at the
Re-Opening of the Suez Canal 05 June 1975
The Suez Canal seen from the Little Rock
Two of the ship's crew check the sights.
13 June 1975 Edition
ROCK ATTENDS SUEZ 'REOPENING'
After being greeted in Port Said, at the gateway of the Suez, by small groups of fishing boats carrying what seemed to be impromptu welcoming committees, LITTLE ROCK joined a procession of ships down the canal.
Headed by an Egyptian Navy Destroyer, carrying President Anwar Sadat, his guests and dignitaries, the procession made its way down the canal to the port of Ismailia. Here, LITTLE ROCK anchored for the night and observed from her mooring the festivities on shore.
U.S. Navy ships and (SIXTH FLEET/TASK FORCE SIXTY FIVE) personnel participated in clearing the canal, which took more than a year before it was reopened.
The joint service task force trained more than 1,500 Egyptian military personnel in explosive ordinance clearing.
During the year-long operation more than 200 tons of unexploded ordinance and 686,000 land and anti-personnel mines were removed from the canal and its banks. Ten sunken ships were also raised from the canal bottom with the help of Navy salvage teams.
(http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-usn/usnsh-l/clg4-l.htm)
On 5 June 1975, after having been closed since the June 1967 war between Egypt and Israel, the Suez Canal was formally reopened for business. USS Little Rock, flagship of the U.S. Sixth Fleet, represented the United States at the ceremonies, which were held at Port Said. According the the 1976 "Naval Review", she was the "only foreign warship in the official flotilla that sailed down the canal to Ismailia" on this occasion.
Much damaged by direct military action in 1967, and especially in another war in October 1973, as well as by the neglect inherent in its long inactivity, the canal had required considerable effort to remove sunken wrecks, clear explosives and return its banks and channels to navigable condition. Its closure had produced serious disruptions in international commerce, as eastbound shipping from the Indian Ocean area and the Far East had to make a long passage around Africa instead of taking the relatively short route via Suez and the Mediterranean. Some of the expedients adopted at that time to improve the economics of a non-Suez Canal environment, among them enormous supertankers for transporting Persian Gulf oil to Europe and the Americas, survive to this day.
Additional Historical Information
(Provided by
John Meyers on 17 Aug 2009)
On April 10, 1974, a special Sixth Fleet Task Force, CTF 65, was
established under COMSIXTHFLT OPLAN 4371 to assist the Egyptians in
clearing the Suez Canal of mines and other operational hazards.
At the time, USS Little Rock (CLG 4) was Flagship of the Commander
United States Sixth Fleet and the COMSIXTHFLT staff worked from the
ship to
assist CTF 65 with operational issues. Little Rock’s crew and equipment
provided day-to-day support of COMSIXTHFLT that contributed to the
successful reopening of the Suez Canal.
The task force used operational code names Nimbus Star, Nimbus Moon
Land, Nimbus Moon Water, and Nimrod Spar. Nimbus Star included
controlled minesweeping
of the canal and approach channels. It was carried out by RH 53D Sea
Stallion helicopters using the Mark 105
magnetic minesweeping sled. The plan for Nimbus Moon Land was to train
and advise Egyptian Army
personnel to find and remove unexploded ordnance from the banks of the
canal. Moon Water combined minesweeping
craft and divers from the United States, Egypt, Britain and France to
find and dispose of ordnance not found otherwise. Nimrod Spar included
the salvage and removal of ten sunken wrecks and other
waterway hazards.
Ships from the Sixth Fleet that were part of CTF 65 included USS Iwo
Jima (LPH 2), USS Inchon (LPH 12), USS Barnstable County (LST 1197),
and USS
Boulder (LST 1190).
Over the course of CTF 65 operations, more than 8500 contacts allowed
for the disposal of 60-plus tons of ordnance. Additionally, 200-plus
tons of ordnance was
pulled from boats, barges, trucks, tanks, and other vehicles removed
the canal.
On June 5, 1975, Little Rock joined the ceremonial convoy for the
reopening of the Suez Canal. All participating crewmembers received a
Suez Canal Reopening certificate.
Vice Admiral Frederick C. Turner
wrote a short note to commemorate the reopening of the Suez Canal as
follows:
| Today
marks a milestone in world history in which the U.S.
Navy has a proud and significant part. The
reopening of the Suez Canal to world commerce is, in large measure, a
product of the efforts of the men of CTF Sixty-Five who have labored
for more than a year to make this day possible. This effort demonstrates again the great versatility
and
capability of the U.S. Navy. In this
instance this expertise was applied for the benefit of all nations of
the world who rely on ocean commerce. The
Suez Canal clearance effort brought together, under a U.S. Naval
command, members of all United States armed services, and military
forces of Egypt, Great Britain, and France, working as a team toward a
common goal for the advantage of mankind.
FREDERICK C. TURNER Vice Admiral, U.S. Navy |
Note: A 115 page CTF 65 summary document is available at handle.dtic.mil/100.2/ADA010261. It can be downloaded as a PDF file.
Also from John Meyers:
".
