U.S. Naval Operations in 1985 (2024)

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The tempo of U. S. naval operations moderated during 1985 as the burden imposed by operations ashore in Lebanon during 1982 to 1984 receded into the past. The Navy’s leadership has renewed the call for reduced time away from home ports for fleet personnel. Some overseas

LIEUTENANT COMMANOER. J. H. AUGUSTIN. JR., CEC. USN

The USS Darter (SS-576), shown here at Yokouska, Japan, not long before sunset, is one of the few remaining diesel-powered submarines active in the U. S. Navy.

deployments were planned to be curtailed by year’s end. Like it or not, the new congressional (Gramm-Rudman) bal­anced budget act of 1985 may force fur­ther deployment reductions in 1986, pre­

suming a new crisis doesn’t overwhelm these good intentions again.

Interest in the fleet exercises held dur­ing 1985 centered on the big transatlantic exercise Ocean Safari ’85. The carrier battle groups of NATO’s Striking Fleet Atlantic pressed into the Norwegian Sea and on into the Norwegian fjords to dem­onstrate the current offensive tactical approach to sea control. Ocean Safari embodied traditional convoy escort activ­ity as well, but carrier battle group move­ments and a widely publicized full broad­side by the USS Iowa (BB-61) in the western approaches to the English Chan­nel set the theme that will be remem­bered.

Two other Atlantic Fleet exercises warrant special mention. A 24-hour- notice surge deployment exercise early in 1985 sent 44 nuclear-powered attack sub­marines into the Atlantic with full weap­ons loads on board. On 24 May 1985, the nuclear-powered guided missile cruiser Mississippi (CGN-40) was ordered to sea in about 20 hours to conduct surveillance operations in the Norwegian and Barents seas for seven weeks without logistics support. These two short-warning exer­cises demonstrated Navy willingness to explore a range of strategic planning as­sumptions, either to meet head-on any enemy attempt to “jump the gun,” or to impose offensive tactical initiatives on the enemy early in a campaign.

Together with the big Pacific Fleet exercise FleetEx 85-1, held late in calen­dar year 1984, these 1985 exercises sug­gest that the Navy is testing the opera­tional execution of its maritime strategy.

Tempo of Operations

The fiscal year 1985 budget provided for a fleet tempo of operations equivalent to that originally intended for the pre- ceeding year. This program provided for ships deployed in the Mediterranean, Western Pacific, and Indian Ocean to be under way about 55% of the time, with ships operating from Continental U. S. home ports spending an average of about 30% of total time under way. At any time, more than 100 ships fall into the “deployed” category, with about three times as many in “non-deployed” status. Roughly 50 ships were non-operational throughout 1985 while in overhaul, about the same number as in recent previous years.

Underway time in the deployed Sixth and Seventh fleets in fiscal year 1984 sig­nificantly exceeded the original budget request. These increases reflected unfore­seen contingency operations off Leba­non, in the Persian Gulf, and in the Car­ibbean. These added operational commitments led to reductions in under­way time for the non-deployed Second and Third fleets, reducing opportunities for training. Similar contingency opera­tions in 1985 had the same effect, princi­pally because of the readiness require­ment to respond to terrorist activity in the Mediterranean. Fiscal year 1985 steam­ing time, shown in Table 1, did not match the high 1984 levels.

Certain problems caused by these high operating tempos have created concern within the Navy. Morale suffered in re­cent years because of prolonged separa­tion from home port during contingencies and the hardships imposed by Indian Ocean deployments. Admiral James Wat­kins, the Chief of Naval Operations, an­nounced new deployment measures to deal with these concerns. Press reports quoted CNO speeches in mid-March to Navy audiences in Mayport and Jackson­ville, Florida, that heralded “a ‘new bal­ancing act’ of requirements for the pres­ence of carriers around the' world. According to press reports, the CNO in­tended to schedule carrier battle group deployments so that each six- to seven- month overseas deployment would be followed by 12 to 14 successive months operating from each ship’s home port, rather than an average of about nine months between deployments. A Navy news release explained:

“Two ways the Navy plans to de crease the number of ships and peop ^e in extended deployments are by sub­stituting battleships for carriers an decreasing the size of battle groups- The Admiral stressed that the Navy ‘would still be able to meet its world­wide commitments by mixing forces

1986

''^,|th our sister services,’ deploying ^at|leship surface action groups and ^Using land-based tactical air support, th Commanders-in-Chief of

. ^e Atlantic and Pacific Fleet . . . ‘nipleniented a revised carrier/battle- ^S schedule that meets all world- 'de commitments.”

_Carrj ^{e Nav}y’s commitment to keep one Plov^H .^^att'^e g^rouP continuously de- the r ^m[1]^nc*'^an Ocean, included in clea 1 *^S^^ear 1986 budget request, Fulfil '^{aS cause}d the greatest difficulty. t\ve ' ^ment task has been split be-

_sp,j ⁶ⁿ Atlantic- and Pacific-homeported i_nVQj’ facing the average level of time N_0n F°^r most individual ships. 0_Ce^{e C}'^css> the current nature of Indian impr ⁿ °F^erat'^ons clearly has made a bad The Mi'⁰¹¹ ■ °ⁿ P^ersonnel serving there. Edw °, ^ow’ⁿ§ testimony by Commodore _Vi_c^ar Olexton in a Senate Armed Ser- M„_^S, Oommittee hearing held on 14 1985 illustrated this point:

over there, for one thing. When the Dwight D. Eisenhower was there in 1979, they were 250 days that year at sea and 160 days on station in the In­dian Ocean. That is five months! They were under an alert condition [dele­ted]. It was a considerable drain on their morale. Whereas in the Med, even if you are off Beirut where there is an equivalent alert condition, ex­cept for a few cases you can usually go into some port and get some liberty and relax for a short time. . . . The retention on the Eisenhower after that year in the Indian Ocean was 19 per cent. I do not think you could get much lower. The retention rate for the rest of the Navy was up around 30 per cent, but the ships coming out of the Indian Ocean after those extended cruises were running in the teens and the low twenties. People are just not going to stay in an outfit that requires that of them year after year.”

Whether or not the Navy’s excellent intentions to reduce fleet personnel hard-

The USS Saratoga (CV-60), shown here with an E-2C taking off, began her 1985-1986 Mediterranean deployment with participation in Ocean Safari ’85 and the widely publicized interception of terrorists.

ships will be realized, remains to be seen. On the one hand, enforced budgetary re­ductions may force operating tempo re­ductions, wanted or not, as pressure mounts to reduce federal budget deficits. On the other, crises and contingencies-— such as that experienced in January 1986 off the Libyan coast—may overturn both policy plans and budgets. Either way, the Navy’s stated goal of extracting increased benefits from reduced underway training time is a tall order. Added money— permitting increased live weapons ex­penditure, more realistic targets, and greater tactical freeplay could help ex­ploit diminished time on the range.

