Burton Island (AGB 1) - Naval Cruise Book

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p oEolcATioN ' To the Officers ond Enlisted members of the crew, who skillfully ond -potiently perform their monyeduties under trying conditions of treocherous ice, cold wind,, blinding fog, ond rough s-eos,,under the odded pressure of limitotions of time, the CRUISE BOOK for l955 is sincerely dedicoted. THE STAFF . Xx X . ' ' 5 L -' Q.-s, X v ,X ,,,,, ,la 'Q . lah if xy li . 1. X s - 'rf A, , V ' ' if ' ' W CQ ll it s-A f . QQ?-zz... U . ' -3. .4 5 ix , gk E it 3 'K - ' 'T' Wag' , 1 , 1-' 1. 5 . ,, l' ,, '---1 rdf: 4 ag' T-LM 5: X X T - N ' ' V ' 1 I : ' Y' fi I ' i .5 Q- Wi I -f-1 - Q , '-' ..,- - ' H , f ' X -t ,. - , ' 4 'f - l- -. -1, c , 1 , 1 -, . - - --,L-, gi 1 l X 1, Q - ' NK ' 'Emi 4 jg-iz: ,f 'S H ' ,I , dl. ' -in y' ggi.: :g s if 'til' jf' .J is A gn 1 u .is . Now some say that men make a ship and her-fame V As she goes onher way down the sea, , That the crew which first man her will give her a name- Good, bad, or whatever maybe. The recruits coming after them soon fall in line y And carry tradition along- V If the spirit was good, it will always be fine- If bad, it will always be wrong. The soul of a ship is a marvelous thing, A Not made of its wood or its steel, But fashioned of mem'ries and songs that men sing, And fed by the passions men feel. THE SOUL OF A SHIP It's built of ambition, of jealousy, strife, Of friendships, of love, and Offearg It includes almost all of the makings of Life, It's nurtured on grumble-and, cheer. The soul of a ship is a molder of men- Her spirit lives on through the years. As she started ,her life, so she is to the end, She shares each recruit's hopes and fears. So he takes to himself the old sea as his wife, As he stands up and takes heart again- So he takes to himself the old sea as his life, And the shipis made a man among men! -Cdr. Arthur A. Ageton, U.S.N

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w HISTORY AND CHARACTERISTICS The USS BURTON ISLAND QACB 11 is one of the eight icebreakers operated by our government, three by the Coast Guard and five by the Navy. She was built by the Western Pipe and Steel Co., San Pedro, Californ.ia. The BURTON ISLAND and the STATEN ISLAND operate on the west coast, along with the Coast Guard breaker, NORTHWIND. Named after a small island off the Atlantic Coast of Dela- ware, the BURTON ISLAND was commissioned in December, 1946. Since her commissioning she has participated in two Antarctic expeditions with Admiral Richard E. Byrd. Each year she makes two trips to the Arctic. In 1954 the BURTON ISLAND made history in the Beaufort Sea Expedition, when with the Canadian breaker, LABRADOR, she reached the famed Northwest Passage. She has the honor of being the first ship ever to reach Pt. Barrow in May, an accomplishment of the 1954 Bering Sea Expedition. An icebreaker like the BURTON ISLAND can operate in waters restricted to other ships. She- is well-built and well- manned. She displaces over 6000 tons even though she is but 268 feet in length and 63 feet wide. She is built to take a 72 degree roll and still right herself, and very often rolls 45 de- grees in open sea. It is when she rolls heavily, as only an ice- breaker can, that the crew looks forward to the ice, or in most 'til' ' ' il ' cases her home port. There is a saying on the BURTON ISLAND that she runs faster and smoother when headed south toward Long Beach. Seriously, however, the BURTON ISLAND is a warm, comfortable ship, and in her natural habi- tat-ice-she is very stable. Duty aboard the BURTON ,ISLAND is like serving on every type of ship at once. She does the work of the Service Force vessel, which she is. She has the flight deck of an aircraft carrier, the draft and armor of the battleship, the handlmg characteristics of a motor launch, the power of a sea-going tug: and the roll of a destroyer. Her two helicopters make ice recon- naissance flights to determine leads in the ice, in addition to carrying mail and providing occasional taxi servicef' HCT divers are always ready to go under to make hull and pr0- peller inspections and, when needed, to make minor repairs. In water temperatures which reach 28 degrees the divers are not at all envied by their shipmates. The icebreaker, called by Admiral Byrd the utOl1gl1f35t Ship CVCI' bulltfi is considered one of the safest ships afloat 1n eveTY respect. For this reason her crew is comfortable in both b0dY and mind, and those who have served aboard her deem it the best sea-duty in the Navy.