The United States Logistics Group (TUSLOG), was a cover designation prescribed by the U.S. European Command (EUCOM). In accordance with the demands of the Turkish Government, all U.S. military units and civilian components in Turkey were given designations as TUSLOG detachments. HQ TUSLOG was headquartered in Ankara, Turkey. TUSLOG Units were located in Spain, Libya, Italy, Greece, and Turkey. By 1994, all TUSLOG Units had been deactivated.
Field Station Sinop, nicknamed “Diogenes Station,” began operating in the mid-1950s. In the early 1960’s, Sinop was home to a 290-person U.S. Army Field Station and a NAVDET. Field Station Sinop (TUSLOG Det 4) was located 2 miles west of the town of Sinop, a fishing port and farming community with a population of just over 18,000 persons. The station was located on a 300 acre facility on a 700 foot hill, at the end of a peninsula.
TUSLOG Det 4 at Sinop, Turkey was a U.S. Army facility and listening post on the Black Sea Coast, during the Cold War. The base was locally known as the NATO “Logistics” base. Sinop is situated in a strategic location, just opposite Sevastopol, in the Crimea. Sinop was notorious for its geodesic domes and parabolic satellite dishes. In the 1960s, music blared constantly out of the main operations building, to trump Soviet intelligence, who surely were listening. Local Turks still refer to the blaring music, in Turkish, as the “radar.”
On May 12, 1961, a U.S. Navy Detachment of TUSLOG 28, NSGA Karamursel, Turkey; was established at the U.S Army Field Station (TUSLOG Det 4) in Sinop. The Detachment consisted of one officer and twelve enlisted personnel and was designated Navy Detachment (NAVDET) TUSLOG Detachment 4. NAVDET TUSLOG Det 4 was manned on a temporary basis until 1966, when the first PCS personnel arrived. NAVDET TUSLOGDet 4 was realigned in December, 1966, renamed and established as TUSLOG Det 28-1.
In July 1975, operations were suspended at all TUSLOG units in Turkey, at the request of the Turkish government. During this period, the U.S. and Turkey were not on diplomatic or political speaking terms. At issue was military bases and foreign aid. Operations resumed on January 16, 1979, after a diplomatic solution was mediated, and the dispute was settled between the U.S. and Turkish governments.
By January 16, 1979, Naval Security Group Activity (NSGA) Karamursel/TUSLOG Det 28, having also been on suspended operation, moved from Karamursel to Sinop. The U.S. NSGA Karamursel, Turkey was disestablished. When TUSLOG Det 28 reopened in early 1979 after the end of the Turkish Embargo, LCDR David Neiman was the Commanding Officer of the Navy Detachment. TUSLOG Det 28 was re-established at Sinop, but without the NSGA designation. Prior to the move, TUSLOG Det 28 had been located at Karamursel since January 1, 1957. TUSLOG Det 28-1 was absorbed back into the parent unit. The first Officer-in-Charge of TUSLOG Det 28 at Sinop was CWO4 R. W. Dickie. Operations were conducted in a temporary facility at Hippodrome. The Hippodrome facility was manned by both temporary and permanent personnel from Naples, Italy and Rota, Spain. The combined complement was 97 sailors. On April 1, 1980, operations were expanded to include both the Hippodrome and Main Operations.
TUSLOG Det 28 remained at Sinop until September 30, 1982 when the U.S. Navy assume control of the Field Station and renamed the U.S. Navy Field Station, Sinop, Turkey. LCDR W. Gravell, the OIC of TUSLOG Det 28 at the time, became the first Commanding Officer of the Navy Field Station. The complement was three officers and 81 enlisted men and women.
On July 15, 1992, operations were terminated at Hippodrome and on July 31, 1992, operations were terminated at Main Operations. The withdrawal of equipment and sailors commenced in August, 1992. With the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the U.S. Navy Field Station at Sinop closed down in 1992, and the U.S. Navy TUSLOG Det 28 ceased operations and was decommissioned on September 18, 1992. The last Commanding Officer of the Navy Field Station at Sinop was LCDR M. D. Loomis.
Source: Michael R. “MO” Morris, CTOCS, USN, Retired
18 September 2020 at 17:21
I was TAD to Sinop for 3 months starting the 1st of April in 1966. Permanent personnel were not assigned until after I left the first of July and there were some others from Karamursel Det 28 who were there after me. We Navy sailors all ate at a Turkish Restaurant in Sinop when not on a string of watches. The Roman ruins of the old city area were very nice to see.
