History | |
---|---|
United States | |
Name | USS Sacramento |
Namesake | Sacramento, California |
Ordered | 8 August 1960 |
Builder | Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Washington |
Laid down | 30 June 1961 |
Launched | 14 September 1963 |
Commissioned | 14 March 1964 |
Decommissioned | 1 October 2004 |
Stricken | 1 October 2004 |
Homeport | Bremerton, Washington |
Motto | Ready for Service |
Nickname(s) | "Golden Bear" |
Fate | Scrapped at ESCO Marine, Brownsville (USA). Scrapping complete 11 July 2008 |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Sacramento-class fast combat support ship |
Displacement |
|
Length | 796 ft (243 m) |
Beam | 107 ft (33 m) |
Draft | 38 ft (12 m) |
Installed power | 100,000 shp (75 MW) |
Propulsion |
|
Speed | 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph)+ |
Capacity |
|
Complement | 34 officers and 602 enlisted |
Sensors and processing systems |
|
Electronic warfare & decoys | |
Armament |
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Aircraft carried | 2 × CH-46A/D Sea Knight helicopters |
USS Sacramento (AOE-1) was the third ship in the United States Navy to bear the name, for both the river, and the capital city of California. She was the lead ship of her class of fast combat support ship.
She combined the functions of three logistics ships in one hull; fleet oiler (AO), ammunition ship (AE), and refrigerated stores ship (AFS).
Admiral Arleigh Burke originated the concept of a single supply ship system. He saw the design as an answer to logistics problems he encountered during World War II. The limited speed, range, and payload of early underway replenishment (UnRep) groups prevented resupply due to bad weather and tactical demands of the war. To counter these problems, the Fast Combat Support Ship (AOE) was designed.
The keel for the first of the Navy's fast combat support ships was laid at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Washington on 30 June 1961. The traditional champagne bottle was broken against the bow of AOE-1 on 14 September 1963, by the ship's sponsor, Mrs. Edmund Brown, wife of the Governor of California.
Sacramento was commissioned on 15 March 1964. Undersecretary of the Navy, Paul B. Fay Jr., addressed the crowd, stating, "The greatest pleasure I have in being here today is ... participating in the commissioning of a vessel which will provide the Navy with a unique capability hitherto never contained in one ship." He added the ship would be able to "run in speed with a destroyer escort, thereby giving our fast attack carrier task forces a flexibility of action hitherto unknown."
Sacramento served in the Gulf of Tonkin during the Vietnam War. She was known as a "floating supermarket" because of all the goods she carried.
The FAST (Fast Automated Shuttle Transfer) cargo handling system originally installed was replaced with the STREAM (Standard Tensioned Replenishment Alongside Method) underway replenishment system in 1977.
Her original armament consisted of four twin 3"/50 caliber guns. The two forward guns were replaced by Mk.29 NATO Sea Sparrow in 1976, and the two aft mounts were replaced by Mk.15 Phalanx CIWS in 1981.
Sacramento was deployed to the Persian Gulf and supported operations during the First Gulf War including Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm.
In 1995, MK-23 TAS (Target Acquisition System) was installed to facilitate NSSMS and locate and track air threats.
In 1995 while in the Persian Gulf, the ship assisted in "Operation Southern Watch" and in "Operation Vigilant Sentinel". During an underway replenishment with the USS Abraham Lincoln the Sacramento lost her steering and collided into the starboard side of the Abraham Lincoln, crushing the M-frames, partially crushing a female crew berthing area, and punching a large hole in the TACAN room of the Sacramento. The Lincoln sustained damage to her catwalks, an aircraft elevator was jammed into the up position and an approximately 10 ft2 hole was torn into the island. Both ships had to dock at Jebel Ali, U.A.E. for repair, the latter for several weeks.
In 1996 the Sacramento had one NATO Sea Sparrow launcher on the forecastle, two Phalanx CIWS past mid-ship port and starboard, one 25 mm automatic cannon on the port side, and four .50 caliber machine guns: two port and two starboard. The ship was also fitted with electronic warfare equipment: an AN/SLQ-32 with four MK.36 super-RBOC (Rapid Bloom Offboard Chaff) decoys, and an AN/SLQ-25 towed torpedo decoy (NIXIE) run by an electronics technician.
Sacramento was the first AOE to ever qualify for an electromagnetic interference certificate in 1996.
Sacramento decommissioned in October 2004. On 13 April 2007, a contract for the ship's disposal was awarded to Esco Marine. Sacramento was scrapped by Esco Marine in Brownsville, Texas, early 2008.
Sacramento is considered a benchmark in West Coast shipbuilding. The ship and two of her sister ships, Seattle (AOE-3) and Detroit (AOE-4), are the largest ships ever built on the West Coast as of 2005. Only Iowa-class battleships and aircraft carriers have greater displacements than Sacramento.
The ship's main engines came from the never-completed battleship Kentucky (BB-66), and delivered in excess of 100,000 shaft horsepower (75 MW) to two 23-foot (7 m) screws weighing 19.25 tons each, the largest on any ship in the Navy.
Sacramento was the fastest AOE (fast combat support ship) ever. The Sacramento routinely went head-to-head in speed runs and won against the west coast's AOE's, including the Camden (AOE-2) and the Rainier (AOE-7). Sacramento also beat the fastest of the east coast AOE's, including the Detroit (AOE-4) and the Arctic (AOE-8) in head-to-head competition.[ citation needed ]
The fast combat support ship is a type of replenishment auxiliary ship. Different from traditional logistic ships, the fast combat support ship is designed with high speed to keep up with the carrier battle group/carrier strike group, while the multi-product station is capable of supplying all types of necessities for the fleet.
