Sabine (AO 25) - Naval Cruise Book

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THOMAS J. LAFOREST CAPTAIN, USN Born in Highland Park, Michigan, on 9 SepTember l9l7. RGrer'1TS, MV- C1r'ICl Mrs. Tl'1OmGS A- L0- ToresT, reside aT l5056 Minock Avenue, DeTroiT, Michigan. ATTended grade and high school aT ST. Gregory School, ,DeTroiT, and in T939 QVGCJUOTSCT from The UniversiTy of Michigan wiTh a Bachelor of ArTs Degree. During!i9A,O, .worked in ST. Louis, Missouri as a Bond UnderwriTer Tor The FideliTy and CasualTy Company oT New York. EnTered naval service Trom ST. Louis, Missouri, in AugusT T940 as an ApprenTice'Seaman in The Naval Reserve V-7 program. Received Midshipman Training aboard USS ILLINOIS OT New York. Commissioned Ensign, USNR, in February i9L1i, andordered direcTly To The AsiaTic FleeT in Manila, Pl, serving in USS Wl'llRRLE CDD-2175 as fCommunicaTions OTTicer. LaTer served in Two oTher desTroyers, USS CHARRETTE TDD-5815 as FirsT I-ieuTenanT and USS JOHN D. HENLEY lDDf553i as ExecuTive OTTicer. ParTicipaTed in Twelve maior engagemenTs during World War ll, all in The AsiaTic-PaciTic TheaTer oT OperaTions. A Upon conclusion of World War ll Transferred To' The regular Navy and 'enioyed a year shore duTy under insTrucTion aT The General Eine'School in NewporT, R. l. From T947 To T949 COmm0UdSCl TWO radar pickeT desTroyer escorTs, USS ALEXANDER J. LUKE and USS WlLLlAM T. ROWELL, boTh in The ATlanTic FleeT. 'ATTached To The FleeT Training Group, Chesapeake Bay as Foreign Treining OTTicer Trom T949 To l95l. In December i95l Took command of USS MDALE TDD-6935 and shorTly ThereaTTer received noTiTicaTion oT appoinTmenT To The rank oT Commander in The U.S. Navy. While commanding MOALE in l953, during a Tour of combaT duTy in Korea, received praise oT CTF 77 Tor excellence in rescue operaTions involving downed aviaTors. Served as AssisTanT OperaTions OTTicer oT DESFLOT FOUR during T954 and in T955 compleTed G posT graduaTe course of insTrucTion in Naval lnTelligence having during This period also become pro- TicienT in The ITalian language. During The period T955 TO T958 served as AssisTanT Naval ATTache in The-U.S. Embassy aT Rome, lTa y. From SepTember T958 To February T960 served as Flag SecreTary To Commander SixTh FleeT suc- cessively under Vice Admiral C. E. EksTrom and Vice Admiral G. W. Andersofb Jr. During This period oT operaTions ThroughouT The MediTerranean area Tamilv residencewas mainTained on The Riviera aT ST. Jean-Cap FerraT, France. ' Ordered To shore duTy in March T960 in The OTTice oT Naval lnTell,igence as AssisTanT To The Di- i5e?cT52r of Naval inTe-lligence Tor Foreign Liaison MaTTers. l3romoTed To CapTain, U,Si, Navy on i MCJY 6 . Flin jepfember T962 order'd aTloaT in command of USS SABINE CAO 255 home ported aT MCIYPOYT or: a Married To The former Miss Maryalice McElmurry of WebsTer Grove Missouri I-Ier parenTs Mr and mrs JI F Wiley reside in ST PeTersburg Florida Two children Lorena Anne T7 and Linda arie 5 if Q n ' I . I ' I ' ' - - . 1 a . u I . I , I ' , - 1 4

