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Page 6 PORTHOLE 8 JUNE 1965 w m ©©ran R M W U M H Vice Admiral H. C. Moore, U.S.C.G. (Ret.) President of M aritime College State University of New York Fort Schuyler, New York 65, New York Dear Admiral Moore: Please accept my apologies for the long unavoidable delay in writing. I wish to express my sincerest thanks and appreciation for the honor bestowed upon my father at the dedication ceremonies of the Felix Riesenberg Hall. A s a son I was proud beyond expression but sad that my father could not receive the tribute himself. Both my sons, John and Peter, were greatly impressed. I hope that the fine men attending the University will realize the opportunity being afforded them during their y ears at the M aritime College. I am not of the sea, but my heritage has taught m e that honor and respect for authority are necessary attributes in any life. Sincerely, John Riesenberg President Harold C. Moore M aritim e College Fort Schuyler Bronx, New York 10465 Dear Admiral Moore: One of the most im p ressive views, which greeted me at my Inauguration last week, was to catch sight of the 67 M aritime College cadets all in their dress blues — first, as stationed indi vidually throughout Philharmonic Hall to guide delegates and guests, and, second, assembled as a group for all to see throughout the ceremony. In expressing appreciation to you and the cadets for this service to State University, I speak not only for myself but also for Dr. Frost and Mr. Livesey of the Inauguration Committee who tell me that the complex assignment, given to the cadets on short notice, was carried out flawlessly. Sincerely, Samuel B. Gould President Marine News The new Italian liner, MICH ELANGELO, has recently ot tered the ranks of the so-called “ Atlantic Elite” . Boasting a weigh - in weight of 43,000 tons and a passenger capacity of 1,- 503 in three classes, the new liner ranks as the world’s fifth largest passenger vessel. She will maintain regular service be tween New York and Genoa. The plush new v essel measures, 905 feet in length, 102 feet in beam and 11 stories in height. The only larger ships are the QUEEN MARY, QUEEN ELIZA BETH, FRANCE, and UNITED STATES, in that order. One of the most unique feat ures of the Michelangelo’s con struction is its twin funnels which constitute an entirely new concept in marine design and add to the passenger’s comfort. They are encircled by immense latticed cylinders, which at a height of almost 100 feet, support tilted ailerons with a lifting surface, as big as an eight-room apart ment. As a result the smoke is deflected upwards by the an gled aileron and dispersed high over the stern, far from the ships immediate vicinity, whatever die direction or speed of the wind. A similar design feature, incor porated previously within the lin er FRANCE has proven to be extremely benefical to passenger comfort. The ship is divided into First, Cabin, and Tourist c lasses, with each having its own public rooms, dining rooms and swimming pools. All of the staterooms have individually controlled air conditioning—a typical First Class cabin consists of two beds, a large bureau, three closets and a modern bathroom with stall shower. The decor of the ship is most modern and is die work of the foremost artists of Italy. Sev eral of the murals are noted as being outstanding. Passengers can partake of all the usual deck activities such as ping pong, trap shooting and the like and die social staff runs a series of bridge tournaments, dance contests and other social activities. There are good bar ber shops and adequate beauty parlors, two garages for those who want to take their cars a- broad and an array of excell ent shops. Minimum fares on the Michel angelo for one-way passage to Genoa from New York from now until August 8 run from $314 in Tourist Class, $360 in Cabin Class, and $476 in F irst Class. After August 8 Tourist Class fares start at $253, Ca bin Class at $318 and First Class at $432. A few more facts concerning the vessel itself. The ship has turbine engines which are cap able of moving the craft through the water at a speed of 26.5 knots. The ship has 472 state rooms, all with private bath, a total of 18 elevators, a most modernly equipped hospital, a sea water distillation plant, a baby sitting service and nurser ies in all classes. In addition there are librar ies, writing rooms lounges, card rooms and just about any other cpmvenience you would expect to find in die finest of hotels. The 30 salons and public rooms are open daily and all equipped with special sound reducing in sulating materials. The ship is entirely fireproof- ed and 13 watchmen are on con stant patrol to double-check on a complete electronic fire warn ing system that is located in the bridge. Manning the ship are a total of 721 officers and crew. A ship-wide loudspeaker system keeps passengers in formed on daily events, meal hours and points at interest. Also, there is a daily