Mobile Bay (CG 53) - Naval Cruise Book

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DearMOBILK BAY families and friends: rhis special Cruise Book documents a remarkable and highl) eventful yeai foi wai hip MOBILE ItA 1 .11 1 hi i ill the world homeport change from Mayport, Florida to Yokosuka Japan; moving and quick!) tettling our families in Japan and, deployii ntially no notice to the Arabian Gulf with Battli I 3eventh Fleet, with eventual participation ii 1 1. .ii Shield -mil l teserl Storm After extensive material preparations and a majoi ramily oversea creenin proa MOBILE BAY teamed out of hei origl 1 1. 1 1 I ii ii mi- ..I Mayport, Florida t i the last time on I June 1990 P igh the Panama Canal MOBILE BAY (teamed intl the Pacific Ocean for the Brsl time, visiting mi Puerto Valletta, Mexico San Diego and Seal Beach, ' alifornia and Pearl Harboi Hawaii enroute We arrived in our new homeport ol Voko uka on a mnnj daj on 30 Jul) 199 Icome from .ill loci I S and Japanese commands For thirty days, we worked to settle oui newly arrived families into Japanese horru ind b pan icti • ! to learn the local cm toms and basics of how to get around Japan from the efficient train system to driving on the lefl hand rideol the verj i highways! With the establishment of a strong family support group, MOBILE BAY quicklj became a visible, positive force r the Yokosuka waterfront After our four bus) weeks pierside, we began our introduction to Seventh Fleet operations b) escortdnj l ss MIDWAY ( l 1 1 on airwing carrier qualification exercises in the Philippine Sea operation area to the east of Yokosuka Soon thereafter, hi jumped with both feet into Battle Group exercises in September with the U.S and Japanese forces in ANN1 ' ALEX Oi Iht, we steamed with the deploying MIDWAY Battle Inuip smith toward Subic Bay, as an additional i -ron. with the promise o conducting local bilateral exercises and then returning to Yokosuka in November. However, as a result ol another cruia i enring serious mater ial problems. MOBILE HAY was tasked to continue west with Battle Group Alpha ' the designation of thi MIDWAY Battle ( lroup)to the Middle East We arrive on station in the dull of Oman to relieve the INDEPENDENCE Battle Group on 1 November 1990 — and the res is history! Dunne peration Desert Shield, from November through ! he heejunm- o| i he hill Wai MOBILE BAY served pnmarilyaj the Ant i An Warfare ( ' ommander ( AAWC i for the MIDWAY Battle Group, and frequently as both the Gulf of Oman and Arbiai Gulf Force ( rver-the-horizon Track Coordinator i F( YTC I. As political tensions m the Gulf continued to build. MOBILE BAY was stationed, beginning AM 16 January 1991. in th mined waters of the Northern Arabian Gulf, as a forward Battle-Force AAW picket, the closest one to Kuwait. When the Gulf Wa began on 17 January. MOBILE BAY was in the thick of everything. During the war, MOBILE BAY served as both the alternat and the primary Arabian Gulf AAW Commander, including service as AAWC for the first four-t .unci battle force m ombat opei .ui ins situ ■ the k( trean Wai ' Also, during the Gulf War. we Bred 22 Land-Attack TOMAHAWK Missiles, in 4 different combined missions against Iraq I ini strike aircraft under our control, as the Northern Gulf Anti-Surface Warfare (ASUWt Air-Control Ship, we sank 38 Iraqi nava ships, including all but one of their cruise-missile shooters. Our alert lookouts located and destroyed 13 drifting contact mines Finally, as Arabian Gulf Battle Force Zulu AAWC. we were instrumental in the prevention of any blue-on-blue engagement against the many thousands of strike air sorties transiting the the Gulf airspace during the entire war. twenty-four hours a da; io er 2000 per day ) — a significant achievement MOBILE BAY helped to demonstrate that the AEGIS Combat System was everything its designers had hoped it would be and more. During the Gulf War. AEGIS proved itself to be. in addition to a superb weapons-firing platform, the most effet thi command .m control system afloat Without AEGIS-equipped warships, safely managing the Air War in the Arabian Gul would have been far more difficult! When the Gulf War ended on 28 February. MOBILE BAY was still near Kuwait in the Northern Gulf. In all, we spent 50 con tinuous days in the mined waters of the Northern Gulf, without a single break i including the entire war) — the onh -.hip in th entire Battle Force to do so! Relieved on station as Battle Force Zulu AAW ' C by USS VALLEY FORGE (CG 50) on 6 March we were shortly on our way home to Japan, aniving back in Yokosuka on 17 April 1991, after brief visits in Pattaya. Thailand Hong Kong, and Subic Bay. After an all too short, four-week leave and upkeep period, we hit the deck running once again, with operations that included i successful Operational Propulsion Plant Examination (OPPEi and a short-notice, high-speed trip with USS MIDWAY to thi Philippines in support of Operation Fiery Vigil evacuation operations in June and July 1991. In short, the year chronicled in this special Cruise Book describes a year that all who experienced it will long remember — wit! great pride and a profound sense of accomplishment. From her new home of Yokosuka. MOBILE BAY will continue to patrol the world ' s oceans in defense of our country. Arme with the latest in technology and the finest men available to any navy in the world. MOBILE BAY is the leading edge of moden warfare. She is truly the epitome of Peace Through Strength. completely equipped to serve her country as Freedom ' s Flag ship in the decades ahead.