. . . . . In
the book Negotiating for Peace in the Middle East by
Ismail Fahmy (Egypt’s Minister of Foreign Affairs at the time of the
Suez Canal reopening) the following quoted material is in reference to
Anwar Sadat requesting two U.S. Navy
ships for the reopening of the Suez Canal as follows:
|
“I told Sadat in all frankness that it was a bad idea: the presence of American warships was not only completely unnecessary but could be adversely interpreted in many ways. Sadat was unconvinced and explained his fears: ‘No, impossible. Without the American ships, I cannot cross. The Israelis would fire at me.’ I laughed and told him that this was not only impossible, but unimaginable. Sadat was very angry and kept repeating, ‘No, they will fire at me. You don't know the Israelis, Ismail.’ Realizing that Sadat was genuinely worried about the Israelis, I tried to minimize the damage: ‘O.K. But why two American ships? One is enough. It will serve the same purpose.’ Sadat agreed and I called the US ambassador to convey Sadat’s wish. Hermann Eilts also stared laughing, but naturally sent Sadat’s request to Washington. The US government consented and the cruiser Little Rock, flagship of the Sixth Fleet, took part in the convoy which crossed the Suez Canal on 5 June 1975.”
“This is the real story behind the appearance of the Little Rock; it was not a gesture of recognition for the American Navy’s help in clearing the Suez Canal, as some writers argued. The participation of the Little Rock did not escape the sharp eyes of the foreign reporters covering the ceremony. While the convoy was going through the Canal, I suddenly found myself surrounded by a large group of correspondents who bombarded me with questions about the presence of the Little Rock in a convoy composed solely of commercial ships. I was forced to limit myself to some evasive answers which left everybody unconvinced. The reporters’ imagination took off from there.” |
Commemorating the
Reopening of the
Suez Canal
What did the U.S. media have to say
about the U.S.S. Little Rock
at the reopening of the Suez Canal ?
Galveston Daily News
Friday, June 6, 1975
The U.S. cruiser Little Rock, based with other 6th Fleet units in the Mediterranean, was in the first convoy to enter the reopened canal. They followed Sadat's vessel, the destroyer “October 6”, named for the opening date of the 1973 Middle East war which led to the return of the canal to Egyptian control. American diplomatic sources said the Little Rock came at the invitation of the Egyptian government. The invitation was understood to have been a gesture of gratitude to the United States for the key role it played helping to clear mines and other debris from the canal during the last 13 months, they said.
Frederick (MD) Post
Friday, June 6, 1975
Monday, Jun. 16, 1975
"This is one of the happiest moments of my life," Sadat told Correspondent Wynn on the bridge of the destroyer. Girls blew kisses to the Egyptian President from small boats. Men clung to the tops of masts, beating the air with their fists and chanting, "Ya Sadat, ya Sadat!" He beamed and waved in response. At intervals the ship passed remnants of the old Israeli Bar-Lev Line, now manned by Egyptian troops. Sadat climbed to the destroyer's signal station to return their salutes.........
The biggest warship in the convoy, as it turned out, was not Egypt's. It was instead the 14,600-ton guided missile cruiser Little Rock, flagship of the U.S. Sixth Fleet. The Little Rock was trimmed with flags, including the Stars and Stripes, which flapped visibly in the hot summer wind. Two Soviet admirals among the guests in the flotilla — Moscow's sole representation at the ceremonies — glowered and gloomed."
Note: Ironically, it was on October 6, 1981, about three years after making peace with Israel, that President Sadat was assassinated by Muslim extremists during an annual military parade celebrating the “successful” campaigns of the 1973 Egypt-Israeli conflict. President Sadat was saluting the troops when a small group of them ran from a vehicle in the parade firing machine guns and throwing grenades in the stands.
The above photo, and the photo to its left were run in the June 13, 1975 copy of the ship's publication "Tiger Rag". They were taken by PH2 Harry Deffenbaugh
Sixth Fleet Band
A Little Rock shipmate survey's the Suez Canal.
Then we'd like your input.
Your photos and comments are welcome.
Contact Art Tilley or
Woody Donaldson
The full color photos were contributed by USS Little Rock shipmate Dave Sciarretta RM2 1973-76
The following related article was on Page 1 of the June 13th "Tiger Rag"
“UP AND OVER” FOR FIVE
Two enlisted crewmembers and three officers from the LITTLE ROCK were made an indellible part of the historic Suez Canal reopening recently as they participated in re-enlistment and promotion ceremonies.
BM3 Charles Finiak and SH3 Raymond Brown Jr. re-enlisted for six years during the ceremonies held on the Signal Bridge as LITTLE ROCK made her return trip up the Suez. Finiak assigned to the ship’s Deck Division since 1972 will be leaving in July for assignment with the USS FLINT (AE 32) homeported in Concord, Calif.
Brown, a member of the LITTLE ROCK’s Supply Department, has worked in the ship’s laundry since his arrival in 1973. He will leave in July for Pearl Harbor Hawaii and the USS DAVIDSON (DE 1045).
The second ceremony advanced three LITTLE ROCK division officers to the rank of LTjg. Alexander Murray, Disbursing Officer; Daniel Musmanno, Second Division Officer and Nicholas Smilari, Legal Officer strapped on their new rank insignias with the help of Commanding Officer Captain William R. Martin and their Department Heads.