Monongahela (AO 178) - Naval Cruise Book

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TABLE OF CONTENTS HE FIRST AND SECOND MONONCIAHELA .... ..... 2 HE MONONGAHELA ...................... ..... 3 THE CAPTAIN .................. HE EXECUTIVE OFFICER .......... ..... 7 fIRST COMMANDINC- OFFICER ...... ..... 8 FHE INTERIUM EXECUTIVE OFFICER .... ..... 9 MHE WARDROOM .................. 'IO THE CHIEF'S QUARTERS ... 81.12 ENGINEERING ........... ...'I4 DPERATIONS ......... ...,. 2 6 'JAVIOATION . . ..... 34 SUPPLY ...................... ..... 4 O DECK .......................... ..... 4 6 JNDERWAY REPLENISHMENT .... ..... 5 4 LIBERTY PORTS .............. ..... 6 4 fUEZ CANAL TRANSIT ...... .... . 72 IECOMINC' A SHELLBACK .... ..... 7 4 KNOTHER LIBERTY PORT .. ..... IHIPBOARD LIFE ..............- . .... . fVEN MORE LIBERTY PORTS ... ..... 88 -IOMECOMING ............... ..... 3 5 80 82 RWARDS .................... ..... THANKS TO ... -I-.100

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ex, K we ss'-at + -....m, + se A . - . . X- S it .. sg ut ' . .O ,. .q,,,,, . - MCWWYTFBYIG X. . .. xxxx casa-if-3 L, A Q.. .. a..ags..,sNt. ..t as . . . .. -sxNSiS-94s--NS-Wg S X N .. Y C.. --aatlUu?. K THE FIRST MONONC-AHELA: Birth of the Tradition The first Navy vessel to bear the name of the river that winds its way through Pennsylvania and West Virginia took to the high seas in 1863. The barkentine-rigged screw sloop of war earned a reputation in violent action during the Civil War. She served for a time as the flagship of Admiral David Ci. Farragut and made travels as far-reaching as the Orient. In May 1904, MONONGAHELA set sail for Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where she was to serve as stores ship. It was to be her final resting place. On March 17, 1908, she was gutted by a terrific fire. The heat was so intense, her cannon barrels began to droop. One of these drooping cannon barrels stands today on the naval base as a monument to this 19th Century workhorse. THE SECOND MONONGAHELA: Child of War In the opening months of World War II, the commercial tanker ELKAY was acquired from the Maritime Commission by the Navy. She was commissioned in Norfolk july 31, 1942 as USS MONONGAHELA CAO 421 and quickly assigned to the war-torn Pacific. MONONGAHELA participated in assaults on Guadalcanal, the Marshall Islands, the Philippines, Iwo lima and Okinawa as well as many other places that the war in the Pacific spread. MONONGAHELA sailors returned home with stories of how their proud ship narrowly avoided destruction during the kamikaze air attacks at Kerama Retto. The veteran ship won 10 Battle Stars in the Asiatic-Pacific Theatre as part of the life- giving supply line of oil, dry cargo and ammunition. In 1951, MONONGAHELA was assigned to the Military Sea Transportation Service, supplying United Nations Forces in the Far East during the Korean Conflict until the day she was finally transferred to the Atlantic Fleet in 1953. She served with distinction on extended operations in the Mediterrean and on the East Coast until she was decommissioned. The second of the MONONCAHELAS was retired for good on February 1, 1969.