Sierra (AD 18) - Naval Cruise Book

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+ ' COMMANDER DESTROYERS PAClFlC FLEET 1 2 27 October 1944. 0 From: Commander Destroyers, Pacific Fleet. To: Commanding Officer, U.S.S. SIERRA CAD-181. Subject: Commendation. 1. The Type Commander has noted With gratification that, during a recent nine-day period, the U.S.S. SIERRA performed 21,392 man-hours of Work on a total of 65 ships. , 2. lt is also noted that all the departments of the ship shared in this splendid effort, spares, provisions, small stores, and money orders to the ex- tent of over SlUU,OUO, being issued during this time. i 3. Commander Destroyers, Pacific Fleet, takes sincere pleasure in commending the Commanding Officer and the Officers and men of the Sierra Who, in their initial period of service in the forward areas, have contributed in a marked degree to the success of recent operations. H W. K. iirtiiiips. Copy to: ComServPac. RepComDesPacSoPac QS 7th Fleet.

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. . .. , , . .. . -izw . V ,. in 5 if .v5:.'EL.Z?:grb5'qj5 -ff Q V and his staff. Three Weeks later the destroyer tender USS Markab steamed in, and the Sierra was officially relieved. On the 5th oi l:'ebruary.We jubi- lantly dropped our moorings and proceeded down the Whangpoo River ustateside bound. Three Weeks ot steaming, broken only by a one-night stand at Pearl I-larbor, brought us into San Francisco Bay. Early on the morning oi February 27, l946, the mighty Sierra moved slowly through the iog and passed through the Golden Gate. .We tied up to a dock to discharge our 500 passengers, and then We anchored out in the bay. Several days lat- er We steamed up to the U. S. Naval Magazine at Port Chicago, California, to unload all our ammunition. This job completed, We Went to Mare Island Naval Shipyard to commence our sixty-day overhaul period. .ge .i ge 6 Tin .x tu I Q? ' iii:-:'f T 1: 2121 ,A tv! , . I .,,t1 Aff? - -1 T.-We ,, 4 nff, f M -' ii Q.. 4 0' . .ygif-,L .., :Rfv lT3'?l-41, 9351.-1u?3'1Gs x ' ji-S17 1:1325-Q-4 ,X t-lk, T ' A Y., , .-j-XG giji ' ' AVG' -W. fayiuibif' 1,4- 'ITV'-1 4 A .45 fg1:q,.. '.-eff.-5 wif- 's . 31,21 31?- .. tor ,.-2-7 rr.: .1 1, . ' if .5 fir 17. 355 J. X! if Ha 7' -. Q. . . If ,.Z:Tj'..5,Il,-fl fi 1... . :JL : aa I seals-:sf il? ani? 'iii . t 1 A V. E256 tif? ivan . 'rf 1 ,EAP l, 2 -- 'if' . 33: if-ilu K M ,gg 123.4 . X, .Mg Lv f 10. 1

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UUE SERVTEES .TU THE ELEET The USS Sierra is a destroyer tender designed to supply all the wants and needs of her brood of destroyers. However, due to the shortage of ade- quate repair facilities during the strikes on Palau, Leyte, lwo lima, Okin- awa, and the lapanese homeland, our ship found herself tending not only de- stroyers, but also battleships, cruisers, carriers, minesweepers, every kind of landing craft, and even merchant ships. This is the story of our services to the fleet. Repair Department - The repair department of the USS Sierra can be compared on a small scale to the industrial organizations of any modern city. lts facilities consist of over thirty shops. Each of these shops would be a small business of its own in a city, but combined into one department of the Sierra's organization, they make up a force that is capable of repairing almost anything. lt has shops that can repair broken down batteries, boilers, or bulkheads. A black- smith shop that has never shod a horse nevertheless has an electric furnace to do heat treating and the customary forges, tool slabs, and anvils for hand work. The optical shop fixes binoculars, telescopes, and all kinds of naviga- tional instruments. The watch and typewriter shops repair and overhaul in- struments as their names imply. The carpenters' shop does all kinds of re- pair work and construction in woodwork. When a casting job comes in, there is the pattern shop to make the necessary pattern for the foundry. The foun- dry is equipped with two electric arc furnaces which make it possible to manufacture castings of iron, brass, aluminum, and zinc usually required by destroyers. The largest of all the shops is the machine shop. lt is equipped with all modern machines, including lathes, grinders, milling machines, a 60-ton horizontal-vertical hydraulic press, and various other machines which make up a shop capable of turning out all types of machine shop jobs. The shipfitters' shop can handle all kinds of hull repairs and general structural work. There is a shop to repair radio, radar, underwater sound, and other electronic equipment. This activity also makes installations when necessary. lf it's plumbing or pipe work needed, then the pipe and coppersmith shop is available to do the work. The sheetmetal shop can perform all kinds of sheetmetal work, including the manufacture of cabinets and light bulkheads. Electrical repairs, such as rewinding motors and generators, and electrical installations, such as installing a cable or an electric searchlight, are han- dled by the electrical shop. Also in the electrical line but under the heading of instrument shop is the place to have ohmeters, voltmeters, and meggers tested and repaired. lf the gyrocompass of a ship fails to work properly, a man from the gyro shop takes a trip over to check it and remedy the trouble.