European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - August 28, 1965, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Up Navy planes Bate laundry in hoi Only fair the men by Sam Nople Bureau hostile Carrier could handle the big two twin prop so the com of Fleet tar Benjamin in i dered the Talla Walchle county to step and that precisely what the tally 1 designed to George skipper of the took Lime Oil while dressing for formal reception for cretan officials the Tallah Atchle county to talk about a slim some even out in the open by their own Pioneer spirit the ship started out As an Webb went then in 1962 it was converted to an the second of its the old superstructure was Cut off and a new aluminium one put the tank deck was Cut up so we could Stow it special vans containing All the equipment necessary to operate a storage space was figured for the vehicles we needed crash an ambulance and fire and tanks for Jet in Vic uni u suu1 Ujj to the ship from duty As aide to vehicle Gas and ship fuel were James command Erin i Allied forces Southern toe idea of this ship is to provide re Ulm and maintenance facilities for a til squadrons almost any place we can Tove out an air we carry every eng we need to from a Bull Ber to radar and electronic from Gas to metro he Here at Souda we can use an already but we Supply every Ling he we run in on the Beach and stay there after in but since were going to be Here couple of months i pulled Over tothe pier to ease the water problem her getting set and the water problem is just it normally the ship carries 150 men and is any of the officers and men from patrol Squadron 900 men into and evaporators  handle we can make knots and have a Bottom As Flat As a we also Roll 45 degrees in even the slightest he said with a lots of seasick sailors aboard at things happen in a hurry when the Tallah Tchlo county runs up on a Webb in about four hours we can have everything unloaded and ready to if were ordered to pull out we can toss everything aboard and be under Way in four we can straighten out the mess in Webb paused to mop the sweat off his face in Souda Bay even the Skippers Cabin is an automatic its quite a mixed bag we have aboard a cruise sized sick air specialists and Aerial photo i figure our insignia is particularly fitting the Trojan just like the we can put a lot of bad Medicine in our he the Tallah Atchle which is Home ported in is the Only Navy ship permanently based in the even the eth Fleet to men were at the in in Barren Barracks and Bill Andrewt Ond Bob Fox right found old the stars and stapes Khaki mint Spring Field is shifted Ive got a very savvy staff on this All of us the the Ops officer and chief officers who came up through the Webb said with equal Pride he mentioned that his Floore recently was graduated from the naval facade my and is currently undergoing flight training at he also pointed with Pride to the re enlistment rate among first enlistment now at 59 per cent on the ship and that a lot higher than Why the High Rale i think its because i level with the i Tell them what were going to How were going to do it and How Long it will if somethings wrong i dont yell at a Sailor i get the nearest chief and discuss it with that Way we All know where we stand and what were responsible said Titor a firsthand look at the f Charles the executive offered to do the a lanky officer with pilots floated up and Down lad Ders there never stairs in the Navy with this is the captains first be nodding to hardworking have to be a commander and an Avia Tor to skipper the Tallah Atchle sailors seem to like him and the ship its a mighty clean its an ugly piece of steel and alumni he gesturing at the Flat deck with giant cargo booms and radio Antenna from the but it sure gets the Job Bow doors like an list Small heliport on the never used radio gear to talk to the strip and to the planes As Well As listen to Normal Fleet off the Bridge he ticked off the compartments radio code briefing room we Brief pilots Here rather than at the strip then Down a deck never a floor in the Navy to the wardroom and quarters and hey theres a Shower if you need one and Down an other deck and heres our photo shop lots of stuff for them to do during opera Lions and on the Stern Here is our panic we drop that when were going onto the helps hold the Stern and then when we re ready to pull off we shift water ballast in the lighten the Bow and Crank in this zip off we All Clear heres hell carry Claude was Claude operations tall and who seems to take everything in his thoughtful our whole purpose is to keep the patrol Squadron to explained As