Shasta (AE 33) - Naval Cruise Book

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Charleston, Dur Infanoy Commissioning day was 26 February 1972. Shasta was given a traditional introduction to the fleet: bands played, admirals made speeches, and ladies applauded. The guests went aboard and marvelled at all the haze gray wonders, never realizing how far the road stretched ahead on the way to operational readiness. February, March, and April were hectic, exhausting months. The crew had to be transformed from a bewildered collection of strangers to a smoothly functioning unit. Great piles of equipment had to be installed and tested. Slowly each man realized the size of the task ahead. Precious little time was available to see historic Charleston, but liberty trips to Mayport and Ft. Lauderdale, Florida gave the crew a chance to rest. Rest they would need, for the months of preparation had pointed toward one thing and one thing only: GITMO. I :- -'. .uun,. .. . . Y ,,-., W . ,ln I. 5' fi la S' X 34--3 ,'! ,H . . 'if '. ' WSJ has O ,vf fb1:U'-'

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and ' SHA KEDOWN TRAINING THE UL TIMA TE TEST ,f .ann fiuantananio Bay, Cuba, Qui il'il'NlU as it is affectionately termed by :Xtlantie fleet sailorsl is the cite of shakedown training, the most demanding series of training evolutions a ship goes through. Every aspect of a ship's capability is put to the testg every system, every team, every man is graded. The hours are long, the pressure is intense. From dawn to dusk for three weeks Shasta was drilled, evaluated, and scrutinized by the sharp-eyed inspectors from the Fleet Training Group. The results were almost unbelievable: Shasta had missed a grade of excellent by a few hundredths of a point. Shasta had been at sea only two short weeks before beginning the training, and she outscored a ship of similar size that had been in commission seven years. After departing Cuba, the crew was able to relax for the first time in months. Jamaica and Cartegena, Columbia were found to be excellent liberty ports: the younger men of Shasta enjoyed their first glimpse of a foreign nation. Time to relax meant time to ponder the long trip to California and the many miles remaining before reaching Shasta's new homeport.