes. It was a day of expectation about our role in the Korean War which at any time could explode into a global conflict. . s-yur' 1 31 ' .. H il ' wi ,Q ...vjmgf ggi? Ei: 1'9' Q il.. V 'j....f: - . A. V 13 ' av B Z , if I a g y 2 f 1' 'Dan boldly 6 5,

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Early on the morning of 23 May we sighted East Cristobal Break- water light and about two hours later pro- ceeded into the Atlantic entrance of the Panama Canal. Our first week of underway training had been climaxed by a gun- nery shoot off Citmo Bay, Cuba, and we were anxious to enjoy a leisurely passing of the famous Canal and some of the fabled liberty in our first Ports-of-Call: Balboa and Panama City. Culebra cut Unlike the numerous merchant ships that were anchored in the Bay waiting their turn to transit the Locks, we had priority and started through the three Catun Locks as soon as our pilot came aboard. Two destroyers Kuna! Zane could be accommodated in one lock at the same time, and the three Locks at Catun lifted the Smalley and Daly 96 feet in a few minutes. W7ater rushed into the locks in great volume, and except for large pumps which are used during the dry season they are gravity fed. Once up to the level of Catun Lake it is a thirty mile steam to the next locks. Because Catun is fresh water we used it to flush out our fire and drainage mains and to wash the ship from mast down. So, during our two hours on the Lake the uniform for all hands was bathing suitsg anyone in clothing at that time was fair game. W7ith the hot sun baking the steel decks to over 100 degrees and with all the fire hoses available spraying cool fresh water the crew went wild. ln their playful melee of water Hghts we managed to get some of the ship washed down and certainly all of the hoses well .flushed of salt deposits. 8