Tarawa (CV 40) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 65 text:

N ?f'MWf-f 4

Page 64 text:

qw YW' ' Y 'YN' NI, il' ill' W, ,, 2 'S , fs iii E ANCHORED outside the harbor in most of the ports that we visited. The usual liberty parties 5? i were sent into the beach and returned by means of motor launches as were whatever supplies, etc., we 1 needed aboard. i I 5 , hard hme. l l 2 i m l L l:,, ,, . , Hold +rgh+! A few men al a 'fume bui the j job was well execuied. li, ' ' . will T k, d F While hanging ihiriy-five feel' oui' on ihe boom, ihree llllj A a 'ng a Vanlagl? 0 a lull- some are able lo of fhese men show some concern while fhe fourih C 'mb 'the nel' seems 'lo enioy fhe ride. l ,, s,r,,. .,...,. . ,, ,,..., ...,....,.,......-,, rl . , l 1 i Safely aboard, buf soaked fo ihe skin. ll I For the most part we were fortunate in the weather but on several occasions Father Neptune lp ceeded in making these boat rides rough E going. Most of the t' 1 f got mad at us for one reason or another and suc gl g 11ne vie ound it necessary to secure all boats for only 21 few l10UfS but I, l on one or two occasions the rough seas forced us to cancel the night boat runs. At Genoa, li during our hrst visit, and earlier at Palermo, officers and men who had gone on liberty were stranded ashore and had to make use of the already full destroyers for berthing accommoda- tions. At the former port our sailing schedule was delayed two days before, during a in relative lull, it was decided to run the boats again and bring the men aboard in cargo nets. ,i l Operation Net proved a success but there are a few hundred men of the TARAXVA today who make it a habit to check the barometer and get a report from aerology before going ashore. 1 A N l 5 P n C a R 1 P 55 X x K

Page 66 text:

We anchored in +he Bosporus near 'rhe moufh of fhe Golden Horn. Every- where, we saw lhe curious mixlure of Asia and Europe for lhis has been a crossroads of The Easi' and Wesf 'for fhousands of years. ROM CRETE we pushed northeastward into the Aegean Sea and passed islands bearing names that only increased the mystery of entering the Middle East. Names like Antikythera, Iros, Arapheg and as we neared the Dardanelles, Okastian and Samothrake. Then we were in the narrow Hellespont and passed by the wild scrubby hills of Turkey. cfUlSe he enllli m e y, re 0 den e buf lol' fssiiiv so ev' oyhinq main, ,ness 5 U c Raflqea Tound We S Turlilsll Yo had we These men are represenfarive of ihe Turkish Army and Navy. You wguld find nolhmg ominous In 'rhe quief slrengfh of Their faces-unless you came from Russia. craf'I'. These 'lrawlers were peculiar fo ls'I'anbul. The TARAWA dropped anchor in the Bosporus near the mouth of the Golden Horn. The Black Sea lay but a few scant miles to the northeast. At liberty call we literally swarmed ashore to seek out the treasure of hand-carved meerschaum pipes, beaten silver, copper and . . . Screwdrivers , Not a few of us made the fatal mistake of saying why, it just tastes like orange juice . These came to be known as famous last words. We toured the mosques and bazaars. The Blue Mosque fshown on the first page of this sectionj proved to be just that. The inside walls were covered with intricate designs made of blue tile. In order to respect custom and tradition, we removed our shoes before we entered. We did not, however, wash our hands, feet and necks as do the Moslems. H' seemed fha? each por? we visifed had uniquely designed small