Delta (AR 9) - Naval Cruise Book

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EXECUTIVE OFFICER ! ! i COMMANDER G.N. SCABOO, USNR

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R QFFICE NDING COMMA USNR UESTv JR CAPTAIN FRANK B' G

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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,