Tarawa (CV 40) - Naval Cruise Book

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7Q1n111u ,fxdfllfl and T1zr'1 fi,rl1 friends enjoy Ilfmfufrffff af dance given fm' 'llull Form peffonnel fx! flu' Union Francaife, I .s mn Iwi, T111-Lay.

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Q7 january - 4 February I949Q The Tarawa, in company with the heavy cruiser COLUMBUS, Flagship of .Xclrniral Richard l,. Clon- olly, Commander in Chief, United States Naval Forces, Eastern Atlantic and Metliterraneang the light cruiser MANClrlES'l'liR, flying the flag of' Rear .Xdrniral R. H. Cruzen, Clommantler of Cruiser Division b1lCiLfl'l'g the anti-aircraft cruiser SPOKANIQ, and the 2.200-ton destroyers DENNIS flllllKi.l'lY and H.-XYVKINS, threaded their way through the narrow llardanelles Straits on the night of january 26th. Early the next morning, the 'II-XR.XW'.-X anchored in the Bosphorus, Sea of Marmora, and we got our first view of the beautiful Oriental city of Istanbul, lurkey. Our arrival set off' a chain ol' social events. On the first two days, lstanbul's YMCA and YVVCA gave dances for enlisted personnel ol' the iliask Force at thc Union Francaise. The young ladies were beautiful. the food delicious, and the relireshurents plentiful. Excellent dance music was provided by the Star- lightersf' part of the C2inCNl'1l,.M official band, then embarked on the USS. M:-XNIIflliS'l'l'iR. Although the dances were attended by young ladies of many nationalities, we found the majority of them were either AllN,'Tll'lIll. English or Turkish. Some of the American girls were Red Cross volunteers for European Relief during, or shortly after W'orld NVar .Oh the 29th of january, an official reception was given on board the l'.XRrXXrVrX with more than 500 El-Ifsls in attendance. Some notables of these were the I-Ord Mayor of Istanbul, .Xdruirals tlonolly and CWRU3 as well as rnanv lurkish dignitaries. .011 the 30th and filst of january, ,Xdrniral Conolly Visited Ankara, making ofhrial malls on fl'urkey's Pfflident Ionu, in rompany with .Xrneriran Arnbassa- 397. the Honorable Mr. Wlulswottli. Istanbul, we found, consists of three distinct quarters: Istanbul Proper, Calata, and Beyoglu, separated by the Golden Horn. Istanbul Proper is the most important section of the city from both the artistic and historical point of view. It contains many examples of the later type of Ottoman architecture - gigantic, handsome mosques, flanked by tall, slim minarets-and sym- bolizes a beautiful combination of harmony and grace. This section is also considered to be more Western- ized than any other part of the city since it is here that practically all of the many modern, western-type buildings are situated. The Turkish people exhibited such a degree of good-will toward us that we felt we were guests in every sense of the word. VValking down the streets We found that almost everyone took time out to greet us, some with a bow reminiscent of Old VVorld courtesyg or perhaps it was called out to us in perfect-some times only near-perfect-English. The local transportation companies extended to all American sailors in Istanbul the privilege of riding the city's trams, busses, etc., at no cost. Not so great a privilege, perhaps, but indicative of the welcome we received from the entire populace. The city was ours. The city's many modern stores were packed with all kinds of goods-from the most modern gimmick to the rarest antique. A conservative estimate would place the number of souvenir swords purchased by TARAVVA personnel well in the hundreds, and this is only a hint of the overall purchases made. It was with sincere regret that we had to leave Istanbul. We feel qualified to say that the hospitality shown us in this city was such that it had had no equal in the 20,000 miles we had travelled since leaving San Diego.

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9 0513375 A gmyp gf 'I'4r.u4 .1 Nu :bd with Turk: 1 ,dl Olfiferf in Nh' ff! ,bg fffyu' ,YJZJJYM lm ff 'E 'I f.- we ,. ff r ,. X f , ,W ,F ff' If L A x , r x. -s .- 'W V -. .3 V -4' f1.s' 5' . r' 3 k '. . , A . I Q -E., ,. x nv .,,.,l. .. ,Q Captain Young pofey with Turkifh Army enlisted men. Er ,,, ISESSQF