DATE: Thursday, August 28, 1997             TAG: 9708280523

SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A6   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY JACK DORSEY, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   54 lines

CUTTER LEGARE IS SHIP FULL OF AMBASSADORS ON DEPLOYMENT

One hundred five days after leaving Portsmouth on a six-month European deployment, the Coast Guard cutter Legare might be riding a little lower in the water - thanks to a payload of souvenirs its crew has accumulated throughout the continent.

``We probably do have a little lower draft today than when we departed,'' Cmdr. John E. Crowley Jr. joked by satellite telephone Wednesday night from the Black Sea, as the Legare steamed south from Odessa, Ukraine.

The small ship's 113 souls have amassed the load in 16 port visits, and are due to arrive today in Constanta, Romania, for another round of visits with foreign dignitaries and demonstrations of traditional Coast Guard missions.

More than 25,000 visitors have so far toured the ship, during a total of 87 hours it has been available to the public.

And at least one of Legare's crew has achieved celebrity status, Crowley said.

Ensign Gina Nakahara, the ship's public affairs officer, was the feature of a television news show in Odessa after she commanded the ship into the harbor there.

``By the time we got to the beach, word got out to the crowd that one of our women had that assignment,'' Crowley said. ``It became the focus of a five-minute spot on their national news broadcast.''

Acting as their country's ambassadors sounds like all fun, Crowley said, but his crew has worked hard throughout the deployment.

Typically, the port visits call for entertainment, and exchanges at high political levels, and nearly everyone in the crew has to be involved.

During a recent visit to Poti, Georgia, Crowley had to keep a 20-person duty section aboard to cook food and maintain the ship, ``had another 12 people conducting professional exchanges with Georgia border guards,'' and assigned another 12 people to conduct tours of ship, he said.

``There were 17 doing a beach cleanup with a group of 30 orphans. Twelve were playing volleyball against one of the Georgia border guard teams. Another 15 of us were conducting tours of the local community.''

Receptions, meetings, visits and demonstrating the Coast Guard's mission is constant, he said.

``I think,'' he said, ``they are all a little tired.''

In another week, the Legare will head out of the Black Sea and into the Mediterranean to begin its trip home. Although it has three more port visits remaining, it still is scheduled to leave the theater Sept. 22 and be back in Portsmouth on Oct. 2.

``It is an exciting time,'' said Crowley. ``We are starting to be on the downhill turn. Everybody is starting to look forward to return home.''

The European cruise is unique for the Legare. The 270-foot, 1,800-ton ship is the first of its size the Coast Guard has dispatched on such a journey; the service typically favors larger ships to make the Atlantic crossing.

Its deployment has taken it to Morocco, England and Northern Ireland, and to ports throughout the Baltic Sea.

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