U.S.S. Abbot Mediterranean Cruise 1956

On election day in November 1956, Abbot departed its base in Rhode Island to maneuver with the Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean.

To some Abbot veterans this is known as the “Lost Cruise” because no souvenir book was produced, but Ensign George Rider — serving with his brother Ken — fortunately took a camera with color film. All of these photos were taken aboard Abbot or while ashore. This collection comprises the vast bulk of color images of Abbot.

We are lucky indeed to have these rare photos. According to George:

Ours was a happy ship. On the way back from Baalabak, Lebanon, the road took us right up to the Syrian border. The bad guys set up a road block, stopped us and ordered us off the bus. Our Lebanese driver challenged their leader. An argument ensued. Kenny and I were seated in the back of the bus next to the beer. He looked at me and said “You’re senior, you handle it.”

The driver said, “under no circumstances get off the bus.” He acted as mediator. They wanted the film from our cameras. I stood in the space behind the driver as two scruffy Arabs boarded the bus with Kalashnikov rifles. I told our guys to give them their film and stay seated. They went down the aisle stripping film from the cameras. That satisfied them and they left. I thanked our driver and we were under way again.

I told Ken how mad I was that they had ruined our pictures. He looked at me with a grin and produced some film from under his shirt. In the confusion, he had replaced his film with an empty one and hidden the good one. I couldn’t get mad. Here’s the proof.

We passed the hat at the end of the ride and the bus driver was very well taken care of!!

Abbot returned to Newport on 22 February 1957.

Click on an image to see the complete description. Some images are numbered; please send corrections or other caption information to Walt Baranger.

1956 Mediterranean Cruise Photos

33 – November 1956	28 – Nests of Fletchers at Newport, R.I.	40 – Pulling away from pier #1, Newport	Forming a squadron
Getting rougher	Ensign Ken Rider on the bridge	Duke, Ken Rider and Ensign John Jay Flynn	Rough Day
Sun peeking out	A little spray	Sun sets on Coral Sea (CV 43)	Duke and Lt.(j.g.) Carroll D. Melton on the bridge
A lot more spray	Resupplying	Transferring freight to a Fletcher destroyer	Big sea
Smaller sea	16 – Destroyer Hunt (DD 674) alongside Abbot	Ensign George Rider on 01 deck	Abbot’s mast seen from 01 deck
Two Fletcher destroyers	Unknown Essex-class aircraft carrier	103 – Off Cannes	Jet aircraft
Large swell	Large swell	DD making time	Ensign Ken Rider on the bridge
Mail delivery to unknown DD	Rainbow over two screening DDs	Ensign Ken Rider by gun mount #52	Ensigns John Jay Flynn and Ken Rider
35 – Ensigns Ken Rider and John Jay Flynn and SN John W. Bugler	Lifeguard station, fueling	37 – Abbot sailors	Taking pictures
DD plowing	Huge swell	The days grow warmer	43 – Lt.(j.g.) Francis I. Dowd and Cdr. Willard W. Deventer – our much-loved skipper.
Taking station for fueling	45 – Lt.(j.g.) McGovern	Looking aft from gun mount #53	47 – Retrieving a torpedo
48	White caps	52 – Mail call	53
Boatswain Mates	55	Lining up at the gas pump	60 – USS Coral Sea (CV 43) at sunset
61	62 – Unknown Fletcher destroyer	63 – George Rider soaked in fuel oil	64
65 – Resupply ship	66 – Lt.(j.g.) Edmund B. Bossart Jr. near torpedo tubes	The fleet at sea	The fleet at sea
83 – Baalabak, Lebanon	88 – George and Ken Rider at Baalabak, Lebanon	96 – Turkey	98 – Turkey
101 – Aircraft carrier Coral Sea (CV 43)	102 – USS Coral Sea (CV 43)	106 – SA Robert F. Miner at Cannes	109 – Ensign Ken Rider on the fantail off Cannes
110 – Lts.(j.g.) McGovern and Edmund B. Bossart Jr. off Cannes.	111	113	114
124 – Off Naples	Destroyers Hale (left) and Abbot off Italy