Diary Entry: Trip to Monaco, August 1967
Andrew E. Svenson, Stratemeyer Syndicate
At this moment I’m aboard the cruiser Little Rock, a flagship of the Sixth Fleet in the office of Captain G. F. Rodgers, Public Affairs Officer, Staff, Commander of Sixth Fleet and the next voice you will hear will be that of Captain Rodgers, who will explain some of the duties involved in his operation here.
Rodgers: “The purpose of the United States keeping a Naval Force in the Mediterranean is this. We’re here of course to make sure of free international use of the waters in the Mediterranean—they are in fact kept free because a lot of our commerce depends on this. American commercial ships that ply back and forth. Secondly we’re here to protect the interest of Americans in Europe and in case of hostilities or other necessities of having to evacuate if the Commander of the Sixth Fleet was called upon to assist by higher authority. We also have a NATO alliance responsibility here, which our Naval Force is committed to, to supply certain support in times of trouble.
“Another way to look at it is, the fleet itself might be viewed a piece of American real estate. Far from its homeland of course, nevertheless, very very much, just that, a piece of U.S. real estate afloat over here and with its mobility, the fact that we support it almost entirely from our own homeland back in the United States, why, we have the mobility to move around, go where we want without getting permission and so forth. Our land base units do not have this freedom of movement.
Now, from a diplomatic standpoint, we’re also here to assist what we call the in-country teams or ambassadors, where they are in Europe. In that way we will put, say a carrier, American Aircraft carrier, into a port and let the people who live there, who may not know about these carriers, come aboard and meet our sailors and the officers who man her, take a look at the planes and perhaps find out for the first time that we’re not warmongers, we’re not out here to bomb them, or a threat to them. We’re a peace keeping force and we’ve been very successful in this peace-keeping role, because since the end of World War II this really has been done, there hasn’t been a what we’d call major flap out here, I mean, in the Mediterranean.”
Svenson: “I’ve been talking and telling Captain Rodgers my mission over here to obtain story background materials and asked him whether children ever come aboard this ship and the things they are interested in. I’d like him to tell us a little bit about that.”
Rodgers: “Well, of course during any given month we play host to hundreds of, indeed thousands of youngsters all over the Mediterranean because our fifty ships assigned, destroyers, cruisers, two aircraft carriers, the mine sweepers, our amphibious ships, the APAs, Aks or the troop transports, pay what they call port visits. In all of the countries where we are welcome, around the literal and these youngsters are escorted aboard, overcome the language barrier by the provision of interpreters by the embassies or country teams supplied them. The missiles, in the particular case of Little Rock, our guided missile cruiser, missiles which we display when they come aboard on visiting days, are certainly of highest interest.
We take them back and show them how they turn and so forth. When I was talking to Mr. Svenson, I thought the ice cream making machine was a great point of interest. I haven’t personally viewed this, but I did hear a rumor that points to that. The normal ship’s routine, the activity when they are aboard runs the gamut, these ships are much in fact like American cities afloat. We have 1,100 to 1,200 men aboard the Little Rock. All services are provided. We have tennis aboard, doctors, of course cooks and we launder and tailor. They find that what they are looking at is a very tight, complicated, but effective city afloat on the high seas.”
Svenson: “Ensign Belmont just came in to Captain Rodgers’ cabin and gave me some pictures showing a little boy sitting in the seat of a helicopter, all rigged out with his helmet and radio transmitter. This, I think, will be a great picture if we can use it in a story. Thank you, Ensign Belmont. The control feature is interesting. They count the kids that come aboard and count them off again. Has any every been lost? No, they have all been accounted for.”
Rodgers: “At present the purpose of the visit of the Commander of the Sixth Fleet aboard the U.S.S. Little Rock in Monaco is what we call a protocol visit, as part of our diplomatic mission out here in the Mediterranean. As such we saluted the head of the Principality, namely Prince Rainier during our entrance into the harbor yesterday. He graciously consented to return this recognition in a form of a visit to the flagship of the Sixth Fleet, which will take place on Sunday, the 27th when their Serene Highnesses, the Prince and Princess of Monaco, will come aboard. After a short reception we will have a formal dinner on the foc’sle of the U.S.S. Little Rock. The other guests attending will be dignitaries from the Principality and much good comes of this interchange of ideas and so forth.
“These are memos now for Mr. Svenson: 1. I will get some pictures airmailed to him of the functions of their Highnesses aboard ship. 2. Regarding the question of the origin of the gun salute per se between ships at sea and Principalities or governments ashore, when the first gun was actually fired in a protocol, etc. I recommend to contact our very wonderful Rear Admiral Eller, who is the Naval Historian in Washington DC. I suggest that Mr. Svenson write to Capt. Paul Jayson, UP0B-0585 Navy Department, Washington 25, D.C. Tel. 0X-6-1880, or 6-1755. The question was asked regarding the gun salute procedure utilized in the visit to Monaco. This is the way it went:
“The flagship fired 21 guns in salute to the Principality of Monaco. A 21-gun salute was returned by Monaco. The flagship then fired a 21-gun salute to their Serene Highnesses, Prince and Princess of Monaco, and the Principality returned a 15-gun personal salute to the Commander of the Sixth Fleet. The flagship then returned a 15-gun salute, then anchored outside Monaco’s harbor.”
