Elokomin (AO 55) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 8 text:

COMMANDING OFFICER 9 n ' »»■ m ' , . - J vtL fl

Page 7 text:

HISTORY OF ELOKOMIN The USS ELOKOMIN (AO-55) is an auxiliary oiler of the United States attached to Service Force, Atlantic Fleet. Through her main battery, her fuel hoses, she delivers the fluids that keep the Navy ' s ships and aircraft on the sea and in the air; black oil, diesel fuel, aviation gasoline and various other petroleum products. All oilers of the Navy are, by tradition, named after rivers with Indian names; the ELOKOMIN is no exception. The ELOKOMIN River is a small river, 22 miles in length, which is located in Walkiaukum County in the State of Washington. The name of the river was given by the local Indians and means lost hunter or chief. This has been derived from an old legend concerning an Indian chief being lost in the canyons along the upper ELOKOMIN. To this day there is some dispute as to the proper spelling of the river ' s name. Locally it is spelled ELOCHOMAN while the Federal and State governments spell it ELOKOMIN. The keel was laid on 9 March 1943, at the Bethlem-Sparrows Point Shipyard, Inc., Sparrows Point, Maryland. She was launched on 19 October 1943. At 1530 on 30 November 1943, this ship was placed in full commission and delivered to Commander Joseph A. JVALDl, USNR, as her first Commanding Officer. Her first cruise was a short voyage from Baltimore to Norfolk, where she was fitted out and the finishing touches added. Soon thereafter training operations were initiated in order to bring the ship and her crew up to wartime standards. The first refueling at sea exercises were successfully conducted on 16 December 1943. In the early days of 1944, the ELOKOMIN reported to her present Commander, Commander Service Force, U.S. Atlantic Fleet, ' ' in all respects ready for sea. From January to August 1944, the ELOKOMIN became a familiar figure along the East Coast. During this time she delivered her liquid cargo from various Gulf Ports to Norfolk, New York, Argentia and Bermuda. Her first transoceanic voyage began on 2 September 1944, when she sailed in convoy for Oran, Algeria, refueling the convoy escorts during the passage and discharging fuel to the dock at Oran upon arrival. She reached Bermuda on 14 October 1944 and returned to Norfolk four days later. Two similar voyages were made to Casablanca after which she served as station tanker at Bermuda during 1945. At the end of World War II, ELOKOMIN remained in commission and has remained as an effective unit of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet ever since. In the early 1950 ' s, ELOKOMIN became one of the best known oilers in the Navy through the development of an improved rig for underway replenishment. The ELO- KOMIN method, as it was called, was adopted by the Navy and became the standard method for refueling from an oiler within the Atlantic Fleet for a number of years. After returning to Norfolk, her homeport, in March 1962 after a Mediterranean deployment, the ELOKOMIN was again assigned to the U.S. Second Fleet. In May of 1962 she deployed to the Eastern Atlantic off the coast of the Azores, as a part of the PROJECT MERCURY space capsule recovery force. In October 1962, she was deployed to the Caribbean as one of the support ships in the Cuban Quarantine Operation. Also noteworthy in the ELOKOMlN ' s recent history was the nomination in 1962 by Commander Service Force, U.S. Atlantic Fleet, for the Arleigh Burke Fleet Trophy, as the SERVLANT unit having shown the greatest improvement in battle efficiency during the competitive year 1962. Nineteen sixty-three was an eventful year for the ELOKOMIN. It included a period of yard overhaul in Baltimore, Maryland, refresher training at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and her seventh deployment to the Mediterranean. She returned from the MED in March 1964 after fueling 252 ships and pumping more than 20 million gallons of fuel. During this month ELOKOMIN was assigned to a Retrieval Task Force and assisted NASA to develop recovery techniques to be utilized by fleet oilers for Gemini Apollo space craft. After a period of leave and upkeep the ELOKOMIN participated in two fleet exercises and various local com- mitments. In July of 1964, ELOKOMIN was named first runner-up for the Battle Efficiency E during the competitive year 1964. On 15 January 1965, ELOKOMIN added further distinction to her long Naval career by rescuing s6ven survivors who had abandoned their burning fishing trawler in the Western Atlantic. ELOKOMIN returned from her eighth MED Cruise in September 1965. During t ' .is period the ELOKOMIN participated in the experimentation and evaluation of the Probe fueling system. The ELOKOMIN par- ticipated in two tours to the Caribbean during Operation SPRING-BOARD in January through March of 1966. ELOKOMIN was given further distinction by maintaining the highest reenlistment rate for A022 Class Oilers in COMSERVLANT. ELOKOMIN began a five month general overhaul in March 1966. Following the yard period the ELO- KOMIN participated in refresher training in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in preparation for her ninth deployment to the Mediterranean in May 1967. During this deployment she set a Sixth Fleet record, pumping the most gallons of fuel for one ship in one deployment. She was also a vital asset to the Sixth Fleet during the Egyptian-Israeli crisis, where inport refueling would have lessened the effectiveness of the entire fleet. August 1968, brought the ELOKOMIN into the North Atlantic for Operation Silver Tower, a training exercise for NATO Forces. Appropriately, she celebrated her silver anniversary performing an unrep with the USS WASP. After a period of upkeep ELOKOMIN headed south for her tenth Caribbean cruise. In six short weeks Jan. 9 through Feb. 20, she refueled a record 115 ships.

