Smalley (DD 565) - Naval Cruise Book

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, .-- 1- Santa Sakadales that had to any extent survived the depreda- tions of the elements, time, and man: the fain- ous Parthenon and the Erecthyum. Although practically all the statues and famous sculptur- ings had been destroyed or removed over the centuries, there was still enough left to make our visit an impressive one that would he remembered long after other places that we had seen were forgotten. if i 'lliene xx.is nnnr to Xthens than oltl ruins, lla' lliseiixeletl llils xxlieli We Xhldll tltiwll lIlt0 the eenlei ol the inoilein eitv ll'ith its depart- nient stores .intl xx itle tiaillie elogtgetl streets it eonld lnixe lieen any large ilnierieun city, 'lhuneh the ilziys xxeie eolal and windy with no sign ol the sun, ue xxaillu-tl along the avg- nues. tulxingg in the sights. ln the evening per- haips ai len ol us stopped in git one ol' the many night elnhs in Mliens. lt was here that We cliseoxiereal hoxx eaisy it was to run up a hill registered in the inillions. lint with the exelizinge ratio git Siltttltlll clinic-liiinie to ti dollar, our zilzirin soon clisaippeauecl when we hegan to eonx ert our ex enings entertainment hill into ternis ol greeiiliaelts.'l Despite the impressive exeliange rate, priees were fantastically high. . . y lnllation was rznnpant in Greece. Un tfhristnias live we went to our respective ehurehes for the traditional mid-night service. The Clhristinas spirit truly prevailed among the inen ol' the Snmlley. On the 25th of Decem- her. the results ol' three mouths of planning hore lruit when the ship played Santa Claus to thirty Greek orphans. There was a feast of 4 3 , 3 if i 2 1 I lv ' fam- lt's in the img 44

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Us litem at . . fa- 5. The Acropolis Athens On a grey December morning two days before Christmas, the Smalley wound her way up the channel into the harbor of Piraeus and tied up outboard of the Cotten to a rather rickety-looking old pier. So this was sunny southern Greece. It felt more like the North Pole or Newport. Our first glimpse of the fabled lands of Hellas had come as a persistent blue grey mountain peak thrust its broken nose through the pall of clouds and morning mist that shrouded the horizon. As the Smalley had pushed aside the miles, the white walled houses of the town became apparent and they seemed to run up and down the mountainside, from the summit to the sea. Parthenon 43 Piraeus is the port for Athens, the latter being about eight or ten miles inland. To some extent Greece presented a paradox. Here had been the birthplace of western civilization, here too, amid the sad old ruins of a great nation could be found all the dregs .and filth which the tides of the world and centuries had thrown upon the shores of Pellopenesus. One day was all that was required to see Piraeus. The migration of 1200 Americans from the pier at Piraeus to Athens was a tour companys dream. The target for this vast migration was the ruins of the ancient Acropo- lis. The highest point of land in the city, the Acropolis looked like a table top littered with broken pieces of white china. It stood out starkly in all its weathered whiteness against the deep grey of the cloudy sky. lt truly looked like a ghost from the past standing guard over the city-the ghost of Greek greatness. There must have been many who felt this as they unlimbered their cameras for a first shot 'of that about which they had heard and read so much. After our guide had given a preliminary speech and pointed out Mars Hill and the spot where Socrates had received the hemlock over two thousand years ago, along with-several other interesting points, we proceeded up to the Acropolis. Of all the temples that at one time crowned this height, there were only two

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Merry Christmas to all the best food the Navy had to offer, and it was probably by far the most sumptuous and extravagant meal that these children ever had or will sit down to. There were presents for all and then a movie program of cartoons in the mess hall. During the morning the Piraeus Police Clee Club came aboard and serenaded the orphans and the crew. On Christmas Day a few lucky men of the Smalley found that they had been selected to fill invitations for Christmas dinner at the homes of various American citizens, both civilian and military who were residing in Greece. At the end of our stay in Piraeus when the last 50,000 drachmae note was burning a hole in our pockets, we repaired to the john Bull Bar, the uhellis kitehenv of the Piraeus water- front. Who will ever forget the john Bull? Here you could get a beer or a bruise. lt all depended upon what you were looking tor. Our four-day stay in Creece went quickly and it wasnit long before we were steaming back down the channel and out to the open sea. Our consolation, however, lay in the tact 45 l that we were well on our way home now and that in less than three weeks would be sighting the shores of the United States. Chow down ,yi