Mount Katmai (AE 16) - Naval Cruise 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.

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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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SHlP'S HISTORY The USS MOUNT KATMAI is named after a still semi-active volcano located approximately 100 miles north of Kodiak, Alaska in the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes. The main crater of MOUNT KATMAI is one of the greatest in the world, being three miles across, with the rim some 3,700 feet above the crater floor. At the head of the Alaskan Peninsula stands the MOUNT KATMAI National Monument. The USS MOUNT KATMAI AE-16 was built by the North Carolina Shipbuilding Company, Wilmington, North Carolina. The keel was laid in November of 1944. She was launched less than two months later in January of 1945. The ship has been in continuous active service since her commissioning on july 21, 1945, a span of over 25 years. With the outbreak of the Korean Conflict in 1950, the MOUNT KATMAI supported United Nations forces off Korea until 1953 with only very short periods of time in the States. For approximately three months in the summer of 1950, she was the only ammunition ship engaged in replenishment operations with the combatant forces of the United Nations. For her exceptional performance of duty during that time, the MOUNT KATMAI was awarded the Navy Unit Commendation. In the 12 years between the Korean and Vietnamese Conflict, the MOUNT KATMAI participated in training exercises off the West Coast as a unit of the First Fleet. Also during that 12 year period, the ship was deployed to the Western Pacific for Operations with the Seventh Fleet. With the eruption of conflict in Vietnam, the MOUNT KATMAI was again called to aid the 2 combatant forces of the Seventh. As in Korea, her performance and Can Do spirit is again demonstrated in Vietnam. As an integral part of the Replenishment Forces of the Seventh Fleet, the USS MOUNT KATMAI owes her excellence to her outstanding crew. Many of the ships she rearms compliment her crew on their profession- alism and adeptness in their duty.