Puget Sound (AD 38) - Naval Cruise Book

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FARE W LL Damp, chilly and gloomy Weather seemed appro- priate on January 30 as loved ones embraced one last time before PUGET SOUND headed into her CRUISE OF UNCERTAJNTY. Some 90 U.S. Navy ships had already left their homeports in support of Operation Desert Shield, but PUGET SOUND was the Erst setting sail for what had become Operation Desert Storm. Reporters from Norfolk news teams, as Well as CNN, broadcast our departure around the World. What lay ahead Was yet to be determined. Sailors held their heads high, proud to serve in the Persian Gulf War, as they caught one last glimpse of family members Waving goodbye from Pier 24. Where We were going and when We would return were unknown.

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Captain says war add mtcnsny 1110 Puget Sound a Norfolk based destroyer tender, welghs anchor today for an unspecmed Iocatnon an the neighborhood of the Persian Gulf. Its crew of 1 300 wall servuce ships in Operatuon Desert Storm., TENDER READIES TO CARE F OR GULF SHIPS ' to routine work By Ford Reid Staff writer for The Virginian-Pilot NORFOLK - The task will be routine, the captain of the destroyer tender Puget Sound said Tues- day, the sort of work his crew of 1,300 has been trained to do. But the circumstances, Capt. Robert James Maloit said, will be anything but rtm of the mill. lt will be intense, he said. For the great major- ity of the crew, it will be the first time in a combat zone. The Puget Sound weighs anchor today for an unspecified location in the neighborhood of the Persian Gulf Our mission, Maloit said, is to service the ships of Operation Desert Storm. Tenders are the floating repair and maintenance centers for the fleet. The Puget Sound carriers an inventory of about 50,000 repair parts with a value of about 87.5 million. The crew is trained for every- thing from repair of heavy equipment to the calibra- tion of nuclear reactor instruments. We have divers, haul technicians, every kind of repair specialistf' Maloit said. We can do any repair on a ship that does not require dry docking. Although tension will be heightened for the crew, Maloit does not expect any surpr'ises. I haven't seen any evidence that we will face problems different from those on other deploy- ments, he said. The fact that some of the ships in the war effort have been at sea longer than their normal deploy- ments should change his job little, if any, the cap- tain said. And he does not anticipate any special repair problems caused by the mammoth oil slick on the Persian Gulf Lt. Omdr. Nancy Cole, the ship's supply officer, said extra medical supplies were taken aboard for this cruise. Because Saddam Hussein has threatened to use chemical and biological weapons, special medicines were stocked. The ship has a 32-bed hospital ward and facilities for dental care. ' 'fWe're not expecting anything medically extraor- dinary on this cruise, Maloit said. :Tm not taking a surgeon, for instance. Cole, who is the highest ranking of 400 women aboard Puget Sound, said that, despite the busi- ness-as-usual routine, moving toward a war zone does make things different. There is extra excitement, she said. This is certainly not a normal deployment. 1 4