Delta (AR 9) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 11 text:

HISTORY San Diego and Long Beach for the next seven months, then returned to the Far East. This time, she saw service in Sasebo, Yokosuka and Subic Bay. She returned to San Diego in July 1954, where she joined Service Squadron One. On DELTA'S next Far East tour, which began in January 1955, she spent part of her time as the Flagship of Commander Blockading and Escort Force, Pacific Fleet. She returned to the West Coast that July, and the following month was ordered to the yard at Puget Sound for deactivation. She was decommissioned on 1 December 1955, and became a unit of the Bremerton Group, Pacific Reserve Fleet. Cold War was the word of the day for the next few years. As world tensions increased, so did the need for more mobile repair facilities in the Pacific Fleet. On 31 October 1959, DELTA was recommissioned by the crew of the Internal Com- bustion Repair Ship, USS KERMIT ROOSEVELT, at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. She sailed immediately for Long Beach, her new homeport. Her stay at home was 'short lived. On 12 April 1960, she sailed again for the Far East. As a unit of the U.S. Seventh Fleet and Service Squadron Three, she provided repair service in Sasebo, lwakuni and Subic Bay. On 21 December 1960, she returned to the States for what was expected to be an eighteen month stay. But again the need for repair services in the Far East called her away on short notice. She left Long Beach on 2 February 1962 and provided repair services in Sasebo, Okinawa, and Subic Bay. Work was accomplished on Seventh Fleet Ships supporting the U.S. Forces in Thailand and the Taiwan Patrol Forces. DELTA returned again to the States for a long stay, from August 1962 until Christmas Day 1963. She departed the day after Christmas for another deployment to the Far East, this time, providing services in Subic Bay, Sasebo, Iwakuni and Yokosuka. While serving the fleet, DELTA also served the good will of man with outstanding success in her visits to Moji, Japan and to I-long Kong. Her tour completed, DELTA returned to Long Beach in July 1964 for a long awaited yard overhaul. Upon completion of the yard period, she again provided re- pair services for the Fleet in Long Beach. On 1 July 1965, DELTA'S homeport was changed to Alameda, California, although she remained in Long Beach until sailing again for The Orient on 22 July 1965 for another eight month chapter in the 'history of a fine old ship. The jobs done on DELTA range from tightening the smallest bolt to the re- building of entire boilers and engineering plants on the ships she serves. No matter what the job, DELTA does her best to help the rest, in keeping with her motto: V DILIGENCE, DEPENDABILIT Y AND DEXT ERIT Y.

Page 10 text:

DELT DELTA was built as SS HAWAIIAN PACKER and originally designed for com- mercial use on the pineapple run between San F1'8HCiSC0 and H01101U1U- BSfO1'e completion she was acquired by the Navy. She WHS C01T11T1iSSi0Ued in June, 1941 HS a Cargo Ship QAK-295 and during her first year of service, made runs to Cuba, Puerto Rico, Bermuda, Iceland, Newfoundland, and Novia Scotia. On I July 1942, she was placed in a reserve status for conversion to a Eleet Repair Ship at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In her new capacity she sailed on 3 March I943 to join a convoy headed for North Africa. The convoy reached Mers El Kebir Oran on l9 March and DELTA moored alongside the mole where she immediately set to work repairing amphibious craft. During a short three months there she put in a total of llO,8OO man-hours working on 467 ships With the opening of the Sicilian and Italian campaigns, DELTA moved to Bizerte Tunisia late in July 1943 The following month, despite a series of air attacks by the Luftwaffe she worked on 248 ships and amphibious craft. The air raids reached their climax on the night of 6 September One of the planes shot down on that occasion was definitely credited to DELTA and another was recorded as a possible As the war moved so did DELTA She set up shop in Palermo, Sicily, in March, 1944 and at Pozzouli Italy that July At Pozzouli her Job was to get ships ready for the invasion of Southern France From there she went to Naples, Italy in August, to repair the damaged landing craft via Palermo to repair landing craft being returned to the United States. She did that until November when she was detached from the amphibs and returned to Mers El Kebir for duty as a destroyer repair ship for Commander Destroyer Squadron Sixteen In April 1945 DELTA arrived back in the States-- but not for long. After armament modifications and general repairs she left Norfolk, Virginia on I5 June 1945 for Pearl Harbor via the Panama Canal She reached Pearl on 6 July l945, worked there for a month then sailed for Eniwetok The surrender of Japan was announced while DELTA was at Eniwetok. She was ordered to rendezvous with Commander Task Group 30 8 off the Islands of Japan, and on 28 August she entered the Sagami Sea with advance units. Two days later, she moored off Yokosuka Naval Base where she was assigned to general Eleet 1-'SPHEI' Vlgirk She saw China Service in the year following the war's end. I H ebfuafy 1953 DELTA returned to the West Coast. She operated out of Cn the last day of September, 1944, the hard-working AR steamed for Bizerte,

Page 12 text:

r -, 2? gy -w A me 5? ,nl ..l ..f Q , rf' P 3 f