We stopped briefly at Buckner Bay for fuel with the USS IMPLICIT on the way from Subic Bay to Yokosuka, Japan. We arrived there late in the afternoon, held the stop to three hours, and were underway again just as the sun was setting. The transit was a smooth one, and we arrived in the outer reaches of Tokyo Bay at noontime on Tuesday 2 September. Yokohama, which serves as port city for Tokyo, is one of the busiest ports in the world, and there was a great deal of traffic in the channel as we spent the afternoon making our approach to the Naval Base at Yolosuka. We maintained maximum speed all the way into the harbor, attempting to arrive before nightfall and a rainstorm which threatened during the last hour of the transit. We tied up outboard of IMPLICIT just as the evening colors ceremony was being executed by the other ships at the pier.

The stay in Yokosuka was scheduled for six days. With no major work to be done in preparation for our departure, we put down liberty call each morning at 1000, and so the visit was essentially, a liberty stop. The naval base has a fine foreign exchange, and with all the boxes and packages which have been brought aboard we have something of the appearance of a cargo vessel. Special services offered a fine tour to Tokyo, which a number of personnel took part in over the weekend, and many others made the trip on their own. Some of us had hoped to be able to go to and climb MT. Fujiyama, but the weather was not right for it. And in fact we were unable to glimpse it from the base even once during the time that we were there.

Commodore Peterson and the remaining two ships from the division, PLEDGE and DYNAMIC, arrived on Monday morning, September 8, and at noon on Tuesday the four of us were underway, together for the first time since we had arrived at Subic Bay back in April. The weather was cloudy and a bit windy as we left the mouth of the harbor and lifted to the first sea swells before turning east on the way to Midway. This weather was to remain with us all the way to Midway, as a weather front maintained almost the same course and speed that we did, and the transit was a little too windy and rough for us to be able to accomplish much topside work.

On September 15 we made a mid-ocean rendezvous with the fleet oiler USS CHEMUNG, who was on a transit in the opposite direction, and went alongside her for fuel. She turned in our direction, so that we were able to keep up our advance, and the four of us had all topped off the and were on the way again by noontime. On the night of the 17th we crossed the International Date Line, and had to add a day to our calendar to bring us in line with Midway and Hawaii. We set all the clocks back 22 hours, reverting to two o'clock in the morning of our second Wednesday, 17 September, and called away holiday routine for the day so that all hands could adjust to the larger-than-usual time change. We normally have holiday routine on Wednesday afternoons while at sea, and so worked the first Wednesday and rested on the second. It's not a situation you often run into.

We had been slowed somewhat during the past two days by various casualties, none of them serious, but still held out hope of being able to get into and out of Midway on our second Wednesday. During the early afternoon the Commodore opened out the formation and told us all to put our speed at maximum and make for port. The channel at Midway is tricky, having been cut between large banks of coral, and entry is not permitted after dark. We all arrived at intervals during the hour before sunset, and found a full crew waiting on the pier to hook up the fuel rigs and get us topped off and ready to go as soon as possible. The job was quickly finished, and we made our sortie and set course for Pearl Harbor within three hours of our arrival.

The morning after, however, proved to be something of a headache. The port pitch system suddenly ran out of oil pressure, and we found ourselves unable to control the settings of the propellor blades. Our preliminary investigation showed that no quick solution would suffice, and as we have no one aboard who is trained and expert in the system we put out a call to the division for personnel from other ships who might be able to help us with the work. A rather harrowing boat transfer brought three enginemen and the Commodore aboard, and we variously sat dead in the water and proceeded at six knots on one shaft while they worked below. The problem was finally solved at about midnight, and we again put the boat in the water to take people back to their respective ships before once again proceeding on toward Pearl at top speed.

We're keeping a close eye on the engineering plant and, perhaps with undue optimism, anticipate no further problems which will prevent us from making our scheduled arrivals at Pearl Harbor and Long Beach on time.

