Butte (AE 27) - Naval Cruise Book

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HISTORY USS BUTTE, now having completed her first deployment to the Mediter- ranean, is one of the Navy’s newest ammunition ships. Her mission is to deliver to units of the -fleet at sea the bombs, missiles and other ordnance required by the Navy’s ships. To enable her to carry out this mis- sion the vessel is equipped with nine replenishments stations as well as a land- ing deck and hangar bay for two helicop- ters. Each replenishment station is fully modern, having what is called “Ram Ten- sioners”, devices which allow BUTTE to maintain the same amount of tension on a wire line between herself and a ship alongside despite rolls, swells and other influencey on the movement of the ship. The system permits BUTTE to shuttle palleted loads of ammunition across the open water to another ship in the mini- mum of time. BUTTE was christened and launch- ed 7 August 1967 in Quincy, Mass, and commissioned 14 December 1968 at the Boston Naval Shipyard. The second in the line ofKILAUEA Class Ammunition Ships, she is described by some as a “floating ammunition depot.” Upon completion of an extensive fitting out period in Boston, BUTTE moved to her homeport in Norfolk, Virginia for the first time on Nov. 17, 1969. Between December 1969 and February 1970, BUTTE made two cruises to the Carib- bean, both in connection with “shakedown training” at the U. S. Naval Base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The trips included several milestones: BUTTE’s first practice replenishment with a ship alongside, USS SPRINGFIELD, on 4 December 1969, her first underway refueling evolution; on 13 December 1969 with USS CALOOSAHATCHEE; and her first real under- way replenishment on 28 January 1970 with the aircraft carrier USS AMERICA. Besides her replenishment systems, which are her major feature, BUTTE has four twin 3” 50 gun mounts and associated fire control equipment. She is 564 feet long and 81 feet wide. She has a full load displacement of 18,000 tons and a full load draft of 28 feet. BUTTE also has a passive roll stabilization tank to provide a steady platform for handling ammunition under adverse sea conditions and a small fleet of fork lift trucks to facilitate safe, rapid and efficient handling of explosive cargo. Extensive fire fighting features arc in- cluded to minimize the hazards involved in handling and stowage of dangerous munitions. BUTTE is actually the second Navy vessel to bear that name. The first, APA 68, was a Gellian Class Transport which served extensively in the Pacific during World War II and was finally disposed of by sinking after surviving the atomic tests at Bikini and Kwajalein.

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SHIP’S INSIGNIA The dominam figure of the insignia is a silhouette re- presenting a modern ammunition ship. The silhouetted helicopter represents our vertical replenishment capability. The butte in the background is emblematic of our name and relation with Butte, Montana. The chain which encloses the plaque is symbolic of our vital link with the combatant forces and BUTTE's capability of ammunition delivery around the world. The four stars in the bottom half of the circle represents BUTTE's administrative assignment to Commander, Service Squadron FOUR; the two above, her primary assignment under the operational control of Commander, SECOND Fleet. The total of six stars is is emblematic of her primary area of deployment, the Medi- terranean, under the operational control of Commander SIXTH Fleet. The color scheme is elementary. The red background underneath the stars is indicative of the ever present danger in handling explosive materials. The yellow link of chain is symbolic of the caution used in handling ammunition and of BUTTE's ability to be on any horizon for delivery to the fleet. Blue colored below the ship’s silhouette repre- sents the sea. BUTTE-MONTANA’S COPPERLAND BUTTE is nestled in the Rockies next to the Continental Divide. On entering BUTTE from the east or north, one comes upon a breathtaking view of America’s greatest copper mine in the city that copper built. Viewed at night, the lights of the city and the industrial complex appear as though millions of jewels were scattered on a velvet carpel, each striving to outshine all others. BUTTE traces it’s history from a pioneer gold camp to a booming silver era. The later discovery of vast deposits of copper ore earned it the title of “The Richest Hill On Earth.’’ Its growth has been energetic and proud. Its people have come from all corners of the globe and each nationality has left a part of their countries tradition which has been moled into one thriving city.

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CAPT. GROVER K. GREGORY, JR., USN Captain Grover K. Gregory, Jr., drawsh'isexperience from 28 years in the Navy. His career includes 24 years as a naval aviator and four years as an enlisted man. A native of Lexing- ton, Kentucky, he started in the Navy in 1943 as an airman recruit at “boot camp at Great Lakes, Illinois. His rise to captain he attributes to “sheer guts, determination and luck.” Others who know him attri- bute it to his keen mind, penetration of thought and leadership. ★ Before coming to Butte, he served as Assistant for Aviation Resources Management at the Pentagon. His principal role was to analyze age and distribution of all the Navy’s aircraft as an aid in determining when to procure new ones. There, he produced studies on behalf of the Navy for acquisition of the F-14 aircraft and additional aircraft carriers. Captain Gregory’s desire for flying began back when he was an enlisted man - as an instructor at the Aviation Machinist Mate School in Chicago from 1943 to 1945. He eventually forged his way into the Navy flight pro- gram, was designated an Aviation Pilot First Class and commissioned an officer a month later in February 1947. ★ ★ ★ Captain Gregory has flown more than 6000 hours in over 30 types of aircraft during his aviation career. He has nearly 600 landings on a carrier. He was exe- cutive officer of VA-81, an attack squadron of 14 A-4 fighter jets, from July 1961 to October 1963, when he took over as the squadron’s commanding officer. He joined the pre-commissioning crew of USS America in November 1964 as the Carrier’s Air Traffic Control Officer, later fleeting up to operations officer. COMMANDING OFFICER “Flying an airplane to a landing on the deck of a carrier appeared to me to be one of the most difficult things to do in aviation. I said to myself, if someone else can, I can,” the captain says. “Flying through the clouds and looking at all the small houses and people and wondering what could be so gosh darned important down there - it’s thrilling. That’s why I like it.” Captain Gregory belives that the major lessons of his past experiences have been the importance of think- ing ahead and the value of leadership. “The only way to get the Navy’s job done is to have people do it and the best way to get them to do it is to motivate them.” His experience as a “white hat”, he says, gives him “empathy” with the enlisted man and has prompted him to make efforts to improve the life of the men under him. Captain Gregory attended Line School in Monteray, California, and graduated from the University of Okla- homa, where he obtained an Aeronautical Engineering Degree in 1960. He attended the Naval War College in Newport, R. I., graduating there in July 1961. From USS America he attended the Industrial College of Armed Forces in Washington, D. C., and obtained his Masters Degree at George Washington University in 1967. The father of three girls and a boy, Captain Gregory resides in Virginia Beach, Va., with his wife Arlene Deloris. He says his wife always told him, “If you want to make the Navy a career, go ahead. And so he has. 4