Word: fleeting
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...mighty U.S. Sixth Fleet was locked out of one of its most important eastern Mediterranean bases last week. In an anti-American decision with potentially grave strategic effect, Greece's democratic government, still angry that the U.S. had once backed the fallen junta and then did not do more last year to prevent the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, withdrew permission for the fleet to use the harbor of Elefsis, 17 miles west of Athens. Set up only three years ago on a lease basis, Elefsis was a home port abroad for the six ships and 1,700 crewmen...
Home-Porting. In response to the announcement, the Sixth Fleet's commander, Vice Admiral Frederick C. Turner, issued a terse statement: "The Sixth Fleet will be able to meet its commitments in support of national policy without home-porting in Athens." In fact, the closing of Elefsis greatly complicates Turner's task. Because Turkey has also been angered by U.S. policy on Cyprus, no ships of the Sixth Fleet have been able to drop anchor in Istanbul or Izmir since February. As for Greece, the last destroyer landing party to go ashore on Corfu was nearly lynched...
...Sixth Fleet still has bases in the western Mediterranean, notably at Naples in Italy and Rota in Spain. But these are at least three-hours steaming time from eastern waters, a fact that will become even more important next month when access to the eastern Mediterranean is increased after the reopening of the Suez Canal-a herculean chore carried out in part by Sixth Fleet salvage units. All of the 50 or so ships of the Sixth Fleet can be rotated back to Norfolk, headquarters of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet. But that kind of maneuvering would add to fuel costs...
...loss of port facilities in Greece and Turkey also means that the Sixth Fleet has fewer "bingo fields," airstrips ashore to which carrier planes can divert in emergencies or bad weather. In addition, the new political situation creates morale problems for seamen, who will be forced to spend more and more time aboard ship without the chance of seeing their families and without liberty in the foreign ports...
Even with these handicaps, however, the Sixth Fleet continues to be the strongest military force in the Mediterranean. Though the Soviet fleet has made remarkable strides in a decade, and now actually outnumbers the Sixth Fleet (60 ships to 50), its submarines and cruisers still cannot match overall U.S. firepower. TIME'S Rome bureau chief Jordan Bonfante recently spent two days at sea with Task Force 60 of the Sixth Fleet and sent this report...