informa tion sheet and a newspaper that keeps you up-to-date on world events. There is yet however, one deficiency that remains to be corrected. On her maiden voy age a definite vibration was no ticed in most parts at die ship. Guiseppi Ali, managing director of the Italian Line, spoke about this situation. He said there is a slight problem with the propellers and as a result a new pair will be installed with in the next two months. Other wise, all is functioning as well as had been expected. The New Mae West Effective this month, all new life jackets aboard American Merchant V essels must be made of either kapok, plastic foam, or fibrous glass according to the Coast Guard Merchant Marine Council. The old cork and balsa wood preservers were judged by die New Survival Equipment Two ex-servicem en have dev eloped an all-purpose survival kit which is designed to cover any possible emergency. The kit floats, and flies, and can be maneuvered in the water or on the ground. The basic device, a pair of coveralls, will keep a man a- float tem p o rarily. When the suit is com p ressed the air store is released and it expands into a water borne capsule. To take off into the air, the helium con trol mechanism is released, which inflates a s e ries of bright ly-colored orange balloons that lift the craft from the surface of the water. The apparatus includes devices for maneuvering the vehicle, and for regulating altitude. One of the k it's inventors stated that the equipment would provide nec essary protection against sharks, high seas, and ice, and would also make a survivor more visi ble than a “ tiny dot on the water” . The “ flying lifeboat” comes in a sm a ll, collapsible package, which can easily be stored a- board ship. Survival at Sea Marcus Hook, P a ., June 4—A dram atic feat of rescue at sea by an American - flag tanker of the Sinclair Refining Com pany was honored here today, when R e a r Admiral L J. Stev ens, Commander of the U.S. Coast Guard’s Third D istrict and E ast ern A rea, presented the Ship Safety Achievement Citation of M erit to Capt. John H. Rose, M aster of the Sinclair Super flame. Admireal Stevens made the presentation on behalf of the award’s joint sponsors, the Mar ine Section of National Safety Council and the American Mer chant M arine Institute., The Sinclair Superflame earn ed her citation on February 28- 29, 1964, in the course of a stormy coastwise voyage from Houston, Texas, to Charleston, S.C. About 350 m ile west of the tip of F lori da, early in the evening of the 28th, her lookout spotted a light flashing to the northward. Course was a ltered, and the 61-foot Helen Lee of Tampa was found in d is tress. Her m a ster requested immediate removal of himself and h is crew. Although the loaded 450-foot tanker was taking green seas across her well deck, driven by a force 6 wind, Capt. Rose man euvered her alongside the fishing boat and succeeded in transfer ring its entire crew, without in jury. After standing by the derelict Helen Lee until she cap sized, he proceeded with the rescued men to Charleston, the weather being too rough to per mit their being put ashore at Key West. Host to the ceremonies on board the Sinclair Superflame was Wendell N. Damonte, Sin clair’s Vice President and Dir ector of Marine Operations and a member of the Board of Dir ectors of the American Merchant Marine Institute. The Marine Section, National Safety Council was represented by its General Chairman, Capt. George E. Bux ton of New York Shipping As sociation. Coast Guard to be incapable of keeping an unconscious,drowning person afloat. Deadline for the new preservers is May 26,1965. At the same time, another new life-saving device has been sub mitted to the Coast Guard for approval. A small propane radi ant gas heater that is carried by persons abandoning vessels in distress can be lighted after submersion, may be appearing on American Merchant ships in the near future. Weighing less than two pounds, the unit is said to be capable of keeping a man comfortable for up to ten hours in freezing temperatures. One of the old Victory ships that finds use in todays modem fleets is the C-4 type troop ship. These originally were built for carrying troops at 17-knot speeds. Perhaps the designers of these C -4’s had an inkling of the future when they placed the steam turbine engines aft, as if they were anticipating the bulk cargoes of today. The M ari tim e Administration originally offered 18 of these ships in Octo b e r 1963 for conversion to pri vate use. Proposals were re ceived from 18 companies for a total of 50 ships. Two each went to the Central Gulf Steam ship Corp. of New Orleans, and Bulk T ransport, Inc. of New York. These are being converted at Tampa Ship Repair and Dry Dock Co. Alabama Dry Dock and Shipbuilding Co. is convert ing two v e s s e ls for Mats cm N avi gation. The remaining 12 ships w ere split between S ea-LandSer vice, Inc., and Calmar Steam ship Co., a subsidiary of the Bethlehem Steel Corp. Calm