Detroit (AOE 4) - Naval Cruise Book

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JULY 7: First independent steam- ing. Captain ' s Call for Third Class Petty Officers. The following message received from Commander Cruiser Des- troyer Group Eight, the Transit Commander: As we complete our short but busy CONUS-MED transit, I want to congratulate you for your absolutely superb perfor- mance and support throughout every evolution in which DE- TROIT was involved (which was virtually all). The ship performed with crispness and professionalism which speaks highly of the MLSF and furthers the fine reputation of DETROIT. Continued good sailing and God speed. Rear Admiral Berry. JULY 9: Moor NATO Fuel Pier, Augusta Bay, Sicily. Helos fly to Sigonella for maintenance. Prospective Commanding Of- ficer, Captain J. F. Calhoun, reports on board. Beer on the Pier. JUL Y 10: Awards ceremony on the flight deck. Underway. JULY Ih CONSOL ops (consolidation of supplies) with SYLVANIA in preparation for the first MED LOGREP (monthly replenishment of the battle group). Vice Admiral Rowden, Com- mander Sixth Fleet, and Com- modore Tolg, CTF-63, come on board. SN Oscar Merlo named Sailor of the Month. JULY 12: UNREP - JOSEPHUS DANIELS, O ' BANNON, CON- NOLLE and TALBOT alongside. VERTREP of ammo. Well done from Commander, Service Group Two for the greatest improvement in overall retention of all the ships in the group. Congratulations to DE- TROIT ' S three new Chief Petty Officers: NCC Wasden, BMC Bernardo, and ETC Annis. JULY 14: VERTREP of ammo with MOUNT BAKER. JUL Y 15: In port Augusta Bay. Change of Command ceremony on the Flight Deck. Picnic on the pier. JUL Y 17: Underway for Naples, Italy. Transit the Straits of Messina. JUL Y 18: Anchor, Naples, Italy. Rough water limits liberty. JULY 19: Holiday routine. Alert received at 1158 that a small boat was foundering in rough water near the island of Capri. DETROIT ' S H-46 HW-22 helicopter was airborne at 1214 for search and rescue. Assistance had all ready been rendered, but the performance of the air crew, flight deck crew, fire party, boat crew, communications personnel, watch standers, medical and rescue swim- mers was outstanding. JULY 21: Underway to replenish the Forrestal Battle Group. JULY 23: General Quarters for Damage Control Training. JULY 24: Replenish Forrestal and escorts. JULY 25: General Quarters. Gun Shoot. JULY 27: Forrestal refueling and ammo upload. JULY 29: Well done to J Division, especially MMl Maniscalco, for their outstanding efforts in main- taining our CONREP capability during the battle group replenish- ment despite the loss of both High Pressure Air Compressors. AUGUST 2: DETROIT emerged victorious in two Softball games against USS MOUNT BAKER, winning 12-11 in the first and 16-14 in the second. Special thanks to Dr. Fox for coaching the team to victory, and to the Executive Officer and QMl Ratcliff for volunteering to um- pire. AUGUST 4: Memorial service held at 0900 in the Crew ' s Lounge for Petty Officer Farns- worth of the Supply Department, who died of heart and lung failure due to a rare viral disease in a U. S. Air Force hospital in Germany on 2 August. AUGUST 5: YN3 Bright of the Captain ' s Office named Sailor of the Month. AUGUST 8: Congratulations to MMl Laws and MM2 Madrid who successfully passed a l i hour Oral Board for MMOW conducted by the Commanding Officer, Chief Engineer, MPA, and MMCS Roberts. BM3 Michael performs maintenance on a rig. They wrote a new page in the unrep tech manual with their innovative use of nitrogen to replace high pressure air. BZ to the men of J Division who man DETROIT ' S Main Battery. In port Toulon, France for maintenance availability. Congratulations to BTC McGaughey and BT2 Latham for successfully passing a rigorous l i hour BTOW Oral Board conducted by the Commanding Officer, Chief Engineer, MPA, MMCS Roberts, and BTCS Case. JULY 30: BT3 Prescott and MM3 Preston named first DCPO of the Month winners for raising the fire fighting gear integrity of the 1 Machinery Room 100%. These men were most impres- sive in answering questions in all areas of knowledge concerning Detroit ' s engineering plant. This is the end product of a superlative job of instruction and daily training conducted by MMCS Roberts. Well done. AUGUST 9: In port ammunition transfer with USS JOSEPHUS DANIELS. Replenishment detail stationed for transfer. Well done to Deck, Weapons, and the men of the Rig Teams and working parties involved for conducting the evolu- tion safely and so efficiently that they finished six hours ahead of schedule. AUGUST 11: Underway.

