Los Alamos (AFDB 7) - Naval Cruise Book

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,-eg112,fQ3'h A Brief History of LOS ALAMOS and the Holy Loch It is fitting at this point to touch upon the history of LOS ALAMOS, because she has played a vital role in the mission of the submarine fleet for the past thirty years, but it is equally fitting to bring to light certain facts about her construction, original commissionf ing, and pre-Holy Loch history. Space does not allow the mention' ing of every fact, so only those felt to be most pertinent will be seen here. LOS ALAMOS is one of seven sectional drydocks originally desigf nated Advance Base Sectional Dock CABSDD. ABSD 1 f 3 were ten-section construction with a lift capacity of9l,000 tons. ABSD 4 f 7 were sevenfsection construction with a lift capacity of 56,000 tons. ABSD 7 was designed under the direction of the Bureau of Yards and Docks by the consultant marine engineering firm of Frederick R. Harris, Inc., New York fMr. Harris KEY DATES 06 Jan 45 First commissioned USS ABSD-7 . Mar 45 Original construction of all sections completed fnote that commis, sioning was held prior to completion of constructionl. Aug 45 Under tow via Pearl Harbor and Enweitok to Kwajalein when hostili- ties in Pacific ended. Aug 46 Designation changed from ABSD 7 to AFDB 7. Aug 46 Decommissioned. Jan 47 Berthed in Green Cove Springs, Florida. 01 May 61 Four sections QA, B, C, Dj activated in early 1961 and departed Mayport, Florida, on this date enroute to Holy Loch. 01 Jun 61 Arrived in Holy Loch. 03 Jun 61 Assembly and erection of AFDB 7 commenced by approximately 350 men and officers of Mobile Con- struction Battalion FOUR and 150 men and officers of AFDB 7. 10 Nov 61 Placed infservice and cus- was formerly RADM Harris, i tody transferred to COMSUBRON 14. Chief Of Bufeaul- The Original Top. AFDB-7 seen from af., 1969, with D pontoon removed, during 3 yard period. Nm items 20 NOV 61 First docking, USS construction of the sections was aSf 02X:fa'W?:'S-and '1 'PC'S2'f'f'I1j0fh'Zi2aag2 fog GEORGE WASHINGTON QSSBN completed in March 1945 by the Arms 1 p ly h 1969 s i. Y... slr.. Q..e.n'.i-1.11. ri.. im efes ungpm of af. 598J. Shipyardsz gh k dh hf dl ZAFDB 7 h AS 33 in dock, b ecause in reality AFDB-7 co Id have NOV First undocking. cleaned on SSBN 598. l 08 Jul 64 Self-docked Section B. AIG Pollack Stockton Stockton, California QEFOB-7137 name USS LOS BICIDIF Chicago Bridge Sr Iron Works Morgan City, Louisiana 2,4 Jun 91 Last Submarine docking, E PittsburghfDes Moines Steel Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania USS WILL ROGERS QSSBN 6591. W- 19 April 1973: Charlie Engine Room receives a new diesel engine. AFDB-7 undergoes a crane changeout, very likely in late 1960s. Sub tenders have come and gone during the past 30 years, but only LOS ALAM' OS has been constant. 1991 photo show' ing USS SIMON LAKE QAS-33J. TIE? 157- :1'.31f'f'7f rv'-'EXW' r?7f??5155iP?f!.TiE?P'? f 1f 1 -'ff' Xwvfrfz-rf-fr-. -':f,:1-- vw. fa- --v--.W ,.,,. fm K M .. - -- -f- - . V 1 -1. - - .,,.-nz. -. 1 .:'-rfvm..-Hb. 571. fxmziw-'zrnv-:vm .ww-:fm-Y.,-4.-m-.1-.-v, f,-,....f-.,.-.,,-,,.-..v..m.fnrmw1wri1s:9-!1:3'.!,4ifSfS

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Our cooks provide a barbecue on dock- ing days. The dock is on the bubble - now ready to receive unit. 3 5 M.-f.43ivq,,,A,e. 'nk ,. ' ,L --:iw f 4 .ig,.,ig,- ,T7.','111' . Another shot of linehandlers, pausing for a few seconds before shifting their line to another cleat. Back in Dock Control ENC Cordonicr and MMI Sargent operate the Ballast Control Panel, ensuring the dock stays on the bubble. The Docking Officer keeps in constant com- munication with all areas of operation. the unit. t , ,i AK2 Brown stands by to operate one of the capstans. A nice shot of the unit exactly on center. 'D The port crane lowers the brow, with safety nets piled in center, onto u L Undocking procedures are the same as docking procedures, only in reverse. Here the unit has backed out of the basin after a successful undocking. f an Other units docked have included tugboats. HT2 Hendrickson admires his crew's handiwork. H ,ml v EKVN T, The Centering Team stands on the bow and ensures the unit is exactly on our centerline. This photo of the basin shows our mission readiness: with both a barge and a tug in dock, we still have a complete centerline cradle ready. 11

