Caliente (AO 53) - Naval Cruise Book

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2 3 is 1 Q :I 1 A rggat ,Q fy We-4 ffm: 11 jf 'iff' I ...twig -, I few-9 1 'fi 'irfi .es 1 , : is 1 4' f fi , f y i M W ? L if YW' E N A144 .. ., '5i f Wg? EVA? '7 5i .iff 4 f? f? J 2. sv cj W ff 2 if ft , . I :ff f Q fx-2 I ,A rigged 5 3 Ci 2 f If f , if f v E: . tiff i . W . .5 r f. V . f Q. Y if ' ft f BS hreinf if ' I if 1l end of another cruise How. many. doesthis Citi really doesnit gmatter, whatigdoes ,V brought them home safely, all 255 of lthem. fIl4nyfhave.5' walked my decks sirfce I was built in Baltimore,',Maryland?,5 ' ' ' It's been twenty-five years ago since I was Commissioned at the Sparrows Point Yard in October of 1943. Who am I? iI'm the one they call. lovingly CAL , Officially I'm known as U.S.S. CALIENTE QAO-53j, 'followingthe Navy tradition of naming Fleet Oilers after American drivers. 1 was named after -the CALIENTE River located in central New, Mexico. Hundreds, no thousands have served on me. They came from Maine, California, Washington, Arizona and Florida. 'All caine as either city kids or farm boys, but all, leave as men. They were- aboard during my shakedown cruise in theiChesapeake Bay and when I.-sailed past the Nazi wolf packs through the ' Panama Canal to join Task Force 38 inthe Pacific. 'A I Yes, they knew me in my-youth when I was serving as the flagship of the oiler fleet. They helped to bring me safely through the Saipan invasion of 1944 and the battles 'of the Philippines without suffering any major damage from the enemy. Oh! we had our ,close ones, but we werebluckier than our sister ship who was sunk by a midget submarine. S' ,Following the surrender by the Japanese we steamed-into Tokyo Bay and dropped anchor. I was one of the first' ships to enter after the war and my men saw firsthand the damage that the bombing raids-had done and what the enemy they had been fighting for so long looked like. 'I was there in support of the Naval' Occupational Patrol F orcesand my men had the opportunity to visit Yokohama and Tokyo. ' laiy 1 D ' ' A I With the end ofthe war many left and as they did, new faces appeared. There were Browns, Watsons 'Smiths,Ayers., Porters, Skis ,and .weeds They gwefeyf awards Iafeaeived my first postwartasslgnm .nt...We went on' -to' Bahrein?,,1 in than c 'l I c ,in San, Pedro, ,California sin' December 1947. C I 1 B' 1 lict I fcfi ifthefbeginining of,g1'948, Iiwas in San Diego, California. We. started West ilagaipn, 'hound for Yokosuka, Japan, by way: of Pearl' Harhor,,iirr,February. Many were new and offfor the Great'Adventure,' 'theyydreamed of glamorous ports and heroic deeds. 'Weisettled down and began shuttle runs to the Western Pacific, Basesand 'Chinese ports until August. We arrived home in late 1948 and many' who had been with me for years, walked my brow forthe last time. In May 1949, I returned to the Western Pacific toiact as Station Oiler- for ships of the Mighty SEVENTH Fleet. Subic Bay, in the Republic of the Philippines, became our' operating base port. In November 1949, we returned to the West Coast and our home port of San Pedro. ' S . b 5' I In June of 1950 the Korean War sent me to the forward area providing logistic support for the Seventh Fleet. We made three tours off to Korea, the third being our greatest achieve- ment. Without men likne the Bos'wn, the Radioman, the Engineer, the cook and all the otliersI'would never have been able to transfer over fhreqquarters 'of a million barrels of fuel to over 250 ships of the United Nations.. After my' third, Korean tour we all needed a rest. Some of my crew was transferred, I received some replacements and was placed in the Naval.Shipyard at'Long Beach for my third overhaul. They removed old and useless, gear and replaced it with new and modern fpielies of equipment. They- pampered H16 like pa movie queenand .tenderly rebuilt me, bit bygbit. from 1953, to 1963 and enjoyed .tours of my career. We spent our Beach, San'Diego and the Far East. for routine ,u'nderfway replenish- was originally scheduled as a periods turned into transfer. I can be Pl'0ud 'four aircraft carriers and 12 We had ten good some of themost time. divided Weisetian ment by MorroQcofQInf, g Tanura, Arabiazjflroml