Nitro (AE 23) - Naval Cruise Book

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'gh AE-2 The first NITRO QAE-21 was launched 16 December, 1919 and commissioned on 1 April 1, 1921. NITRO averaged three cruises between the East and West coasts yearly. In addition, She went to Pearl Harbor five times, seven times to Manila and once to Shanghai. NITRO also supplied the Marines who occupied Nicaragua from 1928 to 1930. The beginning of World War ll found AE-2 homeported in Norfolk and from there She supplied Carribean bases and twice went to Recife, Brazil. ln April of 1944, She sailed to Belfast with ammunition for the invasion of Europe and She supplied battleships with the heavy projectiles used for shore bombardment during the invasion of Southern France, serving at Algiers and Corsica. On 28 September, She sailed.for Pearl Harbor. After arriving there and loading ammunition, She sailed for Ulithi and armed ships forthe invasion of the Phillippines with local cargo. NITRO then returned to Norfolk via the Panama Canal and was decommissioned there on 30 November, 1945. . .luig .-f,.ll,l'-1 . 'Al l 1 , , i , ' f J 5' , .. -V ,fwfzffw -fff,fgf1,,fM, C . f A f 1p:,,y,f,4',14,g,puffy , 1, , ., , ,. ' :f fz',fV3Q2'Vf t ff , ' f ' I f My' pp p' f ' , - I ' ,,,',Z,f V7 I, l ,. f ,f ,f , ' ' K ff ' . ,f ' K

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AE-23 Laid down by the Bethlehem Steel Corporation's Sparrow's Point Shipyard in Baltimore, Md. on 20 May, 1957, USS NITRO Q-AE-23, was part of a revolutionary new class of ammunition ship. With almost triple the cargo capacity, NITRO is designed to steam at twenty knots wherever needed. Vast improvements were also made in habitability, with full air conditioning. Elevators were installed to provide safer, more efficient handling of ammunition. After commissioning on 1 May, 1959, NITRO was assigned to Davisville, Rhode Island as its first homeport. Her first deployment to the Mediterranean was made in February 1960, lasting for seven months. After a second deployment the following year, NITRO made a Good Will visit to Northern Europe. She returned to the States to partake in the quarantine of Cuba. In February, 1963, NITRO madeanother seven month deployment to the Med , returning home to a Brooklyn overhaul before sailing to the Caribbean for further operations. NITRO again deployed to the Med in July, 1964 for seven months, returning to her homeport in Davisville for a brief rest. In February, 1965 She sailed to the Caribbean to meet operational committments. In November, 1965, NITRO made a brief five month Med deployment which allowed Her to return to Baltimore where She was placed in reserve commission status on 18 May, 1966. When her conversion was completed in August, 1967, NITRO had a helo deck to replace Her after gun mounts, as well as a new FAST replenishment system designed to transfer missiles safely and quickly without their being touched by human hands. ' NITRO continued Her Med deployment rotations until August, 1971 when She entered the Bethlehem Shipyard in Boston for regular overhaul. Upon completion of Her overhaul, NITRO returned briefly to Davisville before sailing to Earle, New Jersey for loadout and then on to Guantanamo Bay for Refresher Training. After a visit to Port au Prince, Haiti in March, 1972, NITRO returned for further loadout at Yorktown, Va. and then back to Davisville prior to Her upcoming deployment, only this deployment was to be ina different direction. On 24 April, 1972 1972 NITRO set sail for the Panama Canal for the first time, transiting it on the 29th of April. After a brief stop atPearl Harbor, NITRO sailed to remote Wake Island to MEDEVAC an injured sailor and on to Vietnam to do a series of line swings that lasted until February, 1973. During this time NITRO had the opportunity to visit Tiawan, Hong Kong, Thailand, and Japan before returning to Davisville on 12 March, 1973. During the following year, NITRO underwent conversion to cleaner burning Navy Distrillate fuel, and the crew worked to restore the wear and tear of the eleven month Pacific deployment. On February 9, 1974, NITRO headed for Refresher Training at Guantanamo Bay.