When we do reach Pearl Harbor a number of people will be departing on leave, and so this leg of the trip is the last time that the crew which has made the entire cruise will be together. Actually, of course, with all the comings and goings, the crew has never been exactly the same from one month to the next, but with the way of life necessarily even the new arrivals seem to have been with us for a great deal of time. Every ship of a type must necessarily perform the same tasks and provide for the same skills in order to carry them out, and so in this way they are all essentially the same. But the manner in which the job is performed and the overall impression which on gains as one comes aboard a ship, are direct results of the people who make up the crew--each man makes a contribution to the whole, and the performance of each individual determines whether or not the overall results will be good or bad.

During the entire deployment, we've had our ups and downs--and also that most of the downs have been a result of equipment casualties which have been pretty much beyond our control. Through all of it, each man on board has done a fine job in pulling his own weight and in most cases, due to the small number of men in relation to the work to be performed, a great deal more. Our transits have been smooth ones, and the performance of the ship in our primary mission, that of the Market Time Patrol, was highly creditable. We had excellent results with our special helicopter recovery operations at Nha Trang during April and May, and did well with the mine recoveries in which we participated at Subic Bay in June. During all of our inport time--at Guam, Hong Kong, Kaohsiung, Subic Bay for long periods, and, finally, Yokosuka--we had no major incidents ashore, and the performance of the crew while on liberty was commendable at all times.

Each of the departments has had a part in the fine record which we have made while on the deployment. LTJG Ken Martin, who served as First Lieutenant and Supply Officer, has had good support in both the Deck and Supply departments. Jim Trehan, the leading boatswain's mate, has worked with rated boatswain's mates Rich Podolski, Herb Reynolds, George Brown, and Wes Ritter in supervising all replenishment and deck evolutions in a highly capable manner. Deck seamen Wilf Gauthier, Eddie Borgnino, Gary Coffman, Marty Martinez, Dave Padilla, Bob Hazel, and Sheryl Dilley as well as John Davis and Tom Hooe who left us early in the cruise, have carried the load on all of these evolutions, and additionally have maintained the boat, all topside deck areas, and other departmental spaces in fine condition. Clay Gabitsch and Eddie Burke, the gunner's mates, have been responsible for the readiness of all weapons, while at the same time taking a hand in the deck evolutions.

Steve Bounds has joined his brother Bill and Celio Roman in the Supply office, and together they have been keeping up the fine record left by Gerry Pugeda. Celio Roman has done an excellent job as our alongside and sea detail helmsman for the entire cruise. Stewardsman Wilfredo Luceno has been with us for the entire cruise, working first with Rololfo Almario and then Gil David. They have been responsible for maintenance of the wardroom spaces, the serving and preparation of meals, and they also serve as gunners on the forward mount and as lookouts during special evolutions. Jim Simms, Tommy Karaboyas, and Dave Bloom, in addition to cooking all of our meals, have duties as gunners on the machine gun mounts during general quarters and on the bridge during sea detail evolutions.

LTJG David Troutman has led the operations department, which bore the brunt of the load during the Market Time patrol periods. Don Smith, Bill Pearson, and now Al Sherman have each seen duty as leading man in Combat Information Center, with primary assistance coming from radarmen Mike Wignall and Mike Moore. Sonarmen John Hermann and Steve Schindler have also stood watches in CIC, as have electronics technicians Jim Bundy, Terry Asher, and now Mike Cutkosky, who joined us upon our arrival in Yokosuka. The combat watch bill has been filled out by yeomen Dave Moore and Ken Shannon, who have also had a full load of work in the ship's office. Dave Moore has just been advanced to First Class Yeoman, a much deserved promotion.

Ensign Eric Moore, who reported to the ship less than a week before we departed on the deployment, has done a fine job with the Communications division. Radio has been manned by Dale Miller and Rick Szpyrka, who has taken over as leading radioman, along with Sid Wohlman and Steve Richter. Bob Bleau, our remaining electronics technician, has also had a part as a radio watchstander. The bridge team has been led by quartermaster Ennis Raynor, whose main task has been serving as assistant to the Executive Officer in navigation. The signal bridge and signalman watches have been manned by Jerry Tomlinson, Tim Palmer, and Gary Burton.

