USS Alstede (AF-48) - Reassigned To The Atlantic Fleet

Reassigned To The Atlantic Fleet

Since her return to the United States on 22 June coincided with a reassignment to the Atlantic Fleet, she remained at Oakland only eight days before sailing for Norfolk, Virginia. En route, the store ship stopped at San Diego from 2 to 4 July, arrived at Balboa in the Panama Canal Zone on 12 July, and transited the Panama Canal on the 14th. Alstede moored at her new home port, Norfolk, on 19 July. Over the ensuing three months, the ship engaged in maneuvers and other evolutions in and out of Norfolk. On 11 October, she began taking on supplies in preparation for her first tour of duty with the U.S. 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean Sea and, 11 days later passed between Cape Charles and Cape Henry to begin her first Atlantic crossing. The ship entered the "middle sea" around the end of the month and made her first port call—at Naples, Italy—on 4 and 5 November. Visits to Salonika, Greece, and Valencia, Spain, punctuated her replenishment missions with elements of the 6th Fleet. Alstede made a return call at Naples from 4 to 7 December before setting a course for home. She concluded her first Mediterranean deployment upon arrival back at Norfolk on 23 December.