Ponce (LPD 15) - Naval Cruise Book

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Table of Contents Gitmo, Cuba Jamaca......... 3rd Battle “E” Maine... Rota, Spain.™ Toulon, Spai Malaga, S Valencia, S gSgt' African Ea Duress, Albania. Naples, Italy.. Odessa, Ukraine.. Rhodes, Greece... Haifa, Israel.... Home Coming... Cruise Book Sta: . k: Mm

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UNITED STATES SHIP PONCE PONCE’s Insignia USS PONCE’s insignia is comprised of four major elements: A rampant lion (from coats of arms of Juan Ponce de Leon) signifying the high spiritedness of the Navy-Marine Corps team that serves her; a trident, emblematic of the U.S. Naval power and supremacy; commission pennants, visual symbols of U.S. Ship in commission; and an anchor chain, linking the ship’s name and its designator symbols. The Royal Purple Lion which is the coat of arms of Juan Ponce de Leon, is a continuing reminder of our bond with the people of our namesake city. You may overhear several of the crew members refer to our ship as “The Proud Lion”. L —.—,——

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USS PONCE Some Capabilities Which Might Surprise You • PONCE carries enough fuel to steam over 10,000 miles (nearly halfway around the earth without refueling. 0 The ship has its own doctor and dentist, with a twelve bed medical ward, bacteriological laboratory, X-ray facilities, sterilizing room, and dental operatory. 0 Storerooms and refrigerated spaces which can subsist 1,500 men for 60 days, or 500 men for 90 days. © We can make nearly 50,000 gallons of drinking water a day from sea water in our distilling plants. O We operate our own store in which we serve everything from candy, toothpaste and clothes, to cameras. When loaded, PONCE carries balanced unit of 917 Marines and their combat vehicles (tanks, artillery, ammunition, tracked landing vehicles, etc.). 0 The after end of our ship (stem) has a hinged gate which can be lowered. We use this gate in conjunction with a ballast system to fill our well deck area with water. In this manner, amphibious assault crafts and boats can drive in and out of our well deck. The well deck area is large enough to fit two full size basketball courts inside, and the ballast tanks used to flood the well deck have the capacity of 2.3 million gallons of water. © Cargo carrying capacity: There is enough in our two storage areas to hold 110 medium size automobiles. © Air capability: The flight deck is large enough to accommodate three complete tennis courts and 11 trips around it is equivalent to 1 mile. There is sufficient room on the flight deck to operate four helicopters simultaneously. It is certified to operate practically every type of helicopter in the world, even the largest and most sophisticated. In addition, vertical takeoff and landing type aircrafts may operate on USS PONCE’s Hight deck.