USS Alstede (AF-48) - Second Med Cruise

Second Med Cruise

Alstede exited the Chesapeake Bay on 17 June. After 10 days in the Atlantic Ocean the ship transited the Strait of Gibraltar on 27 June and joined the 6th Fleet. For the next two months, she varied underway replenishment missions with visits to such ports as Golfe Juan, France; Barcelona and Valencia, Spain; Phaleron Bay, Greece; and Naples, Italy. The store ship departed the latter port on 28 August on her way back to the United States. She arrived back in Norfolk on 10 September and began a month in port after the cruise to the Mediterranean. On 16 October, she put to sea once more and shaped a course northward. For several days, Alstede participated in antisubmarine warfare exercises in Block Island Sound. She returned to Norfolk on 21 October to undergo repairs at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard. Back at sea on 9 November, the store ship embarked upon a 19-day cruise to the West Indies. During that mission, she tested underway replenishment equipment and made port calls at San Juan, Puerto Rico, and at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The vessel arrived back in Norfolk on 28 November and, two weeks later, entered the shipyard of the Norfolk Shipbuilding & Drydock Co. for a month of repairs.