ar Conversions. Although some of the coversions involve mid-bodies, what the Calmar Steamship Co. did to six vessels is interesting. The f ir s t of them, the old USS GEN. O.M. ERNST, was scooped out and turned from an obsolete troop ship into a v al uable steel and lumber c a r r ie r , the SS Calm ar. Converted at a cost of $4.5 million, the Cal m a r looks, acts and feels like a brand new ship. She received her new lease on life a t the San Francisco Shipyard of the Beth lehem Steel Corporation. The other five v e s s e ls were converted at Bethlehem’s shipyard facili ties in Baltim ore Harbor. P a r t of the latter work was handled by the Sparrows Point Shipbuild ing Yard, with completion at the corporation’s Key Highway Yard. The five Baltimore-converted vessels were named MARYMAR, PENNMAR, SEAMAR, YORK- MAR and PORTMAR. The Calmar C4 ships display a completely different profile than that of the old \General” troopships. They now have a mult-tiered aft deck house dir ectly forward of the single stack, two 25-ton whirley cranes strad dling the midships area, and 3 sets of burtoning gear especi ally suited for die handling of lumber. The capacity of these vessels is believed to be close to 7 million bd ft of lumber each, of 15,000 tons at other The CALMAR and her sister ships are 523 ft long with a beam of 71 ft and depth of 43 ft. They can travel at speeds up to 17 knots. Hatches and holds have been altered to handle cargo lengths up to 110 ft. The new vessels also are equipped with the m ost modem dehumidi- fication and cargo hold heating system s to eliminate condensa tion in the cargo spaces. Each hold can be heated from below to warm the cargo. Each vessel also contains two dry-air system s with a total capacity of 23,000 cu ft per min to keep the air in the holds dry. These dehum idifiers can remove 1,320 lb of water per hr from the air, and were supplied by Humi dity Conditioner Corp., Naberth, Pa. Approximately 3,000 tons of fittings, steel-form ing bulkheads and decks were stripped from the form e r troopship. All 'tw een- decks except one were removed. AU of the form e r bridge s tr u c t ure was removed and the after portion of the s u p e rstructure was modified to provide new crew quarters and a new bridge. After the troop quarters, arm a ment and miUtary lifesaving g ear w ere removed, a new deck house, pilot house, gaUey, and crew quarters were added. T hese faci lities are air conditioned. Three of the four holds were lenghtened, one to 107 ft and two to 110 ft. New piping, electrical wiring and ductwork w ere installed and belowdeck areas reinforced. After the new cargo-handling booms and w h irl ey cranes w ere mounted, the vessels were drydocked and the main engines, boilers and other machinery overhauled. A good deal of equipment was saved from the old wheelhouse. On the new bridge are what look to be the Navy panels and feed e r circuits, engine telegraphs and steering controls. T he S p erry gyrocompass also dates from 19- 44 . Other navigational gear is new, such as the RCA radio direction finder, the Raytheon fathom eter, the Leslie Tyfon whi stle control, the Edo Ioran and the Type 669 Decca Radar. Each having a complement of 11 officer and 24 men, the six Calmar ships were converted at a cost at approximately $27 m il- Uon. They have replaced six worn-out Liberty ships, and are providing a fast and highly ef ficient break-bulk Intercoastal service. cargo.. CAPT. PHILLIPS ASSUMES COMMAND OF T.S.E.S.IV (Comtimmed from Page 1) University, Oxford, Ohio. From January 1951 to March 1952 he was Commanding Officer of the USS Lofberg in Destroyer Force, Pacific Fleet. The LOFBERG was with the Seventh F leet in Korean action for 9 months. From April 1952 to January 1953 he was assigned duties as Commander, Mine Squadron SEVEN operating in the Pacific. He then reported to the Armed Forces Staff CoUege as a student under instruction, 13th class. From August 1953 to February 1956, Captain Phillips was Commander Fleet Training Group, Chesapeake Bay, and from 1956 to 1958 was the Chief, Navy Section of the Military A ssis tance Advisory Group in Portugal. He served during the Lebanon crisis as Commanding Officer of the USS AMPHION operating with the SIXTH Fleet. In July 1959, Captain Phillips was assigned to the Armed Forces Staff CoUege where he first served on the faculty and later was appointed Deputy Commandant, Navy, for the College. On June 30, 1960, he assumed duty as Commanding Officer of the Naval Ad ministrative Command, Armed Forces Staff College. Captain PhUlip’s decorations include the Bronze Star Medal with Combat “ V” ; Presidential Unit Citation with 3 stars; Navy Unit Commendation; American Defense Service Medal with Bronze “ A ” ; Asiatic -Pacific Campaign Medal with 12 stars; World War II Victory Medal; Navy Occupation Service Medal (Asia Clasp) China Service Medal (extended); Korean Service Medal with 1 star; and Korean Presidential Unit Citation. Join the Alumni Assoc.