Mount Katmai (AE 16) - Naval Cruise Book

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SS OU KATNIAI AE-16 ...a pictorial view of an ammunition ship's function and Service with Replenishment Forces of the SEVENTH FLEET OPERATIONS 5 WESTERN PACIFIC 1969-1970

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DEDICATIQN Home is not just a wooden and concrete structure to shelter out rain, wind, and snow, especially to a Navyman overseas. To us, home is warmth, security, and love. It is where we leave the importance of our lives while we serve our country far away. But most of all, gone for seemingly unending months at a time, home is memories. These memories are what keep us going. They are what continue to connect us to the world we have been made to leave behind. These endearing memories also keep us hopeful for a better future, one different from the caotic times of today. Une that will not have to demand our long absence from those who love us, from our home. In our hearts, and in our hopes and prayers, we only desire a future that will not cause us to be away from home as we are now. We hope the future will be one of free- dom, tranquility, and peace. It is to this future we dedicate this book.

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S! si-iiP's rviissioixi During the days that the windjammers and steam-driven wooden hulled ships sailed the seas and oceans, the United States Navy was small and in her youth. Despite her size and age, she was one of the most powerful in the world. She had a deficiency in one important area though, her ships could only maintain themselves as long as provisions aboard held out. The idea of under-way re- plenishment had yet. to be conceived. A ship in today's modern Navy has the capabilities through the Navy's Replenish- ment Forces, to sustain itself for indef- inite periods of time without having to return to port. The Navy's Replenish- ment Forces are the backbone of the combatant ships of the Navy. Among the Replenishment Forces' oil tankers, supply, and other cargo carrying ships is another class of ship whose job it is to supply bombs, missiles, powder, fuses, and other explosives, the ammunition ship. At sea, whether during time of peace or during wartime, naval combatant units are dependent on the Replenishment Forces for their efficiency, mobility, flex- ibility, and endurance. Today's Replen- ishment Forces are the product of years of testing and development. The am- munition ship and her techniques of ammunition transfer are near perfection. Ships can be rearmed in multiples in an alongside transfer or by helicopter, which is called vertical replenishment . The USS MOUNT KATMAI AE-16 is one of the best ammunition ships in the Navy. Ours is often a difficult and trying job though. Rearmings can take place at any time of the day or night and on the shortest of notice. But, the men of the MOUNT KATMAI are highly trained and skilled in their duties. The proficiency that they have acquired through months of actual experience at sea, is made evident by the lack of serious accidents, the length of time an ammunition transfer requires, and the high degree of expertise displayed under the roughest conditions of weather and sea. The USS MGUNT KATMAI stands ready, willing, and able to serve our country in the highest traditions of the United States Navy.