The fate of the budget plan, including the request for fiscal year 1986 funds to sustain the fiscal year 1985 operating tempo, was uncertain in January 1986. The Gramm-Rudman legislation already has introduced budget reduction mea­sures that are expected to require a $1.2 billion cut in the Operations & Mainte­nance, Navy (O & MN) budget account between 1 March and 30 September 1986. The Gramm-Rudman measure (formally the “Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985,” Public Law 97-177) established procedures whereby many categories of government spending would be reduced automatically when necessary to keep the total federal budget within a scheduled, steadily declining total deficit level. The federal deficit in 1985 of roughly $200 billion—money spent by the government in excess of revenue received—

Table 1 Navy Fleet Operating Days per Quarter (Average total days under way per quarter year)

Fleet

Active Fleet ........................ ...........

deployed

\y'^Xth Fleet and Seventh Fleet in Mediterranean,

Nnn^^tern Facific, and Indian Ocean)

"'^Ployed

(Second Fleet in Atlantic;

Naval _R^{Pleet in Pacific)}

Oner V^{Reserve Force}

^Ships

SourcgTT

^get request, part 3, page 606.

L kiendeaui P^reP^ared statements to the Congress on the “Operations & Maintenance, Navy” (O & MN) budget account. See prepared statement of Commodore Gerald hoD budep/ P^resented to several congressional committees. For example, the information is in House Appropriations Subcommittee, Hearings on fiscal year 1986

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galvanized the Congress and the Presi­dent to accept these reasonably arbitrary reductions to eliminate the deficit alto­gether by 1991, rather than continue pro­tracted arguments over individual pro­gram reductions.

Under Gramm-Rudman legislation re­quirements $1.2 billion in O & MN and about $43.8 million in Operations & Maintenance, Navy Reserve (O & MNR) have been identified for elimination from previously appropriated totals of $24.5 billion and $895 million, respectively. Actual reductions to implement these guidelines were to commence by 1 March 1986. The Navy was preparing plans to execute this direction early in the year, so the detailed impact of the cuts remains to be seen.

Ship Maintenance

each coast, beyond the ship in Service Life Extension Program (SLEP) modern­ization. Roughly lOto 15% of other ships would be in regular at any time under the previous maintenance system.

The Exercise Program in 1985

The Navy took part in more than 100 major exercises during 1985. An item­ized list of more than 80 exercises is pro­vided at the end of this article. Some national strategic (nuclear deterrent) ex­ercises, command post exercises (CPX), etc., have been excluded, as have all the myriad single-ship transit exercises (“TransitEx”) and two- or three-ship passing exercises (“PassEx” or “En- counterEx”). Only about two-thirds of the listed exercises involved significant operations afloat; in turn, only about 20 could be called large-scale fleet opera­tions, involving more than just one car­rier battle group operating independently-

Only one large, transoceanic exercise was carried out, Ocean Safari ’85 in the Atlantic. It was the largest NATO sea- lane defense exercise ever conducted, stretching across the Atlantic and into the English Channel and Norwegian Sea. No equivalent large fleet exercise was held during 1985 in the Pacific, in contrast to FleetEx 83-1 (1983) and FleetEx 85-1 (1984) held in the previous two years.

Ocean Safari is held biennially to exer­cise NATO’s ability to protect supply and military reinforcement shipping moving from North America to Europe in war­time. The Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic (SACLant) sponsors the series- The 1985 version involved, at its peak, 116 ships acting as “blue” (friendly) forces and 41 ships acting as “orange (enemy) forces. Some 21,000 U. S. and 59,000 allied personnel are estimated to have taken part. Ten NATO nations par­ticipated: the United States, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, the Federa Republic of Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, and the United King­dom.

The focus of Ocean Safari was on con­voy defense. Exercise play included a fairly complex sequence of convoy movements, actual convoys being forme with chartered merchant ships. The fi^rst convoy departed Boston on 29 August en route to Hvalfjordhur, Iceland. This con­voy subsequently departed Iceland 1 September for Portland, England, P^r°' ceeding west of Ireland and arriving h* the western approaches 17 September. A second merchant convoy originated at Scapa Flow, north of Scotland, on 1 September, and also sailed west of Ire­land to arrive in the western approaches

1986

on the 17th. A third convoy originated at Lisbon, Portugal, and departed 8 Sep­tember northbound to reach the western approaches by the 17th.

Convoy defense operations in the western Atlantic began with U. S. Navy and Coast Guard mine clearance and anti­submarine sweeps during 17 to 30 Au­gust. The surface combatants of NATO’s Standing Naval Force Atlantic (StaNav- ForLant) provided the initial convoy screen, departing Boston on 29 August, being relieved on 1 September by a Cana­dian Escort Group. Some merchant ships joined with the Canadian escorts from Halifax. NATO’s Striking Fleet Atlantic supported the convoy movement north­eastward. The Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69), America (CV-66), and Sara­toga (CV-60) carrier battle groups were involved at this time, the carrier striking force being supported in turn by the Iowa (BB-61) surface action group and the ASW group centered on HMS Illustrious. The striking fleet carried out air strike and air defense exercises off the U. S. East Coast on 1 September.

The Saratoga (CV-60) battle group separated and conducted a transit to Rota, entering the Mediterranean 7 September to join the Sixth Fleet. The America (CV- 66) formed the main body of the striking fleet moving northeast, accompanied by the Nassau (LHA-4), which flew the flag of Vice Admiral Henry C. Mustin, Com­mander NATO Striking Fleet Atlantic. Il­lustrious, accompanied by the British frigates Argonaut and Phoebe and de­stroyer Southampton, as well as U. S. frigates Aylwin (FF-1081), Pharris (FF- 1094), and Vreeland (FF-1068), took up a position about 200 to 300 nautical miles ahead of America, the ASW force fight­ing heavy weather.¹¹Iowa detached to the south as America and Illustrious moved into the Norwegian Sea on 14 September. The Iowa group joined the Iceland-to-Portland convoy 13 September and proceeded with StaNavForLant, es­corting the convoy from Iceland into the western approaches. America and her battle group arrived in Vest Fjord, a large enclosed body of water on the rugged Norwegian coast, on 19 September. The exercise concluded the following day.

Ocean Safari left a clear impression of an offensive maritime campaign con­ducted to defend the sea-lanes by striking north rather than awaiting an enemy ap­pearance. Ocean Safari offers an interest­ing parallel with the 1984 Pacific exercise FleetEx 85-1, after which two carrier bat­tle groups operated simultaneously in the Sea of Japan. Taken together, these two exercises suggest the desired concept of operations for a worldwide maritime campaign emphasizing prompt strikes against the Soviet fleet and targets ashore.

Fleet Operations

The burden of unanticipated contin­gencies on the fleet was reduced in 1985 to below that experienced in 1984, when the U. S. involvement ashore in Lebanon was being concluded. Nonetheless, a string of terrorist attacks throughout 1985 kept the nation on edge. Pronouncements were made repeatedly that the United States would take military action against terrorists, but only when perpetrators of these criminal actions were identified and located with reasonable assurance. The fact that the fleet remained out of action through much of the year, with the inter­cept of the Egyptian jetliner in October being the principal exception, helped create a sense of frustration. The failure to mount an immediate response to the particularly outrageous attacks in the lob­bies of the Rome and Vienna airports on 27 December 1985 became a case in point.

