Firedrake (AE 14) - Naval Cruise Book

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The USS FIREDRAKE fAEe14l was built in 1944 by the North Caro- lina mipbuildlng Company of Wilmington, North Carolinag Her original but short-lived name was the SS WINGED RACER, a merchant vessel designed to carry produce. When she was commissioned in December 1944, after being converted fornavaluse, she was named USS FIRE- DRAKE QAE-14l. Sxe thus started a long and proud mission for the U.S. Navye ' t ' W Immediately after receiving her commission, the FIREDRAKE entered the Second World War as part of the Pacific Fleet. me par- ticipated in many conflicts such as the invasion of Okinawa in 1945. me supplied various forms of ammunition to combatant ships--her prime tnnctionthroughout her naval career, S ' At the end of the war, she was de-commissioned in Orange, Texasg FIREDRAKE was recommissioned in October 1951, and in February 1952, sailed for the waters off Korea. Her mission during the Korean Con- flict was to supply the United Nations Naval Forces with ammunitions. In 1953, while on her second and final 'deploymentto Korea,gthe FIRVEDRAKE and the USS PRINCETON QCVA-373 established a new record rate for transferring ammunition. T-he average was285 short tons of ammunition per hour at sea, This was the standing record until 1967. At the end of the Korean Conflict, EIREDRAKE began operating out of her homeport of San Francisco. Even though the latter part of the , fifties were relatively peacefulithe USS FIREDRAKE made ca yearly deployment to the Western Pacific. n 6 During a routine deployment in the South China Sea in early 1964, ' the Vietnam Conflict broke out. SFIREDRAKE was extended in her de- ployment to rearm combatant ships of the Seventh Fleet. As 1964 came to a close, USS FIREDRAKE returned to the United States with the taste' of all war that she was destined to return to again and again. Q c - During the summer of 1965,the Helicopter Landing Platform was 9 added just over thelfantail. With this fface-lifting. FIREDRAKE was S modernized for this modern war. 9 an e , - 9 N 5 . t ' S After a much' neededyard period and -a RefresherfTraining off San Diego5ftheFIREDRAKE again left fortVietnam'.e So, under the command of Captain ARTHUR Kg BENNETT, JR., the USS FIRESDRAKEyQAE-141m A hoisted colors cn the twengyafifthtiogfnqmguaryd 1969, for her seventeenth 5 deploymentysince ,.QSQjIl1'SIl1iaSQiQIlil'lgjgigllALSQ44. p ZS S, 1 5 ' c S ,

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M..,,,,M.1, Sie. ,, WWW.. M - ' FIREDRAKE receives the USS TICONDEROGA to port and the USS BUCHANAN to Starboard, FIREDRAKE CONTINUES HER PROUD HISTORY

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Y , V ,, i.11v,...,..,....i...M-fyA3,.,... 1W?.L,1,5,3,u.:,...,,u..,.,.f,,-... . -105 1199 .911 X fi 1 fix ' vw- aww Good morning, Captain Bennett. The USS FIREDRAKE QAE-145 is a 25 year old ammuni- tion ship home-ported in Concord, California, For many years the FIREDRAKE has been em- ployed in support of First and Seventh Fleet units of the Pacific Fleet. Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to take command of the FIREDRAKE and proceed to the South China Sea where you will be called upon to transfer am- munition and receive retrograde, As always, should you fail, the Chief of Naval Operations will disavow any knowledge of your mission. In the event of an emergency, the FIRE-b DRAKE will self-destruct in five seconds. Good luck, Art. ' 4.