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Chronology The following chronology is intended to show some of the highlights, and a lot of the routine, of DETROIT ' S 81 Med cruise. The information contained herein has been culled from old Plans of the Day. Due to the flexible nature of Fast Combat Support, the Plan of the Day sometimes wasn ' t followed, so where memory has failed inaccuracies may have occurred. Additionally, not all events are recorded, in fact, many things, medical lectures for example, may have happened a dozen times, but are only mentioned once or twice. JUNE 24: A message was received from Captain J. F. Watson, COM- SERVRON TWO - USS DE- TROIT is the finest ship in the Atlantic Fleet. We make DETROIT work by pulling together and taking good care of her people and machinery. DETROIT can meet any challenge any time any place. You know that and so do I. I have absolute full faith and confidence in you. You ' re the best. Thursday, you depart Norfolk on a scheduled four month deploy- ment to the Mediterranean. Every time you close up Romeo, remember that without ships like DETROIT, our Navy would be a coastal defense force. Be proud and professional and bring DETROIT home just as she is today. For the engineers, tomorrow you light the eternal flame. God speed, fair winds and following seas. SK3 Pullig and GMG3 Wolf watch a bombing run from the flight deck. JUNE 25: Underway, Captain F. J. Metz commanding. DETROIT begins Atlantic transit with USS JOSEPHUS DANIELS (CO 27), USS DEYO (DD 989), AND USS MACDONOUGH (DDG 39). JUNE 27: First replenishment of the transient group. JUNE 28: Drone Launch for missile exercise. Well done to LT Dan Hanson and the crew of HC-6 ' s HW 22 helicopter for a fine job in avoiding a potential loss of the air craft when flight controls jammed during a drone recovery. Petty Officer Second Class Phillip Jones found and corrected the problem, enabling the aircraft to return to DETROIT safely. EMCS Dangell and MM1 Maniscaico work on 3M. JUNE 29: First Quick Draw Gun- nery Exercise — How quickly can 44 men in two gunnery crews man their stations at battle readiness and fire six rounds in rapid succession? They averaged between three and four minutes. Weapons personnel manned the key stations, with Deck Department personnel filling in the crews. First Night Flight Quarters. Advance all clocks one hour at 0100. The MARS station is opera- tional. CW03 Peebles confers with LCDR Peters. JULY 1: BM2 Shannon and BM2 Billingslea respond to a fire drill in less than 45 seconds, having the situation under control before the Fire Party arrives, even though their response time was under four minutes. Shots continue in Sick Bay to immunize the crew in preparation for going ashore in Europe. Advance all clocks one hour at 0100. JULY 2:Basic Engineering Casualty Control Exercises (BECCEs). Quick Firing Exercise. Advance all clocks one hour at 0100. Meeting to organize Ship ' s Band held in the Library. JULY 3: Critique 3M Inspection. DC Team Training Meeting. General Quarters. Advance all clocks one hour at 0100. JULY 4: Independence Day! Flight Deck Frolics. JUL Y 5: Moor Naval Station, Rota, Spain. Fleet freight transfer, helo inspection. Advance all clocks one hour at 0100. JULY 6: Underway. Ammunition VERTREP with Naval Station. Replenish JOSEPHUS DANIELS and CONNOLE. Transit the Straits of Gibraltar.

