Detroit (AOE 4) - Naval Cruise Book

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Keel Uying, 29 November 1966. A0E4 on Christening Day, 21 June 1969. USS Detroit (AOE-4] The commissioning of USS Detroit (AOE-4) was the culmination of over three years of intensive effort by the many crafts found at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. Some small idea of the steps between keel laying and commis- sioning is provided in the pictorial series presented on these pages. (An article on the commissioning of A0E4 will be found on page 21 of the NAVSHIPS Technical Afews dated July 1970.) USS Detroit (AOE-4) ready for commissioning, 28 March 1970. A0E4 70-percent completed, 17 July 1969. NavShips Tech News

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She helped guard the Aleutian Islands, bombarded Japanese installations in the Kuriles Islands, and served as flagship for carrier supply ships off Iwo Jima and Okinawa. As one of the few ships to survive the opening day of the war at Pearl Harbor, she was among the first to enter Tokyo Bay for the surrender ceremonies on 2 September 1945. She was decommissioned four months later after having carried thousands of troops home. DETROIT again deployed to the Mediterranean on 1 December 1972, returning to Newport in July of the following year. Fiscal constraints and shore establishment realignments led to DETROIT ' S homeport shift to Norfolk, Virginia in January 1974. She sailed from Norfolk 14 July 1974 to begin her third Mediterranean cruise in support of Sixth Fleet operations. In addition to her normal taskings she participated in contingency operations related to the Cyprus crisis, completing this voyage in December. 1970-1981 USS DETROIT (AOE-4), the fifth ship of the fleet to bear the name, is the fourth SACRAMENTO Class Fast Combat Support Ship. Her mission is to provide rapid, simultaneous, one-stop underway replenishment of petroleum products, ammunition, provisions, and general stores to carrier task forces at sea. DETROIT is equipped with the latest and most sophisticated types of cargo handling equipment. Standard Tension Replenishment Alongside Method (STREAM) enables the ship to effect delivery of large quantities of all types of cargo from fifteen stations while steaming at high speeds. She carries two Boeing Vertol UH-46-D Sea Knight helicopters which are capable of transferring up to one hundred tons of cargo per hour. DETROIT was built at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard , Bremerton, Washington. She was commissioned 23 March 1970. After her initial shakedown cruise, DETROIT departed Bremerton for her assigned homeport of Newport, Rhode Island, rounding the Horn of South America enroute. Shortly thereafter, DETROIT deployed for six months of extended operations with the U. S. Sixth Fleet, returning to Newport in December 1971. DETROIT was then tasked with providing support for U. S. and NATO fleet units during various Atlantic operations ranging from the Arctic Circle to the Cape of Good Hope. DETROIT commenced her fourth Mediterranean deployment on 19 August 1975 manned by a crew of nearly 600 officers and enlisted men. She completed over 200 replenishments before returning to Norfolk on 28 January 1976. On 13 July 1976, DETROIT sailed north to commence a year-long overhaul at the Bath Iron Works in Maine. A NATO SEASPARROW Missile System and new communications capabilities were added prior to her return in July of 1977. Detroit ' s fifth Mediterranean deployment, complet- ed on 26 October 1978, set many records for future crews to match. Through 232 replenishments, her motto was proven true — SUPERARE OPTIMUM ... To Surpass the Finest. After another five-month Med deployment in 1979, DETROIT arrived back in Norfolk for a short six-month turn around in preparation for her seventh Med cruise, commencing on 14 July 1980. A Suez Canal transit followed National Week exercises, and the new routine became support of a Seventh Fleet Indian Ocean Battle Group near the Persian Gulf. The month-and-a-half stay in the Indian Ocean was a highly professional display of Fast Combat Support capabilities of AOE ' s in general, and DETROIT in particular. Returning through Suez, DETROIT proceeded to service Sixth Fleet units prior to visiting Lisbon, Portugal in late November to onload old ammunition and mines for transfer back home. DETROIT returned to Norfolk on 11 December 1980. In the spring of 1981, DETROIT participated in a READEX exercise in the western Atlantic and Caribbean. As the sole support ship present, she conducted over 75 replenishments from 16 February to 18 March, in a workup for the 25 June cruise featured in this book.

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From the September 1970 issue of Naval Ships Systems Technical News I From Keel Laying to Commissioning ; ' ' Au ji w £ venty percent completed, 11 April 1968. Bridge section in transit, February 1969. Forty percent completed, 12 November 1968. USS Detroit (AOE-4) on sea trials, June 1970. ■ ■ ' ' ' ii ' ti