Bryce Canyon (AD 36) - Naval Cruise Book

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by material and spare parts from Supply, communications from Opera- tions, boats and boom service from Deck and power from Engineering, the Repair department can handle almost any job from a delicate adjustment of a stop watch to a complete main engine overhaul. In addition to repair service, the ship offers complete medical and dental clinics, a soda fountain, steam and electric power, services of a chaplain, small stores, water, fuel, ammunition and provisions to the destroyers and their crews. A casual walk through the tender will show even a landlubber that the Bryce Canyon is quite different from a man-of-war like a cruiser. The cruiser ' s mission is to destroy, while the tender is assigned the task of preventing destruction by timely preventive maintenance and swiftly repairing destruction when it occurs. Both ships have their main batteries and the Bryce Canyon ' s are her work shops and a direct hit is scored as every job is completed successfully. The birth of the BC was caused by the Korean War. Although construction began in 1945, the end of World War II saw construction stop. It looked as though she would Boiierman First Class Lloyd E. Lamb, only remaining PLANK- OWNER aboard the Bryce Canyon, admires the tender ' s battle efficiency plaques for 1955, 1956 and 1957. spend an inactive life in mothballs until the Korean fireworks necessitated her logistic and repair support to the United Nations combat forces. Since then she has alternated six month Westpac tours with two other tenders in her class, the USS Hamul and USS Frontier. The tender, named after Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah, is one of 16 active destroyer tenders in U. S. naval service and is the newest. Her home port is Long Beach, California. ' !{J

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U. S. S. BRYCE CANYON (AD-36) Length 492 feet Beam 69 ' , feet Displacement 16,675 tons Gross tonnage 8,000 tons Propulsion plant . . . Steam turbine Horsepower 8,500 Propeller diameter 21 feet vl CANYON CAPERS CAN DO. . WILL DO. . . DID... a fitting motto for a hard working destroyer tender... OUR BRYCE CANYON. A glance at her log since commissioning in 1950 graphi- cally illustrates her achievements: ■t ' Won small tender battle efficiency competition past 3 years, 1955-57. -t- Earned Korean, U- N. Service, National Defense ribbons and Korean Presidential citation. ■J. Serviced more than 2,000 ships including 7 from United Nations. ' t ' Completed work on over 40,000 job orders for ships of 55 different hull types. t Supplied over 15,000 KWH of electricity to ships alongside . . enough power to run on American liome for 5,000 years. t Steamed over 100,000 miles while making six western Pacific tours of duty. •%■ Visited 21 ports in 7 countries. In fulfilling the ship ' s primary mission of providing repair and logistic sup- port to Uncle Sam ' s destroyers, the 27 Diversified repair shops are paramount in importance. Backed up

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CAPTAIN JAMES S. SHILSON COMMANDING OFFICER 26 September 1956-30 January 1958 Skipper of BRYCE CANYON for 16 months, Captom Shilson, is now ossigned os Commander, Fleet Acti- vities, Sasebo, Japan. A 1934 graduote of tfie U.S. Naval Academy, Captom Shilson has subsequently attended the Mas- sachusetts Institute of Technology and the Army War College. He holds a Master s Degree m Aerological Engineering. He previously com- manded U.S.S. Shannon IDM-251 and Mine Division TWO, both of the Atlantic Fleet. Recent duties include assignments os Assistant Chief-of-StaFf for Operations, Com- mander Mine Force, U. S. Atlantic Fleet, and Surface Operations Officer, Commander-in-Chief, Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean. His awards include the Presidential Unit Citation and Pacific Campaign ribbon with nine stars. •-