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n,,U.,..vf.- ---- -Q ---W ----------- -H-.h...f.....i...., he . , , ,A Above: Is it a network newsroom? A Pentagon strategy room? No on both counts: it's the dedication of a crew's lounge, mid-19805, by QL to R1 COMSUBRON 14, XO and CO of AFDB-7. Below: LCDR Lacoss, then-CO, pauses to say a few solemn words about the new crew's lounge dartboard. iThis crew's lounge is now Female Berthing.1 In another case of history repeating itself, the after outrigger was skeletonized more that nedt once, above, for reasons of our inactivation, 1 right, for the 1969 yard period. msil gi3':YiYSir:F17fg'i fi-.r' 1' ff 'nf' Q l-.LL-ik.. . ,,,,,, ...NY ,. .,,,,,,.. N, .. - 2. . ,h us- J. -.L.1:..--1A.-. ,,.,n-,,.'71'a.l'. -It ' Left: In 1964, AFDB-7 self-docked her bravo pontoon, seen here just clearing the inboard port wingwall while being removed. Right: About 26 years later, this almost identical photo was taken during the 1990 alpha and bravo pontoon changeout. Interesting the way history tends to repeat itself, isn' t it? And now, it's time for DRYDOCK TRIVIA! A series of little facts and statistics, designed to increase your knowledge about LOS ALAMOS! Did you know ...? 1963 holds the record as the year with the most dockings, 28. 1972 holds the record for most submarine dockings in a year, 20. ' Over 30 years LOS ALAMOS averaged 14.8 dockings per year. Our total dockings numbered 454. Our total submarine dockings numbered 304. In 1984 one of our dockings was aboard a Royal Navy drydock, HMS NEPTUNE CAFD-601. LOS ALAMOS sent her dock- ing Officer, Dockmaster, and line handlers to dock USS NATHANIEL GREEN KSSBN- 6361. The largest vessel docked in LOS ALAMOS was BETELGEUSE KAK-2601. Her dimen- sions: 454' 9-5f8 long X 62' 1-518' wide, 9000 tons. The submarine that holds the record for most dockings is USS ULYSSES S. GRANT fSSBN-6311, with 13. Three oth- ers, THEODORE ROOSEVELT ISSBN- 6001, LAFAYETTE ISSBN-6161, And ALEXANDER HAMILTON QSSBN-6171 tie for second place with IZ each. The EBM submarine with the fewest dock- ings was FRANCIS SCOTT KEY CSSBN- 6571, with only one. Close contenders are WOODROW WILSON ISSBN-6241, KAMEHAMEHA QSSBN-6441, GEORGE BANCROFT QSSBN-6431, and LEWIS AND CLARK CSSBN-6441, with two each. We have docked 39 of thef41 PBM sub- marines in 30 years. The two holdouts were SIMON BOLIVAR KSSBN-6411 and BENJAMIN FRANKLIN iSSBN-6401. Now, don't you feel really smart? A-hsrx21Ai':!1'vifi.-Ewa56311Zif?..filiLL1L. f!1H2.Ei1lC'LZ1GKGi:iQ!I-5iB'fBMb?.n'S!3b?li'S!. :- , , . , -- M. 1 'H x . T 0 The following three photos are not from LOS T'- ALAMOS's history, but their historical importance merits ,,, inclusion here. Their own captions speak for themselves ff. lf i , . ifrom Floatin Dr Dock Trainin Manual , 19531. 1,5 Y , ff3'i? V nw, . ' , if 3 2 W , f yrigx Afffg, ,,5 ',Qf j.: f',.ffd ' 57,-s,qX K L hz I ' - ...- . f 1, ...W 1 .. As ,f.,,,. ,f .,, , 7 -Qcfyw' fn ' 4 f .W .fWaf'2:yQW,I,fff-BWI? , W -Q 'f W , . . , .sr Q M-A., 1 2, ,QQ 70- fr' ' ff V ,, , F, N-,.,,f '2Y1.r1,vf,:,a':-1 . H f I 1-N n'F,,,i-yyxtxgz QA, Wgswf I 3, ' I iz, ., -75 ev,.7 4 ff X, ,, :a'?.5,Fg:1 ' fi ' M 2' , ai ' 1 'X ' ff .5 ' Nw-, : fp 3 'iw W-msvww, I 4 I ff, ii 5 , Q ,f 1 r l f ' 562,71 4:35 I im! ,W fi ::.w,.: 2259225 L N 1 i 5119 sxfrmitzi an -Wa Terr X 2 lLf,'I?'i3 222533722 KI: 2511 I3Si'Ii'S .. 'i'1-'n ,, v:7: 9 'ii 2: 1 '-a Q 'R Y W! L if 4 .4155 uf' 4 ' E . .,,, v . , . 3. 13 izezmf-iwzffv