On 14 June TransWorld Airlines (TWA) flight 847 was seized by terrorists just after takeoff from Athens Airport. The aircraft was ordered to Beirut, then to Algiers, and then back to Beirut. On 15 June, at Beirut, one of the hostages on board was shot and his body thrown out of the parked aircraft. The dead man was Steelworker Second Class (Diver) Robert D. Stethem, a member of Norfolk-based Underwater Construction Team One. He had just completed an underwater con­struction job at Nea Makri, Greece. His body was returned to the United States on 18 June and he was buried at Arlington National Cemetery on 20 June. The press reported prompt movements by Sixth Fleet ships in response to the hijacking. The Nimitz (CVN-68) battle group, in­cluding the guided missile cruiser South Carolina (CGN-37), guided missile de­stroyer Kidd (DDG-993), and replenish­ment fleet oiler Kalamazoo (AOR-6) were reported to have arrived off Beirut on 17 June. The aircraft made another flight to Algiers prior to returning to Bei­rut where about 40 U. S. hostages still remaining on board were taken off the aircraft and taken into captivity in the Beirut area. Subsequent resolution of this crisis relied on diplomacy, which led ulti­mately to release of the remaining cap­tives by 30 June. U. S. military forces did not become directly involved, and insuf­ficient information on the identity and location of the hijackers prevented any subsequent U. S. action.

Four Palestinian terrorists seized the

Italian-flag cruise ship Achille Lauro in the Mediterranean in October. The events of that seizure and its outcome are de­scribed in Dr. Scott Truver’s article be­ginning on page 160 in this issue. This time the United States was able to inter­rupt the terrorist operation, after the hi­jackers had surrendered to Egyptian au­thorities ashore. Navy F-14 fighters flying from the carrier Saratoga (CV-60) forced down the aircraft carrying the hi­jackers to Tunisia, permitting Italian au­thorities to board the aircraft on its arrival at Sigonella Naval Air Station, Sicily-

The final terrorist act of 1985 also was the bloodiest. Two groups of Palestinians attacked the Rome and Vienna airport lobbies, indiscriminately killing 18 peo­ple, including five U. S. citizens, and wounding over 110 more. At year’s end, the Reagan Administration accused Libya of aiding the terrorists who carried out these attacks. U. S. citizens living in Libya subsequently were required by the U. S. Government to leave the country early in the new year and economic sanc­tions were imposed. The press reported consideration of military strikes on ter­rorist training camps in Libya. The po­tential magnitude of such a military oper­ation could be substantial.

The Navy maintained its continuous presence in the Persian Gulf throughout 1985, standing ready to protect U. S. in­terests as the Iran-Iraq War continued its protracted course. Iraqi air strikes on Ira­nian oil export facilities and oil-related shipping were conducted during the year, with intermittent Iranian response against Iraqi-associated shipping in the Gull- This dangerous situation made day-to­day life for the sailors of the U. S. Navy s Middle East Force quite difficult. The four surface combatants assigned to the MidEastFor were rotated in the Gulf at four-month intervals.

Concern over events in Central Amer­ica also required Navy presence there from time to time during the year. L°'^v level counterinsurgency training was conducted through much of the year m Honduras, with exercises such as Ahuas Tara III, Universal Trek, Cabanas, an King’s Guard 86-1. Universal Trek was the largest of these operations, with the Marine Corps 26th MAU going ashore near Puerto Castilla, followed by an Army air assault battalion.

Port visits overseas by U. S. Navy warships became a major diplomatic issue when New Zealand, an old ally- decided to deny a routine U. S. request for a port visit by the destroyer Buchanan (DDG-14), after the ship’s participation in the ANZUS Exercise Sea Eagle early in the year. New Zealand declared tha

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nuclear-powered or nuclear-armed ships were not welcome, and subsequently suggested that a ship type it considered to be outside these categories be substituted. The United States refused to agree, main­taining the consistent policy (shared by Great Britain) that it will neither confirm nor deny the presence of nuclear weapons aboard any vessel. This unfortunate im­passe persisted at year’s end. The situa­tion may well deteriorate because the New Zealand Parliament was considering proposed legislation to prohibit “port entry of nuclear-powered and nuclear- capable vessels, in the latter case where the Prime Minister makes a determina­tion.” The Parliament was expected to decide the matter by mid-1986.

A scheduled visit to Shanghai, Peo­ples’ Republic of China, scheduled in mid-1985, did not take place. According to news reports, the planned visit by three Spruance (DD-963)-class destroyers was postponed indefinitely. The impact of U. S. Navy port visits came under re­newed scrutiny in Australia. Reportedly, the Prime Minister of the New South Wales Government in Australia refused a 1976 U. S. request for a visit by the nu­clear-powered aircraft carrier Enterprise (CVN-65) at Sydney. The Bainbridge (CGN-25) was the last nuclear-powered ship to have called at Sydney, in about 1970. Meanwhile, U. S. warship visits to Australia have increased in recent years (there were 18 in 1983 and 27 in 1984), with most going to western coast ports that reportedly would prefer a smaller share. On the other side of the world an Icelandic Parliament resolution banned “the deployment of nuclear weapons on Icelandic land, in airspace and waters”

For all these difficulties, there were numerous diplomatic and practical suc­cesses in U. S. Navy foreign visits. A U. S. Navy ship visited Bangladesh for the first time. The tank landing ship Tus­caloosa (LST-1187) arrived at Chitta­gong 10 January. On 7 March 1985, the USS Jason (AR-8) became the first U. S. warship to visit the independent Comoros Islands, calling at the capital, Moroni. Later in March, the Jason became the first U. S. Navy ship to visit Madagascar since 1971, calling at the Malagasy Re­public’s port of Majunga. The combat stores ship White Plains (AFS-4) made a good impression during September 1985 visits to Lae and Port Moresby in honor of the tenth anniversary of independence of Papua New Guinea.

Individual Ship Activities

This section provides a small sample of the activities that the hundreds of ships in the fleet performed during 1985. A sum­mary list of amphibious force overseas deployments is given in tabular format.

Aircraft Carrier Operations in 1985

The Navy had 14 aircraft carriers in commission throughout 1985. A reduced long-term maintenance burden during the year kept fewer than three (on the aver­age) tied up in overhaul or service life extension program (SLEP) status. The SLEP modernization work under way on the Forrestal (CV-59) at the beginning of the year was completed on 20 May. Her sister ship Independence (CV-62) suc­ceeded her in SLEP status at Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, arriving at the yard 17 April. Three carriers completed major overhauls during the year: the Coral Sea (CV-43) on 30 January at Norfolk Naval Shipyard; John F. Kennedy (CV-67) at Norfolk on 30 September; and Ranger (CV-61) at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard on 1 June 1985. Only one ship entered overhaul during the year, Dwight D. Ei­senhower (CVN-69) on 26 October. In fact, the fiscal year 1986 budget provided for only the CVN-69 in overhaul during this fiscal year. Normally in the past one carrier has been in overhaul on each coast in addition to the ship in SLEP.

Mishaps and misfortunes partly offs^et 1985’s reduced scheduled maintenance activity. The Coral Sea collided with a merchant tanker on 11 April in the Carib­bean, collapsing about 30 feet of the car­rier’s bow at the waterline. Repairs cost an estimated $11 million and took until 6 June, keeping the ship out of Exercise Solid Shield (but not changing overseas deployment schedules). The Forrestal (CV-59) was discovered to have a reduc­tion gear problem—reportedly a “faile^fl bearing in No. 3 main reduction gear - unrelated to SLEP work.² The defect forced the ship to return to her home p°^rt with one propeller trailing to undergo repairs later in the year. Forrestal-cl^aSS ships can operate satisfactorily with three shafts (the reduced speed would affe^ct aircraft catapult weights adversely under some circ*mstances). Finally, the Enter­prise (CVN-65) suffered modest damage from grounding on Bishop’s Rock Shoa on 2 November 1985, reportedly tearing a 60-foot gash in the outer hull and dam­aging one propeller. The ship continue training operations, as planned, taking part in Exercise ReadiEx 86-1, and enter ing the shipyard for repair on 27 Novem­ber. She deployed from Alameda on 1 January 1986 for the Western Pacific-

(Continued on page 285) 1986

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cations to sea valves, shaft seals, ord­nance and interior communication gear, along with work on the engineering plant.” PSA was completed 30 July. A northern Europe cruise began on 27 Au­gust 1985. Exercise activity under way in Ocean Safari ’85 began the following day and extended through 21 September when the ship called at Le Havre, France. Iowa's “Ocean Safari” activity con­cluded with a full broadside gunfire dem­onstration about 100 miles west of Brest, France. The battleship departed Le Havre on 24 September and steamed to Copen­hagen, Denmark, arriving three days later. After participating in exercise BaltOps ’85, the Iowa called at Kiel, Germany, on 7 October and returned to Norfolk in early November.

The New Jersey began the year in up­keep status at her Long Beach home port. She was under way off the southern Cali­fornia coast for refresher training during February. She carried out naval gunfire training at San Clemente Island from 15 to 19 April. Departing Long Beach 11 July, the New Jersey proceeded west. After spending 29 to 31 July at Pearl Har­bor, she steamed to San Francisco for ceremonies commemorating the 40th anniversary ending World War II in the Pacific.

The Missouri continued to undergo reactivation throughout 1985. She was refloated at Long Beach Naval Shipyard on 23 March, and was scheduled for completion on 30 April 1986.

The Wisconsin (BB-64), previously laid up inactive at Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, was unexpectedly advanced during 1985 for full funding for reactiva­tion in fiscal year 1986 rather than 1987. The Wisconsin was moved from her mothball berth to pier six, inside the Phil­adelphia Naval Shipyard’s industrial area, on 6 February 1986 to begin prepar­atory work for reactivation. Navy plans call for contract award in August 1986 to a private shipyard, with delivery ex­pected sometime in 1988.

Nuclear Guided Missile Cruisers

The Navy adjusted nuclear-powered cruiser dispositions during 1985, moving one of the Pacific Fleet’s six ships, the

Bainbridge (CGN-25), to the Atlantic to join three ships previously assigned there. Two of the three original Atlantic Fleet ships made Mediterranean deploy­ments during 1985. In the Pacific, only two of the six originally assigned made WestPac/Indian Ocean cruises during the year. A brief summary of individual ship activities follows, beginning with Atlan­tic Fleet ships: The South Carolina (CGN-37) joined the Nimitz (CVN-68) in a battle group deployment to the Carib­bean and Mediterranean, commencing with Exercise ReadEx 1-85. She made a port visit at Antalya, Turkey, during the cruise, becoming one of the few nuclear- powered vessels to have made a Turkish port call. She is scheduled for restricted availability from February to May 1986.

The Virginia (CGN-38) completed a major overhaul in October 1985, esti­mated to have cost over $170 million. Almost $40 million was spent on ship al­terations, implementing the “Warfight­ing Improvement Plan” scheduled for this class. Improvements made included installation of Tomahawk long-range cruise missile armored box launchers (ABL), Phalanx missile defense guns, and the capability to fire the SM-2 (com­mand guidance) variant of the Standard surface-to-air missile. The Virginia was scheduled to undergo a combined Com­bat Systems Ship Qualification Trial (CSSQT) and Commander Operational Test and Evaluation Force (ComOp- TEVFor)-monitored operational test fol­lowing completion of overhaul.

The Mississippi (CGN-40) deployed with the Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN- 69) battle group to the Mediterranean on 11 October 1984. She returned to Norfolk in May and normally would have ex­pected to enter a tender or shore interme­diate maintenance availability (IMAV). This was not to be the case. Lieutenant Michael S. Ruth described in Surface Magazine what followed:

“On 24 May during Memorial Day weekend, Mississippi received the word that it had been chosen for Oper­ation ‘Snap Lock’, a high interest operation to take place almost imme­diately in the Norwegian Sea approxi­mately 3200nm from home port . . .

■85-

shakedown availability (PSA) Pascagoula shipyard front 2 May June. The Yorktown departed Nor 66 4 January 1985 for training- P^ur,₀jjiba^t days in the Caribbean, the ship (LgsQ'fi system ship qualification trials ( . _sj|eS

required her to fire 14 Standard _olJi- and four torpedoes in five Simula bat tests. , & D

The Yorktown departed Nor ^tfle August as a unit of the Saratog ^ _%vjth group to transit to the Mediterrane participation in NATO exercise -p_a-

Safari ’85 en route. Following P^a ^r- tiecti°^{n c}

to

tion in the NATO power prop

S«^r'

.din"

85, thf

(LAMPS) III helicopter capan

■ • a Sta® vi

conducted from 1 to 4 April- A ^ an

missile was fired and both 5 >

Phalanx guns fired as well- Na 1

ance trials (Trial Charlie) iollo"' ^_sttd)

the ship delivered to Navy

3 June. The commissioning ^c

On the opposite page, the surface action group of the USS Iowa (BB- 61) was beefed up during BaltOps 85 in the Baltic with ships of other NATO nations, Great Britain and West Germany. At right, the Iowa fires her 16-inch guns during the exercise while the Aegis cruiser Ticonderoga (CG-47) steams nearby.

“In a standdown period, with one third of the crew on leave and a large percentage on liberty, Mississippi had 20 hours to get everyone back on board, load stores and spare parts and put systems and major equipment back together . . .

“Because of the need for fast reac­tion, approximately 125 members of the crew were left ashore. Profession­alism, flexibility and soundly rooted training allowed the ship to quickly regain the level of operational exper­tise that had been honed sharp in the Mediterranean Sea less than one month before.

“Once clear of the sea buoy, Mis­sissippi rang up 30 knots and held it during the transit to the Norwegian Sea. There they intercepted a Soviet task force transitting from the Medi­terranean Sea to the Soviet North Fleet. Upon intercept, Mississippi closed to 16nm, conducted appropri­ate simulated strikes and conducted the prescribed surveillance as the So­viet ships moved north.”

In fact, the Mississippi had joined a NATO shadowing operation against an eight-ship Soviet task force that transited between the Gibraltar Straits and the Kola Peninsula from 23 May to 4 June 1985. The Mississippi returned home after about seven weeks, the entire Snap Lock operation having been performed “without any logistics support whatso­ever.”

In the Pacific, the Long Beach (CGN- 9) spent most of the year in a restricted availability budgeted to cost about $31 million, including $10 million for altera­tions. She arrived at the yard 9 January. Installation of Tomahawk armored box launchers was the major combat capabil­ity improvement to be carried out. The Truxtun (CGN-35) also did not deploy during 1985. She did conduct two mid­shipman cruises and took part in several Third Fleet exercises. Secretary of State George Shultz, paid a surprise visit to the Truxtun on 5 July 1985. The Truxtun and other Third Fleet ships were in Anchor­age, Alaska, for 4 July Independence Day festivities. Secretary Shultz decided to visit the ship while his aircraft was re-

fueling there.