Svenson: “The captain has just stepped out of his cabin for a moment to get some extra material for me. He is just a great charming guy, tall with wavy gray hair, wears glasses, and he certainly knows his public relations business. He’s getting as big a charge out of this as I am. He told me, ‘You know, you’ve got a happy look in your eyes, no wonder you can write books for children.’ Well, this is a tremendous break for me and might dictate the entire tenor of a story if we do want one about Monaco.
However, it doesn’t have to be one about Monaco, I could use this material in any number of ways. The captain is now clearing me through the top guy who is the Admiral of the Fleet, I must get permission from him in order to see his personal ship. Nobody can come aboard and look around without his approval. His name is Vice Admiral William I. Martin.
The Captain of the Little Rock is Captain John J. Mitchell and the Chief of Staff, Commander of the Sixth Fleet is Captain C.H. Smith. The text of my publicity kit here says that Vice Admiral Martin was promoted to Vice Admiral and assigned as Commander of the Sixth Fleet in April 1967. He has a daughter, Inge, who is sixteen.”
————-
I am now back on shore after one of the most fantastic days I’ve ever experienced. I was taken on a tour of the Little Rock by Ensign Belmont, had luncheon in the Officers’ ward room and then met Captain Mitchell, and also Admiral Martin. The Admiral was most gracious and introduced me to his charming wife, who is a beautiful blond German woman. We spent some time chatting and then the Admiral autographed a copy of his picture.
Captain Mitchell did the same, and in his stateroom Ensign Belmont and I sat down for a coke while chatting with this very handsome officer. I was privileged to ride back on the Admiral’s barge with the Admiral and both Captains. I will describe this later. On the way we passed Kirk Douglas, proceeding out to the ship, just as we entered Monaco Harbor. Sometimes you have to wait around a little longer for your luck. A few of the fleet officers and I plan to meet at six. Signing off.
AES 5:00 PM 8/25/67
I said on the disc a few moments ago that sometimes you have to wait longer than at other times for Lady Luck to show her head. The visit to Monaco until today has been so-so. Bits of story material and ideas had to be literally squeezed out of the information at hand. The sixth Fleet saved the day for me. Yesterday morning, amid the booming salutes from the hillside opposite the hotel, I sensed the possibility of story material. So this morning at seven o’clock I went to the little canvas shack by the waterfront where smaller boats were plying back and forth to the flagship Little Rock. At first I asked if a pass to the ship was possible and was told by an ensign that I should return later in the morning. On the way back to my hotel I stopped short and said, “Svenson, you’re not thinking big.”
So halfway up the hill I turned around and went back to the white canvas shack. Another officer had arrived, a captain with his four braid bars. I introduced myself and told him I would like to see the Admiral. My new acquaintance was Captain G. F. Rogers, US Navy, Public Affairs Officer, Staff, Commander Sixth Fleet. In the day we have spent Captain Rodgers and I have become old buddies. He is a naval aviator with 26 years of experience, and I was told by other officers aboard later on that he was hand-picked for the job of Public Affairs for the Sixth Fleet.
The open sesame seemed to work again, it is namely this. I introduced myself as Jerry West, writer of the Happy Hollisters, also as Andrew Svenson, partner in the Stratemeyer Syndicate, editor of the Hardy Boys, and colleague of Carolyn Keene. This was like dropping a major salvo upon the Little Rock. I was shipped aboard on what they call a U-boat or utility boat and when I came back it was with the Admiral himself on the Admiral’s barge. On the tour of the Little Rock I met seaman after seaman, officer after officer, who had read the Stratemeyer Syndicate books. Even Captain Mitchell was an avid fan of the X Bar X books. Rogers opened up the entire photo file of the cruiser and I selected shots which I think we might use later on in the stories.
I have half a dozen pages of notes which I took on the tour, noting of places where visiting kids could get into some kind of innocent mischief, such as in the ship’s radio station, where they could broadcast to the entire cruiser. One of the things I must do upon my return is to send a shipment of Hollisters, Hardy and Nancy books to the flagship officers, to give to their children. Several of them were very keen for autographed copies of Nancy Drew. The autographed photos of the Admiral’s I will have framed and hang them in my office.
Today’s events provided just the kind of shot in the arm which I need at the moment. To have the Admiral and his staff commend me proved a terrific lift in the occupation which seemed sometimes to get bogged down with petty details. The overall picture, seen from afar, is very bright indeed. The young seaman who runs the radio station said he remembered best of all the Mystery of the Chinese Junk. I sort of wished that Jim Lawrence could have heard his comments and enjoyed the boyish enthusiasm and praise from this young sailor, whose life has been influenced by the Stratemeyer Syndicate.
Seated second to my left at the officers’ luncheon was a twenty-one-year-old ensign who said he had read all of the Tom Swift Jr. books and liked them. A few minutes ago as I entered the hotel with Captain Rodgers, who incidentally is staying here along with other officers from the Admiral’s staff, I was introduced to the fleet doctor, his wife and eighteen-year-old son. When Rodgers told the boy about the Stratemeyer books the lad was overjoyed to meet the editor and said this was the highlight of his summer trip. And so it goes. Enthusiasm begets enthusiasm and now I feel on top of the world again.
Signing off, AES
Visit the USS Little Rock!
The USS Little Rock was decommissioned in 1976 is now on display at The Buffalo & Erie County Naval & Military Park