Nitro (AE 23) - Naval Cruise Book

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After a near record outfitting time, Nitro loaded ammunition for the first time and headed for Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for extensive under- way training at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in 1961 shakedown cruise followed by the Nitro's first welcome to its home port at Davisville, Rhode Island. Final acceptance trials and a post shake- down yard period in Boston were completed late in 1959. In February, 1960, USS Nitro deployed for the first time to the Mediterranean to join the Sixth Fleet. ln September there followed a ten week yard period in Boston, three weeks of under- way training at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba in 1961, and another Mediterranean deployment in the summer of 1961. Seven months and fourteen ports later, Nitro returned to Davisville. During April and May of 1962, Nitro operated with the Second Fleet in various LANTFLEX and CONVEX exercises in the Caribbean. After a tender avail- ability in Norfolk, Nitro departed for an opera- tional and good will visit to Northern Europe. In the fall of 1962 Nitro engaged in the quarantine of Cuba. Another Med deployment followed from February to September of 1963. ln November Nitro was awarded the Battle Efficiency E. Also in November, Nitro steamed into Tood Ship- yard, Brooklyn, New York, for the installation of a prototype FAST fFast Automatic Shuttle Trans- ferj system. Nitro traveled, once again, to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in March of 1964 and departed in July for the Mediterranean where she participated in the Cyprus Patrol. The ship returned to Davis- ville in January, 1965. November brought another cruise with the Sixth Fleet which lasted until March of 1966. Nitro was placed In commission, in re- serve from May 17, 1966, to August 31, 1967. ln the Maryland Shipbuilding and Drydock Com- pany, Baltimore, Maryland, she underwent a major overhaul and conversion to a permanent FAST system. The FAST system enables the Nitro to safely transfer at sea, at high speed, the deadly guided missiles of the United States Navy. To preserve and protect the vast arsenal of muni- tions beneath her decks, an environmental control system was installed. To the 280 members of her crew, this meant that the ship was completely air- conditioned. A helicopter flight deck was added over the fantail to provide vertical re- plenishment capabilities. The Nitro could thus land, refuel, and launch helicopters. With the Nitro 's four FAST system stations and total of ten replenishment stations, she can transfer ammuni- tion, fuel, freight, mail and passengers underway at high speeds, with a ship on each side. Thus on October 16, 1967, it was a new Nitro that re- joined the Atlantic Fleet and returned to her home port for the first time in a year and a half. After Fleet Refresher Training in Guantana- mo Bay in early 1968, she conducted an evalua- tion of vertical replenishment operations and, once again, deployed to the Mediterranean for six months. February and March of 1969 found the Nitro back in Davisville for a few weeks of well de- served leave and upkeep. After making several trips to the Caribbean Sea and contributing to a major Second Fleet Exercise, Nitro deployed in July, commencing her seventh Med. cruise. While in the Mediterranean, she offered services to various units of the U. S. Sixth Fleet and con- ducted exercises with British, French, and Greek forces. Leaving six months of hard work and interesting liberty ports behind, Nitro returned home to enjoy the Christmas holidays with family and friends. February of 1970 found the Nitro again traveling to the Caribbean Sea. While partici- pating in a RIMEX there, Nitro carried out the largest transfer of missiles in the history of the U. S. Navy using the STREAM system. Just prior to a later RIMEX in June, Nitro spent two weeks of Selected Refresher Training in Guantana- mo Bay, Cuba. The summer saw the Nitro in- volved in one more RIMEX in the Caribbean as well as local operations and load out procedures in Yorktown, Virginia, and Earle, New Jersey. The Nitro began its eighth Mediterranean deploy-

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! v 5 Q I , X ,V f ,ff W f5,'ggffK 77H 5 A HISTORY ' USS NITRO QAE-233 is one of the more modern ammtmition ships in the United States Navy. It was the first of a new Nitro class of ammunition ships. And it is the second ammuni tion ship to bear the name Nitro. I-ler predeces- sor, decommissioned in 1945 after twenty-five years service with the fleet, established a proud tradition towhich the present Nitro falls-heir. The first Nitro was built in Bremerton, Washington, just after the First World War and her stacks bore combat flags from both theatres of operation by the time V-J Day ended the sec- ond global conflict in 1945. She was part of the mighty fleet which supported the Normandy in- vasion on D- Day, as well as taking an active part in the invasion of Southern France. In the Pacific, she listed in her service record the re- armament of the fleets which took Okinawa and Iwo Jima and recaptured the Phili ines. ' The 5 PP end of the war found the first USS Nitro on her way back to the States for much needed repairsg she was decommissioned shortly thereafter. Ammunition ships have been traditionally named after volcanoes or terms associated with ammunitiong but Nitro was made more appropriate ' by the fine combat record established by the Wold Nitro. The present Nitro's design grew out of the T experience gained in replenishment in World War y Two and the Korean Conflict. Speed and safety are the ideas behind her ammunition' handling facilities. , The second Nitro was built by Bethlehem Steel Corporation at Sparrows Point Shipyard, Inc. , Sparrows Point, Maryland. Her keel was laid on May 20, 1957, and she was christened on June 25, 1958, by Mrs. Randolph McCall Pate, wife of the then Commandant, U.S. Marine Corps. The Nitro is 512 feet long, has a beam of '72 feet, a maximtun draft of 29 feet, and a full load displacement of 17, 000 tons. Her geared steam turbines develop 16, 000 horsepower to drive the single screw which propels her through the water at 20 knots. Following delivery ' of the Nitro to the Navy at Norfolk, Virginia, she was commissioned as United States Ship on May 1, 1959. i s 4 1 I r. n , , i

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ment in October of 1970 and returned to the States in early May. The United States Ship Nitro provides her Service to the Fleet by delivering ammunition to the ships of the United States Navy. Upon the high seas and narrow waters of the world, in fair weather and foul, by day and by night, we proud- ly share the responsibility of our Navy to preserve and strengthen the security of the United States of America.