Mauna Kea (AE 22) - Naval Cruise Book

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-SHIP ' S PHOTO

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TABLE OF CONTENTS TITLE PAGE 1 STAFF 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS 3 SHIP ' S HISTORY 5 COMMANDING OFFICER 6 EXECUTIVE OFFICERS 8 CHAPLAIN 10 COMMAND MASTER CHIEF 11 DECK DEPARTMENT 12 ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT 30 EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT 48 MEDICAL DEPARTMENT 54 OPERATIONS DEPARTMENT 56 SUPPLY DEPARTMENT 62 CROSSING-THE-LINE CEREMONIES 70 EVOLUTIONS 74 TIGER CRUISE 78 PORTS OF CALL 80 HOMECOMING 94

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HISTORY USS MAUNA KEA (AE 22), the second of five Suribachi- class ammunition ships, was built by the Bethlehem Steel Corpo- ration at their Sparrows Point Shipyard in Maryland. MAUNA KEA ' S keel was laid 16 May 1955, and she was launched the fol- lowing year on 3 May. Named for the volcano whose peak is the highest in the Hawaiian Islands, MAUNA KEA was commis- sioned in a ceremony held at Sparrows Point on 30 March 1957. The ship joined the Pacific Fleet in July 1957 and was originally homeported at Mare Island, Vallejo, California. Her maiden de- ployment to the Western Pacific began in November of that year, and in October 1960 she became the first ammunition ship to transfer missiles at sea. MAUNA KEA played a vital role in support of U.S. Seventh Fleet during the Vietnam conflict. The ship earned the Vietnam Campaign Award twelve times and was presented two Meritori- ous Unit Commendations, the first for the safe and timely delivery of 24,000 tons of ammunition during two hundred seventy under- way replenishment operations from 2 March to 6 October 1968, and the second for the transfer of 10,000 tons of ammunition dur- ing eighty-seven replenishments from 10 June 1970 to 29 January 1971. During her 1975 deployment, MAUNA KEA received sixty- six ships alongside and, in addition to ordnance, provided her cus- tomers with over two million gallons of fuel. MAUNA KEA was transferred to the Naval Reserve Force (NRF) on 1 October 1979, and her crew complement was reduced by 40%. While assigned to the NRF the ship nonetheless main- tained a high tempo of operations, participating in numerous exer- cises in support of reserve training and overall fleet readiness. MAUNA KEA was reassigned to the regular Navy in January 1982. Now homeported in Concord, California, USS MAUNA KEA is currently the oldest, most experienced ammunition ship in the U.S. Pacific Fleet. Her most recent deployment to the West- ern Pacific and Indian Ocean, which began 1 February 1990, saw the ship safely steam over 41,000 miles and transfer more than 7000 tons of ordnance during fourteen replenishments of ships at sea. Returning from this cruise 31 July 1990, MAUNA KEA quickly resumed her role as a mainstay of the Navy ' s Combat Lo- gistics Force in the Eastern Pacific. SHIPS HISTORY