LTJG Mike Miller and his engineers have coped in turn with each problem which has come up, and all in all have maintained the engineering plant in fine operating condition. Chief Electrician Bill Hause, who departed in Yokosuka for duty on the helicopter carrier Valley Forge, supervised all electrical maintenance and repairs and also served as Chief Master-At- Arms and joined the ship's officers in standing officer-of-the-deck watches on the bridge. Barney Bondurant has taken over as leading electrician, working with Gaby Dibaczy, Pete Thomsen, and Lee Stone, as well as interior communicationsman Roger Hines. These men, along with all of their normal work and watchstanding duties, are the ones who have run the machine for an average of ten movies a week.

Engineman Chief Larry Ryder has now added duties as Chief Master-At-Arms to his normal work as man in charge of the main propulsion and general engineering equipment. Helping him as the supervisor of auxiliaries and the forward engine room is Vince Robison, who works with Bob Richardson, John Huchton, Paul L'Heureux, Gary Moon, and Wayne Walter. Wayne Walter has also been advanced this month, to Machinery Repairman Third Class. This is a rate which we do not normally have on board, and his advancement was the result of a great deal of self-study.

They after engine room, where we have our four main engines, was supervised for most of the cruise by Ken Neumann, and now by Dave Cassford. We may have had engineering problems, but in the main it hasn't been with these engines, and this has been due to the fine work of all of the enginemen. The personnel assigned aft are George Seaman, Charlie Wyatt, Mel Samsel, John Holland, Dwight Phillips, and, before their departure, Less Hendry, Gary Hiltabidej, and Norman DeChenne; but almost all of the enginemen have seen duty in this space at one time or another. Larry Tipton and John Huchton have shared duties as logroom yeoman, the administrative assistant to the Engineer Officer, and Bob Richardson has been the fuel and water king.

Damage Controlman Randy Dunn is responsible for all plumbing and carpentry repairs throughout the ship, as well as for the condition and readiness of all of the firefighting equipment. He, along with Johnny Mozingo and Dick Stadter, also plays a large role in the ship's repair party organization during general quarters and fire drills. Bob Hock, who both joined and left us during the course of the cruise, worked with them in this area.

Doc Henri is the medical department aboard, and is a man of many hats. He takes care of sick call, gives us our shots, does his own administration, and additionally serves as mess decks master-at-arms, sells cokes and cigarettes, runs tournaments and handles all of the funds which are derived fro these activities.

These are the men who have done all of the work that's gone on during the course of the cruise. The performance that they have turned in, individually and collectively, has been an outstanding one, and I consider that we have had a highly successful cruise to the Western Pacific. We've been away for a long time, and with the pressure of operations and the unpredictability of our schedule there have been few periods which were completely slack. We all look forward to arriving in the states and being able to enjoy leave or, if not that, a great reduction in the tempo of our operations.

An extremely gratifying note has been the fact that it has not been necessary to send a single man home for emergency leave, which indicates that all of you have come through this time without serious illness or grave problems of other natures. This factor adds a great deal to the feeling of satisfaction at a good cruise which will soon be completed. All of us look forward with great anticipation to our return to Long Beach, and I hope that many of you will be able to be at Pier Nine at the Naval Station when we pull in.

It has been a memorable trip for me and, I believe, for all hands. You may all be justly proud of your CONFLICT man and his performance during the deployment, as I have been. Many of you will be leaving the CONFLICT family during the near future, and to you I wish the best of luck. And for those of you who will be remaining with us, I hope that your association with the ship and the Navy has been and will continue to be a good and fruitful one.

My best to all of you.

Yours Sincerely,
LCD R. M. D'alessio
Commanding Officer

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