The Phalanx CIWS is an automated gun-based close-in weapon system to defend military watercraft automatically against incoming threats such as aircraft, missiles, and small boats. It was designed and manufactured by the General Dynamics Corporation, Pomona Division, later a part of Raytheon. Consisting of a radar-guided 20 mm (0.8 in) Vulcan cannon mounted on a swiveling base, the Phalanx has been used by the United States Navy and the naval forces of 15 other countries. The U.S. Navy deploys it on every class of surface combat ship, except the Zumwalt-class destroyer and San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock. Other users include the British Royal Navy, the Royal Australian Navy, the Royal New Zealand Navy, the Royal Canadian Navy, and the U.S. Coast Guard.
USS Reeves (DLG/CG-24), a United States Navy ship named after Admiral Joseph Mason Reeves, was a Leahy-class cruiser built by the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, in Bremerton, Washington.
USS Elliot (DD-967) was a Spruance-class destroyer in the United States Navy. Built by the Ingalls Shipbuilding Division of Litton Industries at Pascagoula, Mississippi, the ship was named for Lieutenant Commander Arthur J. Elliot II, USN (1933–1968), who as commanding officer of Patrol Boat River Squadron 57, was killed in action in the Republic of Vietnam on 29 December 1968.
USS Peterson (DD-969), named for Lieutenant Commander Carl Jerrold Peterson (1936–1969), was a Spruance-class destroyer laid down by the Ingalls Shipbuilding Division of Litton Industries at Pascagoula, Mississippi. Peterson was sponsored by Mrs. Miriam C. Peterson, the mother of LCDR Carl J. Peterson. Matron of Honor was Peterson's sister, Mrs. John F. Elliott. She was commissioned on 9 July 1977 and decommissioned on 4 October 2002.
USS Okinawa (LPH–3) was the second Iwo Jima-class amphibious assault ship of the United States Navy. She was the second Navy ship assigned the name "Okinawa", in honor of the World War II Battle of Okinawa.
USS Camden (AOE-2) was a Sacramento-class fast combat support ship, the second ship of the United States Navy named after the city of Camden, New Jersey. It combined the functions of three logistic support ships in one hull - fleet oiler (AO), ammunition ship (AE), and refrigerated stores ship (AF).
A replenishment oiler or replenishment tanker is a naval auxiliary ship with fuel tanks and dry cargo holds which can supply both fuel and dry stores during underway replenishment (UNREP) at sea. Many countries have used replenishment oilers.
The second USS Seattle (AOE-3), a Sacramento-class fast combat support ship, was laid down on 1 October 1965, at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Washington; launched on 2 March 1968; sponsored by Mrs. William M. Allen, chairman of the board of the Children's Orthopedic Hospital Association, Seattle; and commissioned on 5 April 1969.
USS Detroit (AOE-4) was the fourth and last Sacramento-class fast combat support ship built for the United States Navy. She was laid down on 29 November 1966 by Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Washington; launched 21 June 1969; and commissioned on 28 March 1970. She is the fifth United States Navy ship named after Detroit, Michigan, the largest city in the state of Michigan, and the river of the same name.
USS Shasta (AE-33) was a Kilauea-class replenishment ammunition ship of the United States Navy. She was named after Mount Shasta, a volcano in the Cascade Range in northern California. Shasta's mission was to support forward deployed aircraft carrier battle groups, which she accomplished through underway replenishment and vertical replenishment. Over three decades, Shasta and her crew took part in the Vietnam War, the Cold War, the Iran–Iraq War, Desert Shield/Operation Desert Storm, and numerous other actions.
USNS Bridge (T-AOE-10),, is the fourth ship of the Supply-class of fast combat support ships in the United States Navy. She is the second ship in the Navy named after Horatio Bridge, a Commodore who served during the Civil War. Bridge was commissioned on 5 August 1998.
USNS Rainier (T-AOE-7), is a Supply-class fast combat support ship and the third US Navy vessel named after Mount Rainier. The ship was christened on 28 September 1991 by the ship's sponsor, Mrs. Suzanne Callison Dicks, wife of Congressman Norm Dicks, and commissioned as "USS Rainier (AOE-7)", on 21 January 1995 at Bremerton, Washington.
USS Savannah (AOR-4), was a Wichita-class replenishment oiler of the United States Navy. The fifth Savannah was laid down on 22 January 1969 by the General Dynamics Quincy Shipbuilding Division at Quincy, Massachusetts, launched on 23 April 1970, sponsored by Mrs. Ralph L. Shifley, wife of Vice Admiral R. L. Shifley, Deputy Chief of Naval Operations, and commissioned on 5 December 1970.
USS White Plains (AFS-4) was a Mars-class combat stores ship in service with the United States Navy from 1968 to 1995. She was sunk as a target in 2002.
USS Mercury (AK-42) was a cargo ship commissioned by the U.S. Navy for service in World War II. She was responsible for delivering necessary goods and equipment to ships and stations in the war zone.
The Sacramento-class fast combat support ships were a class of four United States Navy supply ships used to refuel, rearm, and restock ships in the United States Navy in both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
USNS Henry J. Kaiser (T-AO-187) is a United States Navy fleet replenishment oiler and the lead ship of her class. Her mission is to resupply U.S. Navy and allied ships at sea with fuel oil, jet fuel, lubricating oil, potable water, and dry and refrigerated goods, including food and mail.
The Mashū class is a series of replenishment oilers of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force. They were built from 2002 to 2004. The ships have the hull designator AOE.
ROKS Soyang (AOE-51) is a fast combat support ship of the Republic of Korea Navy; she is named after the Soyang River.
This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships .The entry can be found here.