USS Sacramento (AOE-1)

USS "Sacramento" (AOE-1) was the third ship in the United States Navy to bear the name, for both the Sacramento 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 was laid for the first at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Washington on June 30, 1961. The traditional champagne bottle was broken against the bow of AOE-1 on September 14, 1963, by the ship's sponsor, Mrs. Edmund Brown, wife of the Governor of California.

"Sacramento" was commissioned on March 15, 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. It was known as a "floating supermarket" because of all the goods it carried.

In 1995 while in the Persian gulf, where the ship assisted in Southern Watch and in Operation Vigilant Sentinel. During an underway replenishment, the USS "Abraham Lincoln" trying to position itself for flight operations, caused an incident where it ran into the port side of the "Sacramento", crushing the M-frames, partially crushing a female crew berthing area, and punching a large hole in the. (TACAN room) The "Lincoln" was able to continue on with her mission while the "Sacramento" had to dock at Jebel Ali, U.A.E. for several weeks for repair.

Her original armament consisted of four 3-inch/50 guns. The two forward guns were replaced by Mk29 NATO Sea Sparrow in 1976 and the two aft mounts were replaced by Mk15 Phalanx CIWS in 1981. In 1995 MK-23 TAS (Target Acquisition System) was installed to facilitate NSSMS and locate and track air threats.

In 1996 the "USS Sacramento (AOE-1)" 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 machine guns; two port and two starboard. The ship was also fitted with electronic warfare equipment; a AN/SLQ-32 with four MK36 super-RBOC (Rapid Bloom Offboard Chaff) decoys, and a electronics technician ran AN/SLQ-25 towed torpedo decoy (NIXIE).

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.

"Sacramento" is considered a benchmark in West Coast shipbuilding. The ship and two of her sister ships, "Seattle" and "Detroit", 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 deliver 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.

The USS "Sacramento" (AOE-1) was the fastest AOE (fast combat support ship) to 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) and always won. The "Sacramento" (AOE-1) 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.Fact|date=May 2008

The "USS Sacramento (AOE-1)" was the first AOE to ever qualify for an electromagnetic interference certificate in 1996.

"Sacramento" decommissioned on October 2004. On April 13, 2007 a contract for the ship's disposal was awarded to Esco Marine. ex-"Sacremento" is currently undergoing scrapping in Brownsville, Texas.

External links

* [http://www.nvr.navy.mil/nvrships/details/AOE1.htm Naval Vessel Register entry for "Sacramento"]
* [http://www.united-states-navy.com/ships/aoe1.htm united-states-navy.com: USS "Sacramento"]
* [http://www.combatindex.com/hardware/detail/sea/aoe01_detail.html combatindex.com: USS "Sacramento"]
* [http://www.navsource.org/archives/09/5901.htm navsource.org: USS "Sacramento"]