The materials for the following pages were submitted by Capt. Allen P Cook
Jr USN Ret who was assigned to the Benham during the reactivation period
and assumed command when she was commissioned. The newspaper
articles were written by reporter David Bongard, Lt USNR, for the "Long Beach
Daily News". Lt Bongard also did his
two week active duty period aboard the Benham during our shakedown at San
Diego. Most of these pages are going to take several minutes to download,
but they are certainly worth the wait.
The below photo is of course the beginning, so let us get underway.......
Reactivation continues
Below are two photos of the Benham. The top one is in
San Diego after recommission in 1951. The bottom one is in Newport, RI
which was our home port and was made in 1952 after modernization in the Boston
Navy Shipyard.
While in Iceland enroute to Europe early in 1952 Benham and Noa
attempted to circumnavigate Iceland, Benham going clockwise and Noa
counter clockwise. Both were forced to cancel by ice and bad weather. The
below pictures were made on that trip.
This completes the viewing of the Benham recommissioning as
reported in the news media and remembered by many of her crew. Our
thanks to Capt Cook for sharing these memories with us.