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18 January 2021 at 20:37
Good day Robert, nice to hear your story, Iam a Turk and have been very often in sinop, by any chance do you remember the Restaurants Names, it would be interesting to know as I know some Restaurant Owners.
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19 January 2021 at 15:27
Well, in 1982-83 at least, there were the Yeni Liman and Eski Liman (New and Old Harbor), run by a colorful middle-aged guy who had excellent English. There was no menu. The owner would invite you to come back into the kitchen to lift lids and peer into the various pots of whatever was on offer that day, in order to make your selection. It was all good, and a lot of us ate there fairly often (but usually only on weekends). Also very inexpensive, for those being paid by US military standards – a rib-sticking meal cost a couple of bucks, tops. On my return to Sinop in 2014 (outlined above), I tried to find these and other landmarks, but the town had changed (not surprisingly). I did find the shop still (then) being operated by an old guy who carved the characteristic sailboats so popular with military and tourists alike…but while I found some restaurants, none of the staff admitted to knowing about any of the old places.
There was also the Buyuk Hoteliya (Large Hotel, known locally as “the Yeni”, since it was the newest hotel in town, circa early-80’s). This place (also mentioned above) fancied itself as having a gourmet dining room. They were pretty good, but the atmosphere wasn’t as relaxed and “local” as the Yeni Liman, my favorite. The Hotel did somehow manage to secure better cuts of beef for their Sis Kebap – sometimes (like when the management was trying to butter me up for some reason), it seemed like tenderloin, which was NOT the normal expectation for that dish.
There were a number of other places, but the Americans tended to stick to the ones I name and maybe just a couple of others, as I recall. In any case, I rarely ventured into typical Turkish “raki bars”, except in a group – and usually a mixed US/Turkish group at that.
One of my first Turkish phrases was “Turk yemek – cok guzel!” (Turkish food is great!)…That remains my opinion to this day.
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18 September 2020 at 20:04
I was assigned to Det 28 in 64 and part of 65. I was being moved to SINOP in late 65 but was redirected to the VALDEZ and joined that crew Christmas 65 in Cape Town.
Ron Gant
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25 November 2020 at 12:49
I was on the USNS Robinson out of Capetown. Saw your vessel a couple of times, all white wasn’t it?…
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18 September 2020 at 23:28
The Sinop compound appears to have been no more than about 1 mile EAST of Sinop, not two miles West.
42.029754, 35.169928
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21 September 2020 at 19:12
While at Karamursel in the laten1950s several of us traveled to Trabzon, Samsun, and Sinop for a site/survey/ feasibility study. Later in my career I returned to Sinop for a one year tour. I am probably one ov very few who can claim to having sat a position at Karamursel, Trabzon, Samsun, and Sinop.
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21 September 2020 at 19:14
‘Ananomus above wascfrom
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18 November 2020 at 21:03
Sinop was my first command, and a deeply-memorable experience on many levels.
We were very conscious of our location and role during the Cold war, and had opportunities to both hone and apply professional skills that made a difference. Female CTI’s in particular sought out and qualified for roles that were not then broadly available to them in the Navy. Sinop’s mission and capabilities gave them, and indeed all of the crew, professional opportunities that were unique in the world at that time.
The exchange rate was such that every American sailor was quite wealthy by local standards, and a number of the CT’s traveled extensively throughout the country, learning and collecting souvenirs. We only had two officers, though, at least until I was relieved by LCDR Clyde Lopez in the spring of ’83.
Throughout my year in command, we tried to dream up recreational and morale-building activities, including a Navy Day Ball during which we hosted RADM P. W. Dillingham, COMNAVSECGRU, and persuaded the 6th fleet band to fly in and play for us. That went so well we organized a “spring prom” – another excuse to dress up and have fun; the band returned.
To my amazement, after the base closed the town of Sinop repurposed itself as a “tourist destination” (at least by local standards). Right next to the Buyuk Hotel (now a ruin, if not already demolished – I attended its dedication in 1982), they built a pier capable of berthing large cruise ships (a fact which will astonish pre-1990’s Sinop veterans). Thereafter, for a number of years Regent Cruise Lines scheduled an annual cruise around the Black Sea, which stopped at Sinop every other year. I took that cruise in 2014 and spent a day in the town of Sinop, including a taxi ride up to The Hill. We couldn’t enter the old base – the Turks were then using it actively – but we skirted the fence and went out the back road, past Hippy to the old Turkish site on the point…Never thought I’d see Bird S*** Rock again…I used to run out there, from the base and back, EVERY day…(never again).