The California (CGN-36) was a unit of the Constellation (CV-64) battle group during its 21 February to 24 August 1985 WestPac/Indian Ocean deployment. The California made a port visit at HMAS Stirling, the Royal Australian Navy shore establishment near Fremantle, during 19 to 24 July. The ship was scheduled for restricted availability at Mare Island Naval Shipyard from October 1985 to February 1986.

The Texas (CGN-39) was a unit of the Carl Vinson (CVN-70) battle group dur­ing its WestPac/Indian Ocean cruise con­cluded 22 May 1985. She operated later with the Enterprise (CVN-65) off the southern California coast before entering overhaul at Puget Sound in late Septem­ber. The overhaul was budgeted for a total of almost $190 million, including $38 million for alterations. The Arkansas (CGN-41) spent February to June 1985 in restricted availability at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. Tomahawk launchers were installed aft and Phalanx anti­missile guns amidships, with a total of about $15 million spent on alterations. The Arkansas was present for the 40th anniversary of “V-J Day” at San Fran­cisco Bay on 14 August.

Guided Missile Cruisers

The force of conventionally powered guided missile cruisers grew from 20 to 21 during 1985 as the Vincennes (CG-49) was placed in commission on 6 July. The 18 ships of the Leahy (CG-16) and Belknap (CG-26) classes form the bulk of the cruiser numbers, but this will be changing over the later 1980s as more of the 16 additional Ticonderoga (CG-47) class ships on contract by 8 January 1986 are delivered. The Ticonderoga class ships with the Aegis fleet air defense sys­tem are considered vitally important by the Navy to meet massed cruise missile attacks.

The Ticonderoga alternated upkeep periods in port with training at sea throughout the spring and into summer 1985 r

More intense activity followed as the ship sailed from Norfolk on 27 August to

take part in Exercise Ocean Safafl ^ Two carrier battle groups sortied Norfolk, including both the TicontIf ^ and her sister ship Yorktown (C According to one press report, t r^j Aegis cruisers “successfully ^en= t _£ 16 drone targets” on 1 September⁰^ U. S. East Coast. The Ticonderog« ,_gJ companied Iowa in Exercise Balt j abo^ut after Ocean Safari. The ship fire . g. 20 Standard missiles during 1985- _s­ing her career total to 100 in three time—remarkable, but appropri^ate_eS. sidering the great public (and ^c0• sional) interest in, and debate °^v^' ^ expected combat effectiveness costly Aegis system. fjsS

The second Aegis cruiser, m® Yorktown (CG-48), made her fir* ^ seas deployment during 1985. 6 for the first half of the year working pod the deployment, interrupted

- ■' at L^)U 26

on

cise Display Determination —- j_nl atoga battle group entered t ^e ^ Ocean 15 November 1985. The ⁰ still there at year’s end. _he fleet r”

A third Aegis cruiser joined 11 _s|iip

1985, the Vincennes (CG-49)- f 11° made her initial sea trial, ^T"^aI_v„ inc*^u(t 12 December 1984. Trial Bravm _f,_r4 ing weapon system testing an Aegis cruiser demonstration o light airborne multi-purpose ^ labilny

was sched

:°ⁿ8 Beach tu⁶¹" ^to December 1985 a to mat- u^{C Vincenn}es can be ex- ^nd*n Oce_a^e^^er *^lrst Western Pacific/ ’ Jrth Ac ^l0yment during 1986

^l'°ns to v-m ^Pascag°ula 6 July. Prepara- Partina ?o °^llowed> with the ship de-

^Digo, California" ^{hCr h}°^{me P}°^rt °^{f SM}

•he Comn^⁶. °^{f comm}and ceremony of "'as held _n^anu^er '^{n Chief Pacific Fleet nieas}ure rtf' °^arC* °ⁿ September, a ^exPected ^re.*P^ect f°^r the Vincennes' ^ntnbution to fleet capability.

cl ^{he f}ourth * ^P?^oyment during 1986. /,'°^Se °n the h ,^{egls cru}*^ser is following (CG c_nf^1S °^{f the thir}^- The Valley _v'^{al A|}fa j_n r ^carried out a successful wc ^ntpletp¹!¹¹^, *⁹⁸^- Sea trial Bravo sv .'^{etl ltl}e shin r ³° ^SeP^tember, during p ^Ste,hs. Th_e^P u*^{rSt tr}*^{ed ad} her weapons h_ft^SCa8oul_a |»V^{P Was} commissioned at ^Ported in e^{nuary 1986 and wi}” be C^atnJd v" ^Die§°'.^APSA com- l9_Sff ^porn_ef^{year wi,}l likely keep the Z ^{8e from} deploying until early A ^Althou_Sh

Pow ^ps^nor_he^ovrr^{hadowed by the}

I_e ,^ered d_u: I . ^c . 18 steam turbine- c)_a, -^v (Cg ^m'ssile cruisers of the

Cf ’ ^iSed? ^(CG“²⁶⁾

Sew^{n Va}luable 1 "^{mg 1962 t0 1967}’

N n ^{are a}ssig_ned? T ^{defense ships}- shin ^{1 to}thepL _f^{d t0 the} Atlantic Fleet o* has b_ee^{1 lc} Fleet. None of these feo_ui‘^tlng cy_ci_e.P ^{aced on an} “extended Tu. f ^0verhii,i ^SP ^{each is} Panned for a Pro_c| ^lrst shi_D , u^b°^{Ut ever}y ^five years. '^varf^UCt'°ⁿ new m^{Cduled to rece}i^ve the st_ai.^are is the »■ ,^{reat u}Pg^rade in antiair

^ship_s^be Atlantic tf^{Ular overhaul}-

^dePloy₆₍i . |^eet’ f°ur of the seven ^Wlth carrier battle groups

^ings/Nava, » .

³¹ Review 1986

at some time during 1985: Richmond K. Turner (CG-20) with the Saratoga (CV- 60), Josephus Daniels (CG-27) with the Independence (CV-62), Wainwright (CG-28) and Biddle (CG-34) with the Coral Sea (CV-43). The Harry E. Yarnell (CG-17) took part in Exercises Universal Trek and Solid Shield in April and May and was planned for overhaul in June.

Jk

sir

The Dale (CG-19) completed a Mediter­ranean deployment in November 1984, spending March to July 1985 in a re­stricted availability.

The last of the seven, Belknap (CG- 26), looked forward to a significant ca­reer change in 1986. The Navy decided during 1985 to assign Belknap to duty commencing 1 June 1986 as flagship of the Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean. Belknap would thus replace Coronado (AGF-11), the former Middle East Force flagship that has been serving as Sixth Fleet flag since 4 October 1985. Coro­nado in turn had relieved Puget Sound (AD-38), which had been flagship since May 1980. Readers may wonder how the flag staff that occupied large, commodi­ous vessels such as Puget Sound or Coro­nado could fit aboard a trim cruiser such as Belknap. The Navy’s plans were out­lined by the CNO before the House Armed Services Committee’s Seapower Subcommittee on 4 April 1985:

“We made all of the estimates working with our Commander-in­Chief, U. S. Naval Forces Europe, and Commander of the 6th Fleet, to trim down the size of the 6th Fleet staff. We cut it almost in half in order to embark on Belknap, which is a front-line guided-missile cruiser.