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AUGUST 12: CONSOL OPS for the monthly LOGREP of the FORRESTAL Battle Group. Cargo transfer with USNS Sirius via Burton Rigs and missile transfer with USS MOUNT BAKER. AUGUST 13: Battle Group replen- ishment. DANIELS to port, CARON to starboard, VERTREP with PAUL. AUGUST 14: CONSOL OPS in- cluding receiving approximately one million gallons of fuel from the CALOOSAHATCHEE and VER- TREP of fresh fruits and vegetables (FFV) to the SYLVANIA. The following message was received from the Commander, Cruiser Destroyer Group Eight — Your safe and expeditious comple- tion of (Toulon, France missile exchange with USS JOSEPHUS DANIELS) conducted under unique conditions was both spirited and BT3 Yancey professional. Particularly appreciated was DETROIT ' S readiness for transfer upon arrival and sustained attention to details of safety and getting the job done. WELL DONE! AUGUST 15: General Quarters, Surface Gunnery Exercise. AUGUST 16: Yixst replenishment of the Nimitz Battle Group. NIMITZ BIDDLE, O ' BANNON, CARON and PAUL alongside, VERTREP AINSWORTH, TALBOT CON- NOLE, and PRATT. SH3 Key In port Augusta Bay for fuel, cargo and the onload of a VC-6 drone detachment. AUGUST 17: Underway. COM- SIXTHFLT, Vice Admiral Rowden, arrives by helo for a brief visit. AUGUST 18: Drone launch in support of Open Ocean Missile Exercise. AUGUST 19:Drone launch contin- ues. Flight Quarters for Staff transfer. Night replenishment of the Forrestal Battle Group. During preparations for the missile exercise, two Libyan aircraft fired missiles at two F-14 Tomcat aircraft. The Tomcats were in international airspace at the time and returned fire, shooting down both Libyan aircraft. There was no damage to the U. S. Navy aircraft from the NIMITZ. The response from all DETROIT ' S crew in setting General Quarters, material condi- tion Zebra, getting all four boilers on the line and preparing all weapons and control stations was outstanding. Training may not always be exciting but it paid off in making DETROIT ready when necessary. DETROIT was assigned to provide Fast Combat Support for the battle groups for this period because we have what it takes to get the job done. Well done to all. AUGUST 20: Replenish CON- NOLE, PAUL, and BIDDLE. In port, Augusta Bay. Beer on the Pier. AUGUST 21: Underway. Message received from Vice Admiral William H. Rowden, Commander Sixth Fleet: Since early on 18 August you all have been engaged in one of the most significant operations in terms of national interest and national prestige to the United States in recent years. You have been exposed to danger and to the threat of weapons. You have all operated under the direct scrutiny of the entire national command structure and within the confines of a well thought out but difficult to execute set of rules of engagement. Throughout all this each and every one of you has performed superbly in the proper and professional execution of your assigned duties. Our objective was to demon- strate clearly and unmistakeably that the U. S. Navy can and will operate in International waters in accordance with the time honored law and rules of the sea. We have done this. In so doing we have been challenged by the armed forces of Libya. Their challenge was frequent and persistent. You responded resolutely and with dignity and resolve. We drew blood. This occurred when several of our shipmates had been fired upon and they themselves placed at risk and in very real personal danger. They responded in a proper and profes- sional manner. We need not take pride in the fact that blood was drawn. We have every right to take pride in the fact that our training, discipline, and execution minimized the violence but clearly demonstrat- ed our resolve. I have been personally in- volved in this operation for the past two days with you. Your perfor- mance has been outstanding. You merit the admiration and apprecia- tion of our navy and nation which you have so clearly earned. Well done. Rowden. AUGUST 24: CONSOL with Sealjft China Sea. AUGUST 25: Brief stop in Gaeta for in-port replenishment of USS PUGET SOUND. SA Potter, SH3 Maxwell, and SN Andrews