Page 9 text:

RICHARD A. SAVAGE Captain Savage enlisted in the Navy as an Aviation Cadet on March 10, 1943. Upon completion of flight training at Corpus Christi, Texas, he was designated a Naval Aviator and commissioned as Ensign in the Naval Reserve on May 16, 1945. He was then assigned to the Instrument Instructor ' s School at NAS Atlanta, Georgia. After finishing the Instructor ' s School, he returned to NAS Corpus Christi in August 1945 for duty as a flight instructor. While at NAS Corpus Christi, Ensign Savage accepted a commission in the Regular Navy. He left Corpus Christi in August 1946 and reported to the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago. Here he was a ' ' five term student officer studying engineering. After advanced refresher training and a short temporary duty with TACRON 2, he reported to VF-12 in January, 1949. In VF-12 he served as Flight Officer, Training and Education Officer and Air Intelligence Officer. During this tour of duty, which ended in March 1951, he saw service in the North Atlantic and Caribbean aboard the USS PHILIPPINE SEA (CV-47). Leaving VF-12, Lieutenant (junior grade) Savage was assigned as Production Liaison Officer with the Bureau of Aeronautics, General Representative, Central District in Dayton, Ohio. While in Dayton, he was promoted to Lieutenant. He served there until being ordered to TACRON 1 in June 1953- While attached to TACRON 1 he was Ordnance Officer and Training Officer. During this time he deployed to the Western Pacific aboard various amphibious ships. In December 1954 he was order ' d to VF-93 where he served as Administrative Officer and Assistant Operations Officer. With VF-93 he deployed to the Western Pacific aboard the USS ORISKANY (CVA-34). In September 1956 Lieutenant Savage was selected as an exchange pilot with the U.S. Air Force. Until ¥arch 1958 he saw duty with the 498th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, a part of the Air Defense Command, in Spokane, Washington. He served as Flight Commander with the squadron flying the F86D and F102A. While attached to the Air Force he was promoted to Lieutenant Commander in the Navy on February 1, 1957. After his tour with the Air Force, Lieutenant Commander Savage became Administrative Assistant and Aide to Vice Admiral W. F. RABORN, Director of Special Projects, Bureau of Naval Weapons in Washing- ton, D.C. He served in this position until August 1961 when he was selected to attend the Armed Forces Staff College in Norfolk, Virginia. Upon completing the course at the Armed Forces Staff College he reported to VF-14 as Executive Officer in June 1962. During his two and a half year tourwith VF-14 he fleeted up to Commanding Officer. From the Squadron the Captain was ordered to the USS FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT (CVA-42) in Janu- ary 1965 as Operations Officer. Captain Savage reported to the USS ELOKOMIN (AO-55) from a three year tour in Washington, D.C. He served in the Naval Air Systems Command Headquarters as the F4 Phantom Sparrow III Project Manager. In addition to his studies at Illinois Tech he has studied at George Washington University. The Captain has been awarded the Navy Commendation Medal, World War II Victory, American Theater, National Defense, Korean Service and United Nations Medals. He has logged more than 4200 flight hours of which more than 1800 have been in jets; he has made more than 400 carrier landings.