“The remainder of the staff will go

ashore, hopefully in this facility we talked about earlier . . . We are work­ing with the Government of Italy to find the right facilities to house the existing people and this modest add­on of about 80 people can be ac­comodated . . . That is the basic con­cept—employ a fighting ship to give the commander flexibility to sail with the battle groups . . .

“Also, we have a very inefficient employment of a destroyer tender in the Mediterranean today. We need to increase its productivity. We can employ it much better at home than we can overseas with the reduced presence of our carrier battle groups in the Med at this time caused by our Indian Ocean commitment.”

The decision to move the Belknap to the Mediterranean required that she be modified in an overhaul in fiscal year 1985. Accordingly, the Harry E. Yarnell (CG-17)’s overhaul was slipped to fiscal year 1987, replaced by an eight-week SRA. The availability of a New Threat Upgrade (NTU) package, previously sched­uled for Belknap in fiscal year 1986, made it possible to advance the Biddle (CG-34)’s fiscal year 1987 overhaul one year to become the first NTU ship.

Pacific Fleet Leahy and Belknap class ships were quite active in 1985. Seven of the eleven ships were members of a de­ployed carrier battle group at some point during 1985. Leahy (CG-16) and Gridley (CG-21) served with Carl Vinson (CVN- 70); Worden (CG-18) served with Con­stellation (CV-64); and England (CG- 22), Horne (CG-30), and Fox (CG-33) all served with Kitty Hawk (CV-63). Reeves (CG-24), homeported at Yokosuka, Japan, acted as a member of the Midway (CV-41) group at various times during the year, including Indian Ocean opera­tions. Jouett (CG-29) spent March to May 1985 in an availability at National Steel, San Diego. The Jouett and the Long Beach reportedly are planned to deploy during 1986 with the New Jersey (BB-62) surface action group.

Pacific Fleet cruisers not deploying with a battle group also included the Hal­sey (CG-23), which spent March to May in maintenance status in San Diego and the William H. Standley (CG-32), also in maintenance at San Diego during May to August. The Sterett (CG-31), home- ported at Subic Bay, Republic of the Philippines, automatically spends time in the Western Pacific every time she sails from port. The Sterett was scheduled for an availability at Subic Bay Ship Repair Facility during September 1985 to Janu­ary 1986.

< ®dg^^g'²⁰⁾’ ^{and Be}*

SUnr three shin ^were funded. O U_s> co_ntr(^{PS Wl11} receive the Mark S_AS il]_Umj_n^{Systeni whi}ch also can «r_s^Ms' The S ^tar8^ets for Stand has P^in vitaii ^guided missile destn been seen ⁷,. ^lmpor'^ant today­’ ’here were only th

Were i_n^{37 guidcd} missile destroyers figure that ^mmisslon throughout 1985, a October 1 q»o°^{[ ex}P^ected to change until (E»r>G-5n • ^When 'he Arleigh Burke the fsj_avv^ls scheduled to be delivered. ^fi“'*_e-clI^PT^{S t0 ac}quire 29 Arleigh ^charl_esp a ^t0 replace the 23

^r«gut (_DDc ^T ^(DDG-^{2) and ten Far}- *^fJ90s. Xhe fi ; ^{Gass sd}'P^s during the tons f_un , ^urke design is about 8,300 ^(C°-16) ^bigger than the Leahy

Masses anH ■ °^elknaP (CG-26) cruiser ^fSpV-lDi *^S based on an improved ^sVstem. '['i.^Var,^lant °f the Aegis combat ^as pl_acej^{6 ead s}hip, Arleigh Burke, ^Works on ? A⁰" .?^0nlract with Bath Iron ^3nd fou_r of th^Pnl *⁹⁸⁵' ^hips two, three, 'ⁿ fkr_ai ^{6 Gass are} being requested ^he Haw’^^6ar l⁹⁸⁷ defense budget, destroyers _a^S ?.^x'^st’ⁿ8 37 guided missile ^the fleets 23 r^{ided une}q^ually between ’he Panr^{S lps} 'ⁿ ’he Atlantic and 14 tpt)G-993j '] ^77le four modern Kidd ‘ ^prUan_Ce ,!l^{ass s}h'P^s> derivatives of the frilly _tw ~⁹⁶³) design, are split

S^DG-^cla^a"^dl^W°- ^A11Farragut . he remain; ^sPiiP^s are in the Atlantic. 00G-2)._cj ^{ng 22}Charles F. Adams ^ln® 1%0 tn ww*P^S’ commissioned dur- >% with 11 ^{64, aiso are s}Plit about 'n the p„ _r-^{m l}*t^e Atlantic Fleet and >>an_se £ ^1Ci ^{A11 37} carry the me- ,^efense mis_c f^{ndard su}rface-to-air area ^stheboJ" ^s^^stem- This variant _v.^ed by th_e 21 ^ f°^{r lon}gcr range as car- [°Us'y _ti ^gUlded missile cruisers pre­yed for n ^C'- ^The four Kidds are th ^l'°ⁿ to exi,.^W, thfeat upgrade modemi- ,^e next cem*¹ their effectiveness into n|^S|° had beer,¹"³/ Major modernization t| ^{6r S}hin_s P ^anned for the other 33 l°^PPedforal.K^U‘ ^this now has been (Dnp ^four vessels. One Far- i £>G-42) ~ ⁷)-cIass ship, Mahan

Variation _at^!'5^{d the} Prototype NTU ^d duri_n„ Philadelphia Naval Ship-

al^erhaul- fhp⁷ i^{Pnl 198010 8 Ma}y ¹⁹⁸1

hat ^P!^anned ^shiP^{s no} l°ⁿg^er

[k ^directi_0n^Pe ^TU radar and com-

W>^be modify ^upgrade’ ^though

air ² (co_nim^{d ied} to fire the Standard

c™ ^ s_{AM (}-

A"^r »_atf ^caP^ab’'il»). A major

OniP¹’'' cl_ass . utodernization for the C ,⁷ three oh' ^S° ^Was truncated after ^Tmnall (DDG-19), th j!^dert tnnro ?P^G'²⁰)’ and Benjamin

Aegis ships in commission in 1985—and will remain useful for years to come, par­ticularly for less demanding wartime tasks such as underway replenishment group escort and amphibious force opera­tions.

The two fleets’ guided missile destroy­ers were very active in 1985. Three of the four Kidd (DDG-993) class ships de­ployed with carrier battle groups; Kidd herself with the Nimitz (CVN-68), Scott (DDG-995) with the Saratoga (CV-60), and Callaghan (DDG-994) with the Con­stellation (CV-64). The Atlantic Fleet’s ten Farragut (DDG-37)-class ships con­tributed to three battle group deployments in 1985; Coontz (DDG-40) with Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69), Mahan (DDG-42), the NTU ship, with Saratoga, and Dewey (DDG-45) with Nimitz (CVN- 68). Another three of the ten were in overhaul during the year; Farragut at Philadelphia into March 1985, William V. Pratt (DDG-44) at Charleston from Janu­ary through November, and Preble (DDG-46) at Litton’s Pascagoula yard from March 1985 into February 1986. The Preble was forced to get under way and steam into the Gulf 2 September to avoid possible serious damage from Hur­ricane Elena. Of the remaining class members, Luce (DDG-38) spent Febru­ary to June in maintenance at Jackson­ville Shipyard and subsequently sailed in Exercise Ocean Safari ’85, spending 24 to 28 September in a port visit at Bremer- haven, West Germany. The King (DDG- 41) returned from a demanding Middle East Force deployment on 3 December 1984, and spent May to July at Norfolk Naval Shipyard in a selected restricted availability. The Dahlgren (DDG-43) emerged from overhaul in December 1984 and spent much of the year working up to full combat readiness.