he hopped into his jeep for a trip to the advanced not much else most of the time we handle Only a five or six planes and maybe 150 were stretched All the Way on this chugging the jeep slowly wound its Way past the world War ii Ceme Tery Crete was the scene of bitter German British fighting and struggled up the Steep soon Souda Bay was spread out a Long Finger of Blue water reaching several Miles Inland to form an almost perfect greek Navy destroyers and mine sweepers nosed against the and a freighter Rode at Anchor in the Tallah Atchle county rested with its Stern to the an ugly duckling of a ship but trim in its battleship Gray with the White avb2 Beautiful huh said Hend Rockson As the jeep topped the he stopped the jeep for a moment to Admire the and the heat rolled in like a breaker of liquid sure is driving on to the the Ops officer ticked off the people and things the ship we have 11 each for 15 men 150 sleeping which i guess Are Kinda superfluous Here 115 mat tresses and 80 and dont ask me Why they dont match we carry special mess gear to trans port hot food to the although this time were not using it As weve opened the nato Barracks Kitchen at the strip and Are feeding the base personnel out of we dont carry specialized Supply parts for the various patrol outfits Treyve got to Supply Here we Are at the Howe things going Hendrickson asked a tired the Ops officer my cd on quickly As cs1 Harvey Ron of mess Petty officer from the sounded this Galley built to feed 60 peo ple and were feeding 230 per and preparing flight rations As the tired mess Boss were living in either empty Barracks or full tints full of that till so Lull Here we serve 20 Gallons of Koolard just for try he passing out purple fluid in quart i ask 20 Gal Lons of Koolard this is cooking for the first 30 hours we trucked food from the ship up but then we got things perking along and began serv now the Guys think its pretty Mario asked just As Good is what we make Back at said cs2 Mario of stationed at the Naples naval air facility but detached to the Tallah Atchle to help we fooled pm you when they got ready to come Down Here at we told them they have to eat c continued Gull then we came up with this same As they get at a Gonella or Naples or any other Navy arc Robert of leading chief of b of the advanced base offered to explain the rest of the Airfield Seabee make up 40 per cent of the b he we have an Advance party of 10 come in a week Early and Start to get things open Barracks if there Are get electricity find How the roads so then the ship the ramp drops and the slab is Roll out pulling the 16 licked Oft the these vans Are specially built lightweight and can be airlifted by til y re the heart of the Porter listed the vans functions Library with aircraft Supply Generator communications electronics and instruments shop air Frame radar eco and Iff Antisubmarine warfare equipment navigation engine shop and avionics and mad magnetic anomaly detection take a look at the metro Van Thall give you an idea of what All the vans Are said inside the House trailer sized ag2 Bradley of on temporary duty at Sou a from the weather Cen was standing watch along with ag3 Robert of up from Simonella whats it like working the weather Van for a deployment like this one said i hate to tear the weather map fax off the machine because i know till Tell me what i already know More heat on the there Are five of us Here in the metro Van two from the ships com two from Rota and one from Sligo we work 11hour with the temperature hitting 110 regularly in the were supposed to have air Condi but when a cooler goes out on an operation Van they take something happened the other Day that might be of put in we had a it came right Over the Island first one Ive seen since we got i kind of like it Here the skin diving is went Down a Tew Miles along the coast near the venetian fort and found a couple of old Cannon Fox con and theres All kinds of stuff laying around Down it its hot in the weather its boil ing to the maintenance Tenta where the vp24 mechanics keep pm sweat ing Over a malfunctioning Angle drive in the gloomy tent were adr3 John Morri of and adr3 Hugh of both with vp24 at works about the same said Gallagher As be wiped sweat from his but its a lot tougher because of the Lack of a Little luckier were two other mechanics who were working on an Oil cooler in the Shade of a Neptune adr2 Willey of and Adran William of at least got the Bene fit of a slight Breeze out in the open at Tiey worked on the we came Over to Europe from nor said and we thought things were pretty rough Down at Sig pm tinted on Fogt u 13