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| U.S.S. Allen M. Sumner DD-692 | |||||
| Northern Europe - June to July 1964 | |||||
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| Scenes of the Kiel Canal and Stockholm from the collection of Chuck Morrell | |
The Official Ship's Deck Log for 1964
Chuck Morrell's Photo Collection
Bob Hibbert's Memorabilia Collection
The Sumner set sail for Annapolis, Maryland on the morning of June 1st from Mayport as a host ship for the annual Naval Academy Cruise. She anchored at Annapolis on the 3rd along with the USS Lake Champlain (CVS-39), the USS Little Rock (CLG-4), USS Nantahala (AO-60) and the destroyers of Squadron 16 and Division 122. With the Midshipmen onboard Task Group 23.1 began it's journey to Flensburg, Germany on the 4th. The crossing was taken up by many exercises for the Midshipmen including ASW, Surface and AA firing, ECM, replenishment and flight operations.
June 19th saw the Sumner transit the Kiel Canal and mooring at the Federal German Naval Academy in Flensburg along with the USS William C. Lawe (DD-763). After a ten day visit, she was again underway with the next port of call being Stockholm, Sweden anchoring there on the 30th.
Remaining in Stockholm until July 6th, Sumner made steam for Rotterdam, The Netherlands passing through the Kiel Canal on the 7th. The next day she transited the River Maas and tied up in Rotterdam enjoying Dutch hospitality until the 13th before heading back across the Atlantic. The USS Essex (CVS-9) joined the formation for the crossing and on the 17th the VDS was streamed to a depth of 250 feet. Sumner entered Norfolk on the 24th where the Midshipmen departed and she was underway again for Mayport where she arrived on the evening of the 25th.
Do you have any stories or memorabilia of the cruise? If you do please share it with us.