The core of the Navy is the Fleet, but the heart and soul of the old SECGRU was the diverse scattering of overseas bases, especially the small ones, which served as crucibles for the emergence of many great careers and rewarding, memorable lives. I had other leadership opportunities later, but never anything like Sinop. It was my great honor and privilege to serve with such dedicated young sailors, in the performance of such important work.
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19 November 2020 at 01:25
Captain Gravell, thank you for your comment. Please let me know if you ever want to contribute to Station HYPO. Sincerely, Mario
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17 February 2021 at 00:14
And to continue the chain, I relieved LCDR Clyde Lopez as CO in May 1985. A 13-month tour that was a phenomenally good experience. Operationally – spectacular. But culturally, it couldn’t have been better either. As Bill said, great food at great prices. But more importantly, our Turkish hosts, both on base and in town, couldn’t have been more hospitable. And the senior US officer was an Army INSCOM Colonel who did a great job of maintaining a cohesive US “family” among his tenants – like us.
Like Bill, a fellow USNA grad – he was actually one of the 1/c (seniors) in my company during Plebe summer (1972), we did our best to highlight the superiority of Navy folks. For example, for the 1985 Army-Navy game I had a bet with the Army CO that the losing representative would parade the opponent’s mascot around The Hill. Always a good sport, when Navy won (whew!) he led a goat around the compound. And, IIRC, he even bought ice cream for sailors at the on-base Baskin-Robbins. Similarly, our 75-sailor command organized a Navy Birthday ball which was second to none. And a few months later, even the Army folks were asking why their Army Ball didn’t compare to the Navy’s event (they were right, you know). Nothing but friendly rivalry – but it still felt great! And the icing on the cake – multiple Army officers that consistently asked “Why can’t the Army be more like the Navy?” Sweet!
Like Bill or Clyde or Mike or any other Sinop CO, I’d put my sailors up against any of theirs. But that’s just the Navy Way. We know that Sinop sailors are a special breed and we’d unreservedly serve with them again – even 35+ years later. (That said, my sailors were still the best!)
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17 February 2021 at 15:01
Mark’s comments regarding the “friendly rivalry” of our command vs. the Army host, which was much larger in just about every metric except per capita fill-in-the-blank, make me smile and expose a flood of memories. One among many stands out:
It was decided that per Army Regulation such-and-so, it was time to repaint the base – all of it – on ALL weather-facing surfaces. An appropriately-large budget to buy a lot of paint was approved. The Army suggested that painting being just the kind of thing that junior-enlisted military personnel should be good at, the Navy should be expected to provide the labor to paint its own stand-alone barracks (which also contained the Quarterdeck and not-unimportantly, the lounge/bar, called The Gundeck). This was agreed to, but with a wicked twinkle in the eye…
The Colonel was off-base TAD (TDY to them) when the painting was accomplished, all over a single weekend. As usual upon his return, the C-12 circled over the Hill as part of the line-up for landing. A short time thereafter, a sputtering Army Colonel was on the phone…the Navy command had painted the Barracks all right…but had done so in a nice shade of two-tone blue (aided in this substitution by sympathetic civilian employees in the Supply Dept), while EVERY other structure on the base was newly painted in classic Army light-lime green…(I imagine they found the bland color ‘restful’…)
The Colonel wanted to have the Navy barracks redone, but the S4 pointed out that per the same operative Army Reg, to repaint a building so quickly after having applied the immediately-earlier paint would represent something akin to “fraud, waste and abuse”…I inherited this freshly-accomplished coup upon assumption of command; when I left in ’83, the Navy Barracks was still blue…and the same fouled anchor stood in front of it.
