CAPT Olsen sent several BIDDLEGRAMS to members of the crew’s families and friends of the ship during the deployment. The first was titled “BIDDLEGRAM #1 – 29 May 1969 – At Sea.” (I apologize for being a day or two tardy in posting this. Just lost track of date.)
“This is the first of a series of Familygrams which I will address to you during our cruise to the Western Pacific, for the purpose of keeping you personally informed of what your Biddleman and his ship are doing.
“As I write to you now, we are just 36 hours from arriving at the Panama Canal to begin the transit which will take us into the Pacific Ocean.
“The Canal, completed 55 years ago, is truly an amazing engineering achievement. You may be interested to know that when we enter the Atlantic side, we will be maneuvered into three locks in sequence, each of which will be flooded after we are inside. As we depart the third lock, we will have been raised 85 feet above the level of the Atlantic Ocean and will then be at the same level as the huge man-made, fresh water lake which is the central part of the Canal. Once we are at this level, we can steam at speeds of up to 18 knots until we reach a series of locks which we will enter in turn and be lowered to the level of the Pacific Ocean. The Canal is 44 miles long and curiously, the Pacific end is to the east of the Atlantic end!
“One of the benefits of periodically going through the Canal is that we can flush out all of our salt water piping, thereby ridding it of the sea weed and small sea life which thrive in salt water. We also will have a chance to wash down the entire ship with fresh water which we didn’t have to make with our own distilling plant! The uniform for this operation will be swimming trunks!
“By the time you receive this, we will have left Panama and be headed across the vast Pacific. You can span the gap with your letters. At the outset, with long distances between ports, it will largely be feast or famine. So, don’t lose heart, but keep writing and I can assure you that your Biddleman will be doing the same. Please note our San Francisco address and Zip Code.
“Before we sailed from Norfolk, we received several messages, two of which I would like to share with you. The first came from Congressman and Mrs. William H. Bates of Massachusetts. Mrs. Bates is our ship’s sponsor, that is, she is the lady who smashed the bottle of champagne on our ship’s bow and christened her:
“AS YOU DEPLOY AGAIN TO ADD TO THE PROUD RECORD OF BIDDLE, MAY WE WISH YOU AND YOUR HARD CHARGERS GOD SPEED, FAIR WINDS, AND FOLLOWING SEAS. MAY YOUR POWDER ALWAYS BE DRY.
“The second was from the Representative of the Commander Cruiser-Destroyer Force in Norfolk, Rear Admiral John R. Wadleigh:
“I HAVE FOLLOWED YOUR PREPARATIONS FOR YOUR SECOND DEPLOYMENT WITH INTEREST AND PRIDE. I AM SURE THAT YOUR CREW OF HARD CHARGERS WILL DO ANOTHER OUTSTANDING JOB. I WISH YOU EVERY POSSIBLE SUCCESS, SMOOTH SAILING AND A SAFE RETURN HOME. GOOD LUCK AND GOD SPEED.
“In closing, I’m attaching a fact sheet of key addresses and phone numbers, should you need assistance or desire information during our absence.
Very sincerely,
ALFRED R. OLSEN, JR.
Captain, U.S. Navy”
Among the addresses on the “fact sheet” was Biddle’s “telegraphic address,” to which telegrams would be sent:
John Doe, (RATE), (DIVISION)
USS BIDDLE (DLG-34)
Care of U.S. NAVAL COMMUNICATION STATION
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA