Cree (ATF 84) - Naval Cruise Book

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SHIP ' S HISTORY CREE was built by the United Engineering Company of Alameda, California, and was commissioned on 28 March 1943. As Navy tradition dictated, CREE was named after a North American Indian tribe. The Cree Indians are of Algonquin stock and inhabited the southern shores of Canada ' s Hudson Bay westward to the area of Lake Winnipeg and the Saskatchewan River. Friendly with the English and the French, the Cree were recognized as shrewd traders. With the advance of white settlers the tribe moved westward to the prairies and today is settled in the province of Manitoba. Like all fleet tugs, CREE is designed for the accomplishment of her primary mission, ocean towing. The ship is equipped to tow anything that floats to any designated part of the world. Our main tow wire is a wire rope 2,100 feet long and two inches in diameter, weighing almost 6 pounds per foot. This wire consists of 222 single strands extending the full length and twisted together to hold their shape and provide additional strength. The Almon Johnson towing engine can exercise thirty tons of line pull with the aid of the propulsion from our four 900 horsepower General Motors diesel-electric engines. With her two sets of beach gear, CREE can exert nearly 100 tons of line pull while rescuing stranded or beached vessels. As a secondary mission, CREE is outfitted with a complete diving locker and a com- plement of trained deep sea divers. This enables the ship to perform salvage work at depths up to 150 feet. CREE is 205 feet long; 39 feet 3g inches in width. Fully loaded she draws 13 feet 3 inches forward and 16 feet 9 inches aft and displaces 1,640 tons. Top speed is 16 knots, and at an economical speed our cruising radius is over 10,000 miles. The ship is armed with a 3 i nch gun, two .50 caliber machine guns, and small arms. Commissioned during World War II, CREE served as a unit of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, participating in the assault and occupation of Iwo Jima and the 3rd and 5th Fleet raids in support of the Okinawa Gunto operations. For the remainder of the war, she provided towing and salvage services to the fleet. Between World War n and the Korean Conflict, CREE deployed for three tours of occupation duty in Asiatic waters. From 1950 to 1956 the ship deployed to the Western Pacific, Northern Pacific, Central Pacific, and also provided support to the U.N. ships engaged in Korea. Under the operational control of Commander, Service Squadron ONE, CREE provided services on the West Coast and Central Pacific from July 1956 until 1958. At that time she was assigned to Commander, Task Force 73 for services at the Eniwetok Proving Grounds during Operation Hardtack. CREE was subsequently cited for duties performed during this operation. In August 1958 CREE returned to San Diego and resumed her duties under Commander, Service Squadron ONE. While homeported in San Diego, CREE has provided services for Commander, Fleet Training Group, San Diego, participated inflect exercises, conducted local operations, performed coastal towing, and various other services. The ship has participated in

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DEDICATION SERVICE TO THE FLEET is the motto of all Service Force Ships. The Individuals who provide the multitude of general and very specialized services have within them the same spirit that SERVICE TO THE FLEET implies. The many extra hours spent providing this service are never fully accounted for or fully recognized. BMC George H. VANRYN, USN, and Seaman Apprentice James P. THUM, USN were injured in hook-up operations of a floating drydock in Apra Harbor, GUAM in April 1973, while providing SERVICE TO THE FLEET . This Cruisebook is dedicated to these two devoted Navymen. J.M. LOPACINSKI, Lt. , USN Commanding Officer

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support operations for the Naval Civil Engineering Laboratory, Port Hueneme, and for TRIESTE II. In May 1968, CREE became the first fleet tug to conduct a -submarine rescue. While deployed in the Northern Pacific in 1971, CREE assisted the Coast Guard in fire- fighting and salvage operations in the rescue of the crew of the KATATA MARU. During the fall of 1972 CREE was attached to Commander, Anti-Submarine Warfare Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet for operations with Task Group 30. 5. In her thirty-first year of commissioned service, CREE was attached to the U. S. Seventh Fleet during her seven-month deploy- ment in the Western Pacific. Since 1960, CREE has made the following deployments: September 1960 - February 1961 - WESTPAC June 1962 - October 1962 - WESTPAC July 1963 - November 1963 - WESTPAC September 1964 - April 1965 - WESTPAC July 1966 - November 1966 - NORPAC (Adak) July 1967 - December 1967 - WESTPAC March 1969 - October 1969 - WESTPAC June 1970 - December 1970 - WESTPAC October 1971 - February 1972 - NORPAC (Adak) March 1973 - October 1973 - WESTPAC