They always ‘spanked’ us in the various Army-Navy athletic contests (having a team-recruiting base of about 7:1 over us), but as Mark, Admiral Cole and others of us before and since learned at USNA, “it doesn’t matter who wins the game; Navy ALWAYS wins the party…”
Bill Gravell
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29 December 2020 at 23:55
I was stationed at Sinop, Turkey from February 1959 for a year, till I went to Korea with the Army Security Agency as a Cryptographer. fortunately I was 18 years old, so the out house latrines, chopping wood to keep warm in our Jamesway huts wasn’t all that bad. I learned much in my military MOS which helped me tremendously in Korea. I still think about Sinop and the men I worked with, and the dogs they had as pets. No women were there at the time. town was off limits during public executions, and don’t look at the women down town. their men would go crazy and want to do strange things to you via sharp knives. I could probably write a short book about what we did, but it would probably mostly be classified. Had to have a top-secret/crypto clearance to perform my military duties. The things were did at the time were amazing. 1959 was a very, very interesting year monitoring our friends across the sea.
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31 December 2020 at 16:22
I was a CT aboard the USS PETERSON (DD969) during our MED 94-95, when we did a port visit to Samsun Turkey. Some DIRSUP members and I met up with one of the locals who had worked at Sinop. It was wintertime, so the town air was mostly coal smoke, so heavy, it was like smoking packs of unfiltered Camels. With the changing times, one wonders if technology has permanently replaced such stations like Sinop. (We know that old adversaries change names but seem to be adversarial again.)
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22 January 2021 at 18:49
Robert Crouse. I was station there at the same time as CAPT (then-LCDR) Bill Gravell. 1982 – 1983. I worked out at the Hippodrome as a Army “98J”. The day I arrived we lost a guy swimming of the beach at the airfield to ripe tides. They closed it and I never got to go there. Also while I was there they were building a resort hotel alone the road to the south side of the the hill. If my shift would allow I when to the Yeni and had toasted fresh bread and goats butter with the Turkish coffee. I would never want to go there again. I was denied midtour leave and had to spend the hole year there. That sucks when your 24 and married. I when from the 101st Airborne to their them back to the 101st Airborne. I loved the job just not there. LOL PS. I just remembered! Never go downtown with out a roll of TP!
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15 February 2021 at 00:07
My father worked at the listening station for 18 months back in the late 60s or early 70s. I’m visiting Sinop for the first time this coming fall to see where my father worked. I am excited.
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15 February 2021 at 04:27
Hope enjoy your visit. What was/is your Dad’s name?
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6 June 2021 at 22:32
Sorry I just now saw this! His name is Tom Johnson. I don’t know know what his rank was whilst there; he was pretty young and probably enlisted a year or two prior. I’m skeptical he was older than 20. I recall him saying he was there for maybe 18 months? Probably back in 1968 or so because Israel had recently won the 1967 war.
Unfortunately he is in the late stages of Alzheimer’s. It would be a treat to show him pictures and have him relay more stories than he did in my youth, but it will be a meaningful trip nonetheless.
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7 June 2021 at 17:39
If your experience is anything like mine in 2014, you’ll be able to get a taxi up the hill road from town (or walk, but it was an arduous trek for trim and fit 20-somethings – I took a taxi this time!). In 2014, the Turks were actively using the main base for berthing, messing and logistics (just like we did). It looked neat and well-maintained, but that was my view through the fence – we weren’t allowed to enter. Instead, we had the driver take the dirt side road which paralleled the fence until it joined the main (paved) road between the back gate and the Hippodrome. Depending on your father’s specific skills and training, he either worked “at Hippy” or on the Main Base. In any case, you can take the paved road all the way out to the old “Turkish OPS Building” on the point. Given then-recent real estate development of the hilly areas east of the base, in 2014 it was possible to travel via “new road” down near the water, all the way back into town. Neither this development nor the road existed in the 80’s.
However and of possible interest, in the 19th century the Turks established a number of coast defense gun batteries in the hillside, facing east and southeast. I used to walk around out there (without benefit of roads) and go exploring in the underbrush, since some of the batteries had become overgrown. Great memories…
CAPT Bill Gravell, USN (ret)
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25 March 2021 at 11:31
I was at Diogenes Station from 82-84 and played on the Navy basketball, volleyball, and softball teams. No one “spanked” us when I was there. In fact, our Navy team won the post basketball and volleyball championships. I don’t remember there being a championship series for softball, but we had a good record and were never “spanked.” In addition, Navy had three players starting on the post volleyball team; we won the 1983 Turkish Regional Volleyball championship at Incirlik. Navy had two players starting on the post basketball team; we took third place in a Turkish Regionals tournament in Izmir. In sports, Navy represented well above our overall percentage of post personnel, at least from 1982 to 1984.
