From: "Richard A. Haas" <rahaas@alum.rpi.edu>
To : <sam@star77.com>
s
Date : Tue, 16 Mar 2004 19:20:13 -0500
Subject : CLG-6 photos
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi Sam:

Here is the information that you requested:

I became a Plank Owner ( CLG-6) when joining the crew in Norfolk, VA prior to commissioning the ship at the Boston Navy Yard in 1959. I was still an Ensign at that time and came to the Providence from the Guided Missile Service unit at Hingham Ammunition Depot ( trained in Terrier missiles).

I was first assigned to the Missile Division (I think it was the sixth) and later became ship's Training Officer, X Division. We took the ship to Gitmo for shakedown, then back to Boston for final touch-up before moving to our new home port at Long Beach.

We stopped at Houston where we became the largest warship to navigate the Galveston River and then proceeded to Vera Cruz, Mexico, throught the Panama Canal, then visited Puntarenas, Costa Rica, Acapulco and finally to Long Beach.

We then traveled to WestPac with stopovers in Hawaii, Okinawa, Manilla, Yokusaka, Hong Kong, etc..

I qualified as OOD Underway before we returned to Long Beach, and left the service in 1961 as a LTJG.

I am a retired Professional Engineer in North Carolina, where I live with my wife Anne. The years between 1961 and the present could fill many books.

I attended the last reunion in Las Vegas and particularly enjoyed the opportunity to look at photos and documents of the ship's commissioning. I was reminded of names and faces that I had long forgotten.

Last year I digitized my slides of the Providence years and I will attach some with this email. I will send a few more tomorrow rather than plug up your mailbox with too many photos at one time.

Sincerely,
Richard Haas

return to links page