Valley Forge (CV 45) - Naval Cruise Book

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IVT7' f P Ralf, L ,. ..... . .... r 411' .ll Y M ,,,. , :':.:1,:4-:-.W .T U X 1 Nl, ,J 9 IMI, f 'R ' I ,,...,.1.:.: 4 mf ::1:s -5121: f t'V0'fWvff' nrfrrrnoror l f J O v 157 tty J After two days at Ras Tanura we got underway agam Health aboard was good due to the vlgllance of the Medical and Dental Depart ments Therr preventative medl crne was effective

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lr 5 'U ii.liyf ff We regretted that the shamal continued. However, the Arabs seemed to enjoy ex- ceedingly our limited operations and appre- ciated the tour of the ship. We hoped that they got as much outof their trip with us as we did from our attendance at their banquet. Our guests watched the flight operations intently, the activity on the flight deck as well as in the air. They were intrigued by their tour of the ship.

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On 26 March HAPPY VALLEY got underway on another leg of her World Cruise. The air was still filled with fine dust particles stirred up by the shamal the previous day. Passing southward through the Persian Gulf, we cautiously made our way into the Gulf of Oman and around to the Gulf of Aden. The trip from Ras Tanura to Gibraltar was the second longest without liberty that the ship made during the entire cruise. lt was l6 days in all from the time we left the anchorage at Ras Tanura until we put into Gibraltar. Five days of steady sailing put us through the Gulf of Aden, the Straits of Bab El Mandeb, and into the Red Sea. In that area we saw several colorful Arabian dhows, our first. Every- one was pleasantly surprised at the delightful temperature in the Red Sea, since we had been told it would be extremely hot this time of the year. Passing northward through these his- toric waters, we passed Jidda, the seaport of the sacred Mohammedan city of Mecca. On 3 April VALLEY FORGE entered the Straits of Jubal and the Gulf of Suez. That same day we passed Suez, entered the Canal, and anchored in Great Bitter Lake. The destroyers proceeded through the canal and stayed over at Port Said. Underway again on Sunday 4 April, we completed our transit. ln places the canal was so narrow that you felt you could reach out and touch the sides. Camels loped along the roadway on the Egyp- tian side. VALLEY FORGE was the first big U. S. carrier and the longest ship to transit the canal. The primitive scene along the West bank was intensely interesting . . . primitive methods of cultivating the soil, water wheels lifting the water U22 from ditches to irrigate the crops, camel transportation. ln the late afternoon we came to Port Said and proceeded through it to the Mediterranean. We operated with units of the Mediterranean Fleet in the Aegean Sea and the Candia Sea for two days. The ship steamed so close to Greece we could see the beautiful Spring greens on the lower hills and the snow on the distant peaks. We also passed close-by Pantelleria on our way to Gibraltar.