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11 April 2021 at 17:43
I was a CTI1 when I arrived at NFS Sinop in September 1982. I had the honor of working under the leadership of C.O.s LCDR Gravell and CDR Lopez.
I’d begged, pleaded, and promised all sorts of things (!) to have my orders out of Intermediate Russian changed from NSGA Misawa (900 DIRSUP) to NFS Sinop. Then, during my CO interview, LCDR Gravell assigned me to duty as … Educational Services Officer. Hmmm. He listened to my reasoned protestations and told me that I was now the ESO.
This isn’t a complaint. As I dug into the matter, I found out the Why and I worked out the Fix. It was all about taking care of your shipmates, both former and current. I didn’t, and don’t, regret a minute of my work on that.
LCDR Gravell created a new operational assignment, Command Watch Chief, and assigned me to it. That required incredible trust in me and my as-yet undemonstrated capabilities; I remain in his debt for that. Any success I achieved is the product of the skills of the cryptologists at Mainside and Hippodrome and a superb PandR analyst, CTR2 Sue Craig.
Each of the three Turkish Army NCOs with whom we worked side-by-side were superb, multi-skilled cryptologic professionals. I am honored to have had the opportunity to work with them.
The women and men assigned to NFS Sinop were uniformly superb in their professionalism and commitment to each other. And, if anyone asks, I know all about The Gundeck while knowing nothing at all about The Gundeck, outside of the fact that The Gundeck passed our NSG IG inspection.
CDR Lopez, upon his assignment as C.O., impressed me a lot. However, I served under his leadership for barely a month due to my rotation in September 1983.
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By the way, the explanation of why the Turkish government had the U.S. bases in Turkey closed – “At issue was military bases and foreign aid” – is, at best, incomplete. More to the point, Turkey strongly objected to U.S. Congressional response to Turkey’s reaction to the Cyprus coup against Archbishop Makarios III in 1974 by the Greek Army (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkish_invasion_of_Cyprus#United_States_arms_embargo_on_Turkey_and_Republic_of_Cyprus).
/s/ CTIC(SS) Donald H White
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17 April 2021 at 00:06
I was stationed here from 1988-1989. It was one of the most interesting tours I hade in my eight years of service in the US Army. I would love to hear from anyone else who served here during this time. Jeffschultz192@gmail.com
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25 May 2021 at 04:29
I was stationed at Sinop 1990-1992
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9 June 2021 at 16:05
My first duty station, following boot camp and R-Branch training at Corry Station in Pensacola, was Det 28 in Karamursel, in 1964. Seventeen years later and several language schools under my belt, my final tour was Sinop as a CT I Brancher. I arrived New Year’s Day 1981 and departed New Year’s Day 1982. LCDR Frank Lunney (may he RIP) was OIC when I arrived and LCDR Gil Edwards was OIC when I left the “Hill.” The Army-Navy game that year in Philadelphia was played to a 3-3 tie but the Army-Navy game on the Hill saw a plucky band of Sailors soundly defeat the Army. We invited the Army into the Gundeck Lounge following the game and spliced the mainbrace for a few hours. Sailors being who we are, we relished the opportunity to pull a prank on the Army and that year was no exception. The night before the football game on base, a small crew stealthily went to the main gate and painted Ataturk’s cannon in Navy Blue and Gold. The Turkish base commander had no problem but the Army Colonel was livid. He began an investigation to find the culprits and have them punished. He had special investigators from the Military Police interview all suspects (mostly at the Navy Det for some reason). We all had a good laugh because the MP investigators determined, following a week-long investigation that some Army personnel had painted the cannon in Navy colors in order to shift the focus to the Sailors. I still tell that story, even forty years later. That year we put on quite a wonderful Navy Day Ball with Robert Strauss-Hupe, the U.S. Ambassador to Turkey, as our special guest. I found a couple of Army M-Branch equivalent guys to help me get the local radio station up and running. KBOK was back on the air once again. My small crew kept the hill wondering where the golf course was and how we got a traffic helicopter. Gullibility ran rampant back in those days. I shall never forget the Hill or the many Sailors and Army friends who made the year memorable. I hope the Army keeps the caissons rolling along and to all my Navy shipmates, Fair Winds and Following Seas.
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