A Slice of Life
Bill LItes
Besides France, the ship continued on its designated cruise with stops at ports in Italy, Turkey, Spain, and Gibraltar, where I enjoyed visiting and experiencing the unique beauty and culture of the countries where we stopped. It was sometime during this period that the Suez crisis broke out, and the Coral Sea was rushed to that area to patrol and provide air support until the crisis was resolved. After things calmed down in the Suez area, we returned to Rota, Spain for several days, for our ship to take part in a fleet conference, and then to be relieved by our sister ship, the aircraft carrier USS Franklin D. Roosevelt (CVA-42). I had never seen so many ships in one place before. The area was absolutely jammed with ships of all shapes and sizes.
While waiting for the conference to be over, our captain treated the ship’s company to a beach party on the Naval Station. That party really helped relieve much of the tension everyone had experienced during the Suez 
Canal crisis. Once the conference was over and we had been officially relieved, we headed for the U.S. and Norfolk, VA. As luck would have it, we ran into a huge north Atlantic storm that lasted most of the trip, and pounded the ship with giant waves, some of which even broke over the flight deck of the ship.
In Norfolk, we off loaded the air group, with all their planes, personnel,
USS Coral Seas
fuel and weapons, and all other ship’s company (non-essential) personnel, leaving us with a 1500 man skeleton crew, to man the ship. What was left of the ship’s company worked around the clock for three days to off-load all the remaining non-essential equipment, and then we headed south. The Coral Sea was scheduled for a two-year long refit and conversion, and the east coast shipyards were full.
Dressed in our winter blues when we left Norfolk, it wasn’t long before we were crossing the Equator and having to change into our summer whites. As we crossed the Equator, all us Pollywogs (first timers/land lubbers) were introduced to the “Mysteries of the Deep” which is ruled by King Neptune and his court. In a ceremony that I will never forget, the Shellbacks (previously indoctrinated crew members who have crossed the Equator) of the ship’s company aided “King Neptunus Rex and his Royal Court” in initiating us “Slimy Pollywogs” sufficiently to qualify us as new Shellbacks. But, that ceremony is another story for another blog. Suffice it to say, it was uniquely Navy and memorable.
—–To Be Continued—–
Old Things R New 