Albemarle (AV 5) - Naval Cruise Book

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scoria Our cruise book does not deal with one specific cruise, but with several cruises or places of operation from June 1959 to April 1960. On 18 June 1959 the ALBEMARLE steamed north for a 34-day cruise, which included tending sea- planes at Halifax, Nova Scotia, a goodwill tour down the St. Lawrence River to Quebec, Canada, a return trip to Halifax tending seaplanes-seaplane operations at Gardiner ' s Bay, Long Island, a week- end liberty in New York, and, then, arrival at Norfolk, the ALBEMARLE ' S home port on 22 July. The second cruise was a six-day seaplane operation in November on the Rappahannock River in northern Maryland, followed by a 12-day tending project at Bermuda in December 1959. The fourth and final cruise of this period, and the longest the ALBEMARLE has taken since her recommissioning, was Operation Springboard from 8 January to 1 April, 1960, tending the four sea- plane squadrons of the Atlantic Fleet at San Juan, Puerto Rico. RAPPAHANNOCK RIVER SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO I

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f |i COMMANDER E. M. WARD, U S N EXECUTIVE OFFICER USS ALBEMARLE

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SHIP ' S HISTORY The USS ALBEMARLE, in keeping with Naval tradition, was named for a body of water off the northeast coast of North Carolina. She was built by the New York Shipbuilding Company of Camden, New Jersey, launched on 13 July 1940, and commissioned at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard on 20 December 1940. Commissioned a year before Pearl Harbor, and just a few months after President Roose- velt ' s proclamation of a limited national emer- gency, the ALBEMARLE ' S first and primary task was to help keep the North Atlantic sea lanes open. This she did by conducting advanced base tending operations for seaplanes at Ar- gentia, Newfoundland. On 7 December 1941, the ALBEMARLE was loading equipment and stores at Norfolk, Virginia, in preparation for operations at Reykavic, Iceland. Between Jan- uary 1942 and July 1945 she transported aero- nautical cargo and personnel to Iceland, Eng- land, North Africa, Bermuda, and the islands of the Caribbean. On 30 September 1945 she reported to the Pacific and until October of 1946 was assigned as a troop transport under the Naval Transport Service. Returning to the Atlantic in November 1946, she operated at various points along the east coast through 1947. January through June 1948 was spent in the Pacific, after which she once again returned to the Atlantic where she oper- ated until 1950. The ALBEMARLE was placed out of commission in reserve at New York, 14 August 1950. She moved to the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard in February 1956 to begin modi- fication. ALBEMARLE was recommissioned 21 October 1957. From her recommissioning to the present time, May 1960, the ALBEMARLE has been the only seaplane tender operating in the Atlantic Ocean and has been quite active tending the four seaplane squadrons of the Atlantic Fleet: VP-45 and VP-49 of Bermuda, and VP-44 and 56 of Norfolk, in such areas as Halifax, Nova Scotia Gardiner ' s Bay, L. I. , Rappahannock River, Va. Trinidad, British West Indies, Bermuda, Pills bury Sound, Virgin Islands and San Juan, Puert Rico. The ALBEMARLE is often referred to as a floating naval base , complete within itself. Within minutes after anchoring she is prepared to furnish seaplanes with all the services an airplane receives at a local airport or at any militarybase. The ALBEMARLE provides fuel and ammunition for the aircraft that are attach- ed, repairs them, guides them home in bad weather, and keeps in touch with them by radio when they arc in the air. For the crews of the seaplanes the ALBEMARLE provides housing, food and clothing, a degree of recreation, and the services of a doctor, dentist, and chaplain. The-ALBEMARLE because of its ability to sup- port seaplanes in any of the water areas of the world, is able to assist in carrying out the mis- sion of our Navy by operating in those areas where land based aircraft are not able to oper- ate.