Norton Sound (AVM 1) - Naval Cruise Book

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X Q X NX NQx .ti I Q 1. ... 4 5 4 Y 1 - it-f ' , gl M ,K X Nx . , X . ffff 7 ZW! E W WQ?CW' ' ' fu ,. X I her history of Japs. An heroic member of the party swam to, intercepted, and was taken aboard one of the SOUND's small boats. Upon the hero's arrival on board, NORTON SOUND dispatched a landing party in two boats to the island. The Japanese were driven off and the LST's party rescued. The officers and men of this landing party were awarded ribbons and letters of commendation by Commander FIFTH Fleet, and Commander Fleet Air Wing ONE. Our ship's amphibious operation is commemorated by a brass plaque which is mounted out- side the Operations Office. During the summer of 1946, NORTON SOUND began her career of science and exploration. Operations were in progress at this time in North Atlantic waters off Greenland, where a task force was en- gaged in Arctic material and operational tests. Completing the installation of special equipment on 11 February 1949, the NORTON SOUND, now with Port Hueneme as her home port, sailed for equatorial waters off the West Coast of South America. In collaboration with the Applied Physics Laboratory of Johns Hopkins University, three AEROBEE rockets were fired to study cosmic radiation at altitudes up to 60 miles. On the way home a call was made at Callao, port city for Lima, Peru. Away again in January 1950, the ship took a 19-day winter cruise to the stormy Gulf of Alaska for cosmic radiation and cold weather research in high geomagnetic latitudes. Here two more AEROBEE rockets were fired Cto gather data for Johns Hopkins University's laboratoriesb, as well as one LOON and one LARK missile. A brief stop was made at Vancouver, B. C., for a snowy liberty. Back to the San Francisco Naval Shipyard went the NORTON SOUND in early 1950, to have VIKING launching equipment installed. On 11 May of that year her first VIKING was fired to an altitude of 106 miles, where the 500 pounds of instruments recorded more cosmic research data. On completion of this project the ship began extended local operations, firing test and training shots with the LARK and early REGULUS missiles. In September 1950 she fired the first in a long series of TERRIER missiles, it was the first successful shipboard launching of TERRIER. I NORTON SOUND stayed close to home for several years, firing many HVAR, TERRIER and REGULUS missiles as one improvement or modification followed another. Cooperating with contractors and other naval activities, she hastened the introduction of TERRIER and REGULUS as tactical weapons to operational units afloat and ashore. Not until 1957 did NORTON SOUND begin another extended cruise. On 23 September she departed for tropical waters again to fire several TERRIER missiles under severe storm conditions. Balboa, C. Z., and Acapulco, Mexico, were liberty ports on this cruise. On returning to Port Hueneme, the ship expected only the usual milk run operations for some time. Fate intervened, however, and here begins our story., i i Z , f 1 6 Z an , Il . , XI fl , fb' Za: f ls f f 1 S , 5 'X XX S x t ,, . 4 ff fi f 45,31 S-4 P U1 ,' m f l f as if Q' QQ.

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yf if 3 , W-, L pw W 1 fs Q .W ' K X 1 d........... W 4 X iff 7345 0 .,, ., -iuhamlnbnwpanqaunml .X v X X .ood ship . . . f X I - x The history of the U.SfS. NORTON SOUND, originally designated the AV-11, began one day in 1941, when herkeel was laid at the Los Angeles Shipbuilding and Drydock Corpor- ation. Withlthe bursting of World War II on the doorsteps of the United States, priority for the completion of the seaplane tender was lowered. Thus the ship was finally launched 28 November 1943. At the launching the NORTON SOUND was christened by Mrs. E. L. GUNTHER, wife of RADM E. L. GUNTHER, the Commandant of U. S. Naval Air Station, San Diego, California. Still later, on 8 January, 1945, the ship was commissioned at San Pedro, Cali- fornia, by Captain Knefler MCGINNIS, who was the Commanding Officer, U. S. Naval Air Station, Terminal Island, California., First Commanding Officer of NORTON SOUND was Commander Ben Scott CUSTER, of Bainbridge, Ga. The NORTON SOUND departed 26 February 1945, after a brief shakedown cruise, bound for duty-in the tadvaiiced areas of the Western Pacific with the famous FIFTH Fleet. At Pearl Harbor herlfirst operational aviation unit, VPB-19, reported aboard for transportation. The ship rescued and hoisted aboard a Martin Mariner Patrol Bomber which had been forced down at seas on 25 April 1945, while en route to Okinawa. Upon arrival at Okinawa, this ship became the flagship of RADM J. D. PRICE, the Commander of Fleet Air Wing ONE-, and the home of VPB-26. Although a submarine contact had been made en route to Okinawa, the NORTON SOUND's first real engagementiwith the Japanese' was on 28 April 1945. Then the an- chorage in which she lay came under attabk by bombers and suicide planes. Attacks of this type were repeated a number, of times until the end of the war, but on no occasion did the ship suffer damage or casualty. - Her most intimate and exciting clash with the enemy occurred 12 May 1945. On a small nearby island, Aka Shima, a recreation party from an LST in the anchorage had gone ashore to have a picnic and to play softball. Although the island was supposedly secured, the party was ambushed and two of its members killed by a small detachment

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her miss 1on This is the X-17 rocket: a three-stage, solid-propel- lant missile. It has been used for research since its inception, this, too, was our use. It is impossible to present a complete picture of the missile and related programs. We of the NORTON SOUND can, how- ever, be proud of the highly successful sea-phase tests recently completed in the Atlantic area. They have contributed considerably to our still slight knowledge of the upper atmospheric levels. The X-17 was originally conceived by and, designed for the Air Force by Lockheed Aircraft Corporation. The vehicle was engineered and manufactured at the Lockheed Van Nuys plant in California. It was developed as a transport and test-carrier for re-entry nose cones, being a three-stage type. That is, the nose-cone was powered on its re-entry to speeds of for exceedingb 10,000 miles per hour. Its purpose was to get the essential data for study of high- velocity airflow. From early 1955 through the spring of 1957 the Air Force launched several of the X-17's. The Navy watched, and its interest increased. Soon thereafter the Navy contracted to conduct advanced missile experimentation to aid in the development of the POLARIS program. The Office of Naval Research paved the way for continued X-17 test firings. After completion of many firings on land the decision was made to launch the rocket from specific locations afloat. It was felt that results would be at least as satisfactory Cand more easily accomplishedb if the launching equipment were installed aboard ship, in- stead of being transported by ship to some conven- ient island. By firing X-17 at various angles, includ- ing vertical, the Navy was able to achieve great altitudes, considerably advancing the study of the upper atmosphere. All three stages in the Navy tests were set to fire upwards. The NORTON SOUND is credited with many successful firings, both in the Point Mugu and in the Atlantic areas. The results were highly profit- able to the planned purpose of the mission.