Caliente (AO 53) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 7 text:

. In 1963 Commander Service with the Battle Efficiency 'f'E Excellence Green C , How , In 1964 I found myself in to my Communication and delivery was aboard and they set about to mak. ship in the fleet., By May theyghad me for four weeks Refresher Training. , 'r 5 - 1 j 7 In July we departed San Diego and spent four weeks at sea replenishing to USS RANGER and her task -.force inreadiness for' what might occur after the attack on the USS' MAIDDOX in the Tonkin Gulf. I I I ' We traveled a lot, my men and I from J une 1964 until we returned to Long Beach, in March of 1966, we covered a total of 58,570 miles without missing a scheduled com-mitment. With 431 ships alongside and having transferred 57.3 million gallons of fuel, I felt mighty proud of the crew and myself. I have always hated returning fto my homeport for with it comes . I . the departure of some tried and tested friend, but just as I hit my lowest, up steps that freckled faced ,kid from Oklahoma or ar Jewish boy from the Bronx. I We left again for. an extended deployment in the South China Sea, in July of 1966. During the 1966-67 WESTPAC tour we again set an enviable record for services rendered to units of the Mighty SEVENTH Fleet. As I look back I remember the 81,360.00 my crew took out of theiripockets to contribute to Operation School House to sponsor seventeen High School St-udents in the Philippines through fouryears of I ' -I high school education. I can still 'sense the thrill, when Commander, Service Force, Pacific awarded 152fof. officers and men with commendations from the Secretary, of the Navy, Commander in Chief, Pacific F leet-and Commander hands aboard gave the new meni a vigorous training 'program' to prepare them for Refresher Training which: began o,n6October. I . do . ' elf' 7 With r refresher a training' but of theft way. we 'participatediinf the ,major fleet .exercise BLUE LOTUSffbeforeisettliing down to make the final preparations for our departure on'8'January 1968. The Admin andPre-Deployment Inspectionssuceess- fully completed, final farewellssaid my 'crew and I set sail to begin my fourth tour in.Vietnamese waters., Enroute I stopped off. at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii and moored within sight of the Battleship ARIZONA for twomdays.fAfter leaving Hawaii,we met Task Forces 17.5 and' 14.1, just- ordered to Korea in response to the PUEBLO incident: I transferred to them all my fuel and proceeded on to Subic Bay, my overseas home port. I arrived there on the second of February and lcommenced my operatio-ns on YankeeStation a few days later. Well itis been many months and many thousandsof miles since our departure from, the West Coast. Iive seen a lot of places, Subic. Bay in the Philippines, Kaoshung and Keelung in Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong, not to mention Auckland, N.Z. and they all stand jout in my mind.I:remember the sights of XTaiwan and how the old and new cultures were mixed, the many different nationalities in singapore. How my crew loved Hong Kong, I thought myisidesuwould bust when Isaw all the souvenirs. The friendship I 'found in Auckland is one that made me feel at home. Yes we came along way and saw alot but it wasn't all play. I was one ofthe first fleet oilers to carry 'ammunition to the boys, off fjthei-coast, ,25,269.pounds of it. But. that is only asmall portion of Umyiljob. had over 330 ships alongside and 'provided themjifyvith. overt million gallons of fueloil, 151,052 psunds offleet freight, transferred 51,966 gallons of very preciousfresh water, exchanged 1,171 movies, transported 509,inew people, 113,660'pbunds of fresh provisions, 951 gallons of -ice .cream ,and most important Seventh,Fleet. - fe , H 'I V c Having completed our third deploymentjto the Western Pacific in support of the United 'states in South East Asia it was again for me My .men saw to it that Iigot 42,413 pounds of 'mailQ..We worked' hard,Vmy menaand I, sea quator 4 times and- King Postn to improve personnel by hi-line,- from above thecargo to my

Page 6 text:

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

Page 8 text:

4 -9 RAR Qs -.- 1. VMI, 'ws 2 gy, ,, 1' if' , ,2 ,E S x l I W Z 1 ! fi , ,i ' 'K ll. fi vi I : v fi If-' ' My fc :gg .4 'G ig Qi fig Q3 W? I '4 -sw 32 f 1 '.' :f f- wk f G.Jv' N 'l11Ik v ., - :.:.f ,- f .,,,,.... fi . 1:-... ' an W,-rv.-' ' -1:-11ff2ffr:'.a-. yy 1332541 ,J 1 ,yn X 1 ,Ax 1 In fmlg-,gA.',j,1.1 g wzzf cg lzlliffiiiiaigkgg f u ooUl1de1'w3 R ni H .fx V I I l Nihkx 1 wumnuae-inn.