Tarawa (CV 40) - Naval Cruise Book

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GIBR L Relieve the Watchf' HUS THE CRY rang out over the still air on the gray, not too cold morning of 10 De- cember l95l. Another great man-0-war of the Atlantic Fleet, United States Navy, assumed the duty as guardian of the peace in the vast jewel- like Mediterranean Sea. How many 'frelieve the watch cries had echoed over this famous expanse called the Mediterranean Sea, no one could imagine. But the 6th Fleet has been adding to the number already established by the fleets of many nations, including the small sailing units of Greek mythology which is such an important starting point, some 500 years before Christ. If, today, Homer could picture the sea in which he cast so many of his adventurous charac- ters he would indeed be filled with amazement. After the formalities of Captain Duerfeldt of the TARAWA relieving Captain Dudley of the LEYTE were concluded, and with orders from the Sixth Fleet in hand, the TARAWA steamed eastward from Gibraltar and prepared for her new role in the Mediterranean. Since this was the first big job handed the TARAWA since her days in the moth- ball fleet many eyes would be turned in this direc- tion to evaluate her worth. Not too many, however, doubted the ability of this gallant ship and her captain. It was not so long ago that our Captain had put the TARAWA through its paces in a stren- uous exercise called LantFlex and had emerged with a proud record. The Watch was properly relieved. The pride of Prudenfial. Dudley 'lo Duerfeldl, Boy! am I glad +0 see you. Sisfers- Terrible T and Leading Ley+e

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HE ROSSI G HE WINTER MONTHS of 1951-52 will go down in the record books forlspawning some of the worst storms ever experienced on the Atlantic Ocean. Captain Carl- son,, Skipper of the now famed Flying Enterprise will testify to that. Two days out of Quonset, the T ran into a typical Atlantic gale that stayed with us for five days. Green water was shipped over the bow, stern, and weather decksj Planes had to be double lashed to prevent them from being swept over the side by the powerful gusts of wind while twenty foot waves surged from swells that were 300 feet long to smash themselves against the sides of the ship. With speed cut to a dead'slow the TA- RAWA staggered on, but didn't run into fair weather until abreast of the Azores by which time we had lost two days of our originally es- timated travel time for the trip across the Atlantic,

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