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SABlNE's combot record in the Asiotic-Pocific theoter of World Wor II is on illustrious one. It consisted of nineteen seporote engagements beginning with the roids on the Morsholl ond Gilbert lslonds in i942 followed by the Gilbert Islond operotiori lote in WAS. Then in Jonuory ond eorly Februory of i9Zl11, SABINE porticipoted in the occupotion of Kwoiolein ond Moiuro Atolls. Next the ship wos concurrently engoged in the Truk ottock, the Morionos ottock, ond the Polon roid. Then between the llth of June ond the i5th of August i944 SABINE participated simultoneously in the copture ond occupotion of Soipon, the third Bonine roid, ond the copture ond occupotion of Guom. With the coming of Gctober i944 the Allied invosion of Leyte begon, with SABlNF porticipoting octively in the operotion. For olmost six months the ship performed it's normol fueling function in the Philippine woters. From Morch through June of l9115 she ossisted the Third ond Fifth Fleets in their roids in support of the Okinowo Qperotion. SABlNE's closing combot mission wos in support of the Third Fleet off of the Joponese moinlond from mid-July T945 through the end of the wor. On TO September i945 the proud ouxiliory onchored in Tokyo Boy olong with mony of the combotent units she hod kept on stotion in the fleet thot come to stoy. The officiol novy history of the ship includes the stotement the SAl3lNF's record of service during the wor is uneouoled by ony other fleet oiler. SAl3lNE's first post-wor ossignment took her from Tokyo Boy to the Yongtze Qiver. From Chino she went to Singopore, to the Persion Gulf, Ceylon, the Philippines, ond to Peorl l-lorbor still trons- ferring fuel to ships ond boses to meet the needs of o Novy now ot peoce. ln i948 the U.S.S. SAEBINF returned to the United Stotes ond in eorly i949 WGS TVGViSfGrrSCl tothe Atlontic Fleet for service with the Second ond Sixth Fleets os o point-to-point tonker. ln i954 she wos turned over to the Militory Seo Tronsport Service for Operotions bock in the Pocific ond in Februory of i955 she wos decommissioned ot the Long Beoch Novol Shipyord. A yeor ond o halt later she wos recommissioned ot Long Beoch ond operoted ogoin by Militory Seo Tronsport Service with o Novy crew. ln i958 she wos ogoin decommissioned ond wos then ploced in the Moritime Reserve Fleet in Qronge, Texos, where she remoined until August of l96l, ot which time she wos reocguired by the US. Novy ond brought to New York for reoctivotion. Qecommissioned the lL1th of December i961 ot the Bethlehem Steel Compony Shipyord, Brooklyn, New York, the SABINF, is presently homeported in Moyport, Florido. Following o shokedown cruise to Guontonomo Boy, Cubo, she begon her operotions os o port of the United Stotes Second Fleet. Upon recommissioning the SABlNF, Chief of Novol Qperotions George W. Anderson cited her World Wor II record ond stoted thot l-ler return to octive service is on importont step in increosing the reodiness position of our country. To ossure our reodiness the fleet must be mobile. lt is CSA- BlNF's vitol mission to contribute ogoin to thot mobility by keeping the other ships supplied with oil, the lifeblood of the fleet. H fm A' jj

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RALPH L. WERNER CAPTAIN, USN I i - S Sig k i if tiff A gf. Captain Ralph L. WERNER, USN, 833611f131O, was born in Dayton, Ohio on February 12, 1915. He received his B. A. Degree from the University of Dayton, Dayton, Ohio. He began his military career as an Army Second Lieutenant at Ft. Hayes, Ohio where he served from 1938 to 1989. He entered Navy Flight Training in 1939 and was designated a Naval Aviator and commissioned as Ensign, USN in 1940. He served as an instructor at NAS, Rensacole and NAS, Jacksonville from 19-411 to 19112 and was Executive Officer of VS-110 at San Julian, Cuba during 19112. During the remainder of World War II, he was Operations Officer of VB-132 in Africa, Flight Officer of NFTULANT and served as Op- erations and Executive Officer of various Night Fighter Squadrons and NACTULANT. From 19117 to195O,Captain WERNER was stationed at the Naval Air Test Center, Ratuxent River, Maryland as Head of the All-Weather Section. He next assumed the duties of Commanding Officer, VF-11 at NAS, Jacksonville, Florida from 1950 to 1952. He was in charge of Rlans and Operations at the Advanced Training Command, Corpus Christi, Texas from 1952 to 1953. He served as Opera- tions Officer of Composite Squadron FOUR from 19511 to 1955. During 1955 to 1957, he-was Air Group Commander of Air Task Group 181. From 1957 to 1958, he was a senior student at the Navy War College, NGWDOFT, R.l., and from 1958 to 1959, Captain WERNER served aboard the USS SARA- TOGA 1CVA-601 first as Operations Officer and later as Executive Officer. He reported to Guan- tanamo Bay, Cuba as Air Officer of the Fleet Training Group in 1959. On 7 July 1961, Captain WERNER relie.ved Captain William A. SHRYOCK as Commander Carrier Air Group FOUR and Commander Fleet Air Detachment, Cecil Field, Florida at NAS, Cecil Field. Captain WERNER has been awarded the following: Air Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Navy Occupation Medal 1European Claspj, World War ll Victory Medal, and American Campaign Service Medal. He is married to the former lda Lois Carlyon of Jacksonville, Florida and they have five daught- ers, twins Kathy and Betsy 1171, Wendy 1151, Kerry 1141, and Sarah 181, The WERNERS reside at Quarters F , NAS, Cecil Field, Florida.