The 23 Charles F. Adams (DDG-2) class ships similarly were fully employed throughout 1985. Three Atlantic Fleet ships—Adams, Barney (DDG-6), and Tattnall (DDG-19)—spent time in the intense Middle East Force duties watch­ing the Iran-Iraq hostilities and maintain­ing readiness for other Mideast contin­gencies. Richard E. Byrd (DDG-23) spent the first half of the year operating in the joint NATO Standing NATO Naval Force Atlantic (StaNavForLant) from Portugal to Norway and across to the United States. She took part in the sur­veillance of the Soviet Kiev task group from 23 to 28 May (see Mississippi (CGN-40) activities). The Claude V. Ric­ketts (DDG-5) took part in the transhemi­spheric Exercise UN1TAS XXVI from 10 June to 27 October. Two ships were members of deployed carrier battle

groups during the year—John King (DDG-3) with Independence (CV-62) and Sampson (DDG-10) with Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69).

In the Pacific, three West Coast- homeported Charles F. Adams (DDG-2) class ships made Western Pacific/Indian Ocean carrier battle group deployments during the year—Lynde McCormick (DDG-8) and Hoel (DDG-13) with Kitty Hawk (CV-63), and Buchanan (DDG-14) with Carl Vinson (CVN-70). The two ships homeported at Yokosuka, Towers (DDG-9) and Cochrane (DDG-21), sup­ported Midway (CV-41) battle group op­erations in 1985.

A total of four Charles F. Adams (DDG-2) class ships spent part of 1985 in major overhauls. The Benjamin Stoddert (DDG-22) was scheduled to complete her antiair warfare modernization at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard in August 1985. The Waddell (DDG-24) was planned to spend March 1985 to January 1986 in a much less substantial overhaul at Long Beach. An equal amount was budgeted for repair work as on board the Stoddert (about $40 million), but only $7 million for alterations, compared with the Stod- derf s $24 million. The Buchanan (DDG- 14) was planned to spend July 1985 to May 1986 in overhaul at Puget Sound. In the Atlantic, only the Conyngham (DDG- 17) was in overhaul during 1985, with $12 million budgeted for alterations.

Destroyers

The active fleet includes 31 destroyers, all members of the modem Spruance (DD-963) class. Originally optimized for battle group antisubmarine warfare opera­tions, these ships are being modified with vertical launch systems or armored box launchers for the long-range Tomahawk cruise missile, broadening their func­tional capabilities beyond that already added by the shorter-range Harpoon anti­ship missile- in canister launchers. Four Atlantic Fleet Spruance-class ships car­ried Tomahawk box launchers by early 1985: the Peterson (DD-969), Comte de Grasse (DD-974), Conolly (DD-979), and John Rodgers (DD-983).

Through 1985, only two Tomahawk variants were operationally deployed in the fleet, the nuclear warhead land-attack (Tomahawk land attack missile-nuclear or TLAM-N) and the nonnuclear antiship (Tomahawk anti-ship missile or TASM). Only 18 TLAM-Ns had been delivered to the Navy by 31 March 1985, of a total of 183 TLAM-Ns procured during fiscal years 1982 to 1985. Total scheduled fis­cal year 1985 and 1986 TLAM-N deliv­eries were 38 and 72, respectively. A

greater number of TASMs was available in 1985, reflecting the fact that the major­ity of early Tomahawks were TASMs (for example, 80 of 112 funded in fiscal years 1982 and 1983). A grand total of 168 Tomahawks had been funded through fis­cal year 1983, rising to 472 through fiscal year 1985. Conventional land attack Tomahawks (TLAM-C with unitary 1,000-pound warhead and TLAM-D with a submunition dispenser warhead) will not be available until late 1986 and late 1987, respectively, assuming tests pro­ceed satisfactorily.

A total of 24 Spruance-class destroyers are planned to receive vertical launch systems (VLS) for Tomahawk (and later, vertical launch antisubmarine rocket [ASROC] in development). The remain­ing seven ships in the class will carry Tomahawk in armored box launchers, four of which already are operational. The vertical launch modification program is behind schedule. Previous plans to pro­cure seven kits through fiscal year 1984 have been postponed, with only the first two in fiscal year 1982 actually put on contract. These launcher systems are planned for installation on board the Spruance (DD-963) and Fife (DD-991) in their fiscal year 1986 regular overhauls. The Navy requested four vertical launch sets in fiscal year 1985 and intends to make the remaining modifications in fis­cal year 1987 and beyond.

The Navy’s 31 Spruance-class ships all saw active employment during 1985. Seven ships homeported in the continen­tal United States were members of de­ployed carrier battle groups during the year: Spruance (DD-963) with Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69); Caron (DD-970) with Saratoga (CV-60); Hewitt (DD-966) and John Young (DD-973) with Carl Vin­son (CVN-70); Fletcher (DD-992) with Constellation (CV-64); and Elliot (DD- 967) and Fife (DD-991) with Kitty Hawk (CV-63). The Oldendorf (DD-972) changed her home port from San Diego to Yokosuka in 1984, arriving at her new home port 14 August 1984. The Ol­dendorf has operated since as a member of the Midway (CV-41) battle group, and was in the Indian Ocean during fall 1985. Two Atlantic Fleet Spruances served with the Middle East force during 1985, Ar­thur W. Radford (DD-968) and, later, Conolly (DD-979). The Stump (DD-978) took part in Exercise CompUTex 2-85 prior to participating in Unitas XXVI and West African Training Cruise-85 running through 9 December.

Nine Spruance-class ships spent part of 1985 in regular overhaul status. In the Atlantic Fleet this included the Moosbrugger (DD-980), previously test

ship for the new SQR-19 Tactical Towed Array Sonar (TACTASS) system; Thorn (DD-988); John Rodgers (DD-983); and Deyo (DD-989). In the Pacific Fleet, this included Leftwich (DD-984), Cushing (DD-985), Harry W. Hill (DD-986), In- gersoll (DD-990), and Fletcher (DD- 992). The DavidR. Ray (DD-971), a San Diego-based ship drew the assignment to carry the seagoing test installation of the EX-31 launcher system for conducting test launches of the developmental RIM- 116 rolling airframe missile (RAM), a close-in defense weapon intended for wide deployment in the U. S. and Federal Republic of Germany navies. The flight test program was suspended in February 1985 after seven of the 15 flights had failed. Testing was resumed some months later.

The one Naval Reserve Force (NRF) destroyer, Edson (DD-946), is the only Forrest Sherman (DD-931)-class ship in commission. (Navy requests to upgrade some of her sisters in the inactive fleet in fiscal year 1986 were denied by Con­gress.) The Edson has been homeported at Newport, Rhode Island, supporting surface warfare personnel training. How­ever, she spent November 1984 to July 1985 in regular overhaul, and other ships such as the Thomas C. Hart (FF-1092) filled in for her.

