Nitro (AE 23) - Naval Cruise Book

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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.

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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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NITRO again deployed to the Med in April for three months, visiting Palma, Naples, Lisbon, Morrocco, and Athens, among others. In July, NITRO returned to Her new homeport at Naval Weapons Station, Earle, New Jersey. On 15 November, 1974, NITRO deployed to the Mediterranean. During this six month cruise, over 1700 tons of ammunition were transferred while servicing 38 ships. While deployed the ship had an opportunity to visit Malaga, Valencia, Palma, Lisbon, and Naples. The ship returned to Naval Weapons Station, Earle, on 24 April 1975 for six weeks and then spent nearly two months in Norfolk for repairs. During the period that followed the ship provided services to units of the Atlantic Fleet. She participated in a COMPTUEX in late November, which resulted in a Well Done from Commander Cruise Destroyer Group EIGHT. NITRO also provided services to three aircraft carriers, USS NIMITZ, USS FORRESTAL and USS SARATOGA. NlTRO'S 13th Mediterranean deployment began in mid April, 1976.,NlTRO cruised 26,000 miles and at the end of the deployment traveled to Glen Douglas, Scotland before returning to its homeport of NWS Earle, in mid November. On 13 December, NITRO got underway for Philadelphia Naval Shipyard where on 5 January 1977, the ship commenced an entensive overhaul which would take 13 months to complete at a cost of over nineteen million dollars. During the yard period, the engineering plant received an extensive overhaul, the communications center was redesigned and a new satellite transceiver system was added to it. The location of radio antennas were changed and two cargo booms aft were removed. In December, with the overhaul nearly complete, NITRO got underway for the first time in a year to conduct sea trials. NITRO'S regular overhaul ended on 16 January, 1978. At the end of February, NITRO once again returned to homeport after an absence of more than a year. Post overhaul inspections and certifications occupied the next several months. From 5 April to 17 May, NITRO conducted refresher training at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. ln July, NITRO once again moved back into the operational fleet. During July and August the ship sailed to Charleston, South Carolina for service to the aircraft carriers EISENHOWER and SARATOGA. This was EISENHOWER'S first at sea ammo onload. While at Naval Weapons Station, Charleston, Change of Command Ceremonies were conducted on 9 August. NITRO returned to NWS Earle on 18 August and completed final preparations for a Mediterranean deployment. On 22 September NITRO was once again headed for the Med . For the remainder of the year NITRO provided services to Sixth Fleet and visited Sicily, Spain, Italy, and France. The NITRO returned to Earle, New Jersey on February 7, 1979. She had operational commitments from that time until August 1978, when the crew began preparation for the present deployment.