Smalley (DD 565) - Naval Cruise Book

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KH5-llf' Czzmzru On the day before our arrival in ,llas-at- Tanura the division split np. with the Daly and Bronson heading for Balirein lsland while the Smalley and Coflen continued north to Ras-at-Tanura. The port of Ras-at-Tamira sits on the edge of the great Arabian Desert nearly two thirds the way up the Persian Gulf. It is an out of the way corner of the world and one into which the average tourist is not likely to venture. Here on the fringe of the great barren plain is the gigantic refinery of the Arabian Amer- ican Oil Company fAramcoD. Despite the paucity of recreational facili- ties, the people of Aramco rolled out the wel- come mat in their efforts to make our two day stay as enjoyable as possible. Tours of the refinery were scheduled and parties were arranged for the men of the little ships that had carried the American flag to this far corner of the World. As the Snmlirif nose-d alongside the dock there was one question uppermost' in the minds ol, all hainds when they gazed out at the vast emptiness that was Arabia: VVhy Ras-at- 'l'aiiiii'a?i' lt certainly wasnlt for purposes of liberty and recreation that the Navy had ordered ns liere. lt vs as for something far more important. ll was the carrying out of a policy that is as old as navies themselves, that of showing the flag from the deck of a man-of- war. lt was to let the countries of the middle east know that they had not been forgotten. lt was to let the world know that the United States Navy conld steam up the Persian Gulf in force at any time if this vital area of the world were ever to be threatened by forces of aggression unfriendly to the United States. Destroyer Division 302 was performing duty just as important as any it had performed in Korea when the twenty 5-inch guns of the Division made their appearance in the Persian Gulf. DPSFRI' IIASI X g J.

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i Punjab fruits and vegetables, meats and dried fish. The whole scene was lorded over by the heat and blinding brightness of a penetrating equa- torial sun. A few Smalley sailors with a little more of the Wanderlust than the majority of their ship- mates made the trip from Colombo through the jungle to Kandy. Kandy, in the days of the Sinhalese Kings, was the capitol of Ceylon. Though there were many interesting sights in Kandy, including the Temple of The Sacred Tooth of Buddha and the Botanical Gardens with their rich array of tropical plants, the most interesting thing about the trip was the ride through the jungle. The road from Colombo to Kandy twisted and turned as it wound its way through the mountains to the center of the Island nearly 4,000 feet above sea level. Along the road could be seen rice paddies, rubber plantations, tea plantations and finally the deep, dark, clamp jungle itself. For most of the Smalley 39 sailors this was the first real jungle any of tlleln had seen, and lived up to all expecta- tions of what a jungle should be. After three days of tugging at their moor- ings under the perpetual eye of the Ceylonese sun, the ships of Destroyer Division 302 made all preparations for getting underway and on the morning of the fourth of December steamed out of Colombo, pointing their bows westward toward Arabia. s B K S S On the road to Kandy Fashion center

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254 Mm.. .gawiviihv Q 1167 With nearly 4,500 miles of steaming ahead of her before reaching the next liberty port the Smalley backed away from the pier at Ras- at-Tanura and headed down the Persian Gulf. Brief fueling stops were scheduled for Aden and Port Said. In the course of the next 1:3 days the Smalleyis twin eleven-and-a-half foot screws would push the ship through seven gulfs and seas and the worldis longest canal. WVe retraced our track down the Persian Gulf and into the Gulf of Oman, skirted the tip of Arabia and steamed into the Indian Ocean. For two days the Division cruised along the slatternly, barren, brown coast of southern Arabia. There was not a green thing in sight. Our stop in Aden brought a few hours respite in our underway routine, but still the scenery remained the same. One cursory glance from the main deck and we felt no pangs of disappointment at the thought that within six hours, Aden would be but a mem- ory. The Colony for the most part consisted of several rickety baked mud buildings lean- Hflihffiiwv Port Said ing at drunken angles and scattered over the side of a mountain. With the exception of a few white faced Government buildings, the British Protectorate of Aden gave the impres- sion that it was trying to burrow itself into the blackish brown rock of the dead volcano upon which it existed. As Aden faded away into indistinct un- eveness in the horizon, the Division formed into a column and with a straight shot at the X S X X S Aden 41 The desert sentinel