Guided Missile Frigates

1,000 accident-free hours during ployment, making more than 1.0 ^

ings using the new recovery and tie system aboard the ship. /fFG-7)

Several Oliver Hazard Perry ( ^

class ships made overseas deploy _(o0k during 1985. Halyburton (FFG-4'W ^ part in BaltOps, making P^ort Gotenborg, Sweden, in mid-Octo e ^ Kiel, West Germany, later in the 5jg_aSt- Several ships served with the Mi ^ For, including the Antrim (FFG-2 ’’ _gtt lery (FFG-26), Boone (FFG-28), J (FFG-33), and Klakring (FFG-42)-

Frigates

dif'

A total of 59 frigates, ships of fo^ ₍₀

ferent classes completed between ₀f • ¹ at the enu„ .

1974, were in commission

irily

The Navy ended 1985 with 47 guided missile frigates in the active fleet and five in the operational Naval Reserve Force. Of these 52 ships, six were units of the Brooke (FFG-1) class, commissioned during 1966 to 1968, and the remaining 46 were Oliver Hazard Perry (FFG-7) class ships completed beginning in 1977. Five Perry class ships were commis­sioned during 1985; three are expected to join the fleet in 1986, and two final ships will follow in 1987-1988. Three Perry class ships were transferred to the Naval Reserve Force during 1984 and two more followed during 1985, with 13 more planned for transfer by the 1990s.

Perhaps the most notable frigate de­ployment during 1985 was the Crom- melin (FFG-37)’s cruise with the Con­stellation (CV-64) battle group 21 February to 24 August. The Crommelin carried the first operational SH-60B light airborne multi-purpose system (LAMPS) helicopter, the aircraft essential to the original Perry (FFG-7) class design con­cept. One SH-60 was embarked from squadron HSL-43, Detachment One, and 16 HSL-43 personnel were embarked for the cruise to fly and support the aircraft. The helicopter accumulated more than

1985. These ships are ' intended ^priJ"_h^;_e for antisubmarine warfare tasks- 53 ships in the active fleet, 2- ^ lantic Fleet and 28 Pacific Fleet s _efVe additional six ships in the Nava _a„d Force were split four in the At \ jition^a* two in the Pacific, with two ^a_ventually transfers from the active fleet e _uj_ariy expected. The frigate force also ^._(s0{ deployed overseas, frequently ^as carrier battle groups. f_rjgat^e

Unfortunate news from ^{1 e} . _w|iefl force came on 10 Decembei \vitli

the Lockwood (FF-1064) ^c0J _nto the Philippine merchant ship ^und

while crossing the Uraga Suido ^;_t o'¹ traffic lanes. The Lockwood w the starboard side, forward of ¹ 1-

Damage included a hole 15 fee ^ _staf' feet deep, running 25 feet d⁰^¹¹ ^ s^u^’

board side. Three of the ship fered minor injuries

;uf'

I U1C ... ,0

•^The5fl^waterli»^e

fered bow damage above the _w Several million dollars' wor _pair 1986 is being carried out to frigate.

Nuclear-Powered Ballistic M'^sS Submarines (SSBN)

A total of 37 nuclear-powered ^ _co0i-

missile submarines (SSBN) w^ ^ a¹-^-'' mission at year’s end—six ⁰ j_ng ^|t,e Ohio (SSBN-726) class _sSeJS'

Trident I missile and 31 ⁰ l9^⁷’

1963 and I and »> „

commissioned between of which 12 carry Trident

mainder carry the less

mriy

-capable P^_gd »t homep⁰_eis

Bangor, Washington; the ^ot^ _uth G^jr are split between Charleston.

olina, and Groton. Connect'd _CU- Significant Ohio (SSB

• ’ '¹ n de*

developments occured during _Un^u' sixth ship, Alabama (SSBN- p_ebrH‘’ - went initial sea trials 12 to

g_evi

ic«'¹

Hay 190c i^J“«-eu in commission 25 ^tems Cent^{3 1} if ^^aval Underwater Sys- Pected to mil y^,ew.J-ondon and is ex- <he Pacific ³_f^{C her flrst} deterrent patrol in ^aska (SSRk/¹-!? *^98b- Unit seven, the trials from ^bbb^^32b condnetwi mmol

\T --- ¹¹ «vaiiauiniy

^ ^DrV Dock- News Shipbuilding

'^ntrodu_CP p„_^L°^mpan>' ⁱⁿ an attempt to

^lr°duc_e on ".‘Bany in an attempt to fl^r°^curement ^rnfl^et'^t*°^{n t0 tbe} O/n'o-class

f‘^{nia s}hipbuilde⁰r^CeSS' ^{AlthoUgh the Vir}-

Vessek u ^{may never} build one of ■ *he effort to interest them

in con-

_u °n 2s n “^U“suea tne Panama _n^angor 13 ^ct°ber 1984 and arrived at deplo_v,"^Vember- ^Hen first Gold ., April 190 s ^{nt Was} carried out from ^cSl ⁰?^Jul>^l985'Unitf.ve, iQc^nnedfor nv^°” (SSBN-730), was ¹ ^85. ⁿ t'al deployment about June

news in 1985

_ri '•erning .. , “‘esc

^{ne f}orcer ^{he ballisti}

Navy news release

Gained;

tl^C^t'¹ Plan'f J ~ ^1C0“'

^c.^aCcordi_n<> ? ^deactivate and disn ^Xlsting p_n⁸ ° agreed procedure; > _s 7^on SSBN as the ^{0 s}“‘ ’ Iter ,J°~^chss submarine President

%

April Shp^*^Verec* ^{t0 tbe} Navy on 23 Mav iqoc ^Wa* Placed in commission 25

rrom 1R —‘uuviv,u muuu sea

^accomnlj_sh ^to ^ September, a notable ^ated for m ⁶? ^cons>dering the ship was ^She Was on ^f'^{rSt time 12} January 1985. ^The Ae_v„,_/™?‘^sJ^{iloned 25} January 1986. ^{14 Se}Ptemh ^SBBN-733) was launched ^Brot°n shim^^ ^ ^at Electric Boat’s °^'°-class /^ar<^’ ^tbus f^{ar tb}e source of all ^Ported th_!1?ⁿu^trUCt'^on' A'*^{16 news me}dia ^^evQda’_{s n}^{the Nav}y hoped to award o°^ntract toNew^Shak-^d°^{Wn availabilit}y Dock ^C

^e cor ^Urement

^lhese

,^Was consider’a"' ^{clI0rt to inter ractin}g for f^{Cd t0 be ben}eficial

_k Two or ^{re shi}P^s-

,^aVe made°t^^{aSS S}!**P^{S were} believed to ^Ur'ng 198s -ri!^{r Brst} deterrent patrols

(SSBN-7^¹f ^f°^{Urth shi}P’ ^{the Geor}-

g^anal on r>_. . transited the Panama

^C°^ncernim,^r\,^the biggest

'wc_{e p}„_n .......... ^Jdc missile subma-

(h^andemen ^er?®^{d not con}struction but hr ’ *he commencement of

_ti °^ught u _s^sea trials would have th ^miss>les , ^subniarine-launched ballis- Z ^U- S "_S^b°^Ve ^ limits provided in

«™ lin.it-

^8ic Arm_s^US,^{e both} ‘he SALT I [Strai

iT^fled fc^{0n Talks}l ^and ‘

^{be nu}mber r ^a8^reements