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DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER
805 KIDDER BREESE SE -- WASHINGTON NAVY YARD
WASHINGTON DC 20374-5060

Online Library of Selected Images -- Picture Data

Photo #: NH 97601 (extended caption)

USS Tarawa (CVA-40)

A band welcomes the carrier to Naval Air Station Quonset Point, Rhode Island, at the completion of a nearly one-year-long World cruise, 6 September 1954.
See below for the text of the press release that accompanied this photograph.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.

Online Image: 76KB; 740 x 600 pixels

 


Text of NAS Quonset Point Public Information Office press release, dated 7 September 1954, that accompanied the original photograph:

NAS Quonset Point, R.I. -- The aircraft carrier USS Tarawa arrived here today Monday September 6th after completing a round-the-world-cruise which lasted nearly a year. The Newport Navy Band played Old Lang Syne as the ship docked. The Navy band aboard the Tarawa answered with "It's Been a Long Long Time". The 27,000 ton attack carrier left Norfolk, Va. September 12, 1953. After spending eight weeks in Mediterranean waters with ports of call at Algiers, Naples and Spain, the Tarawa steamed through the Suez Canal on the first lap of her long journey through the Indian Ocean and China Sea to report for duty with the Seventh Fleet in the Far East. Arriving in Yokosuka, Japan on February 15, the Tarawa operated with the Seventh Fleet for the next two months. In April the ship headed southward to Australia and New Zealand, where with Fleet Admiral Halsey she represented the United States in the annual ceremonies commemorating the Battle of the Coral Sea. After brief visits to Sidney and Melbourne, Australia and Wellington, New Zealand, the Tarawa headed northward to the Philippine Islands and operated in and out of Manila until mid-July. After a brief stop at Hong Kong the ship proceeded to Subic Bay for minor repairs before starting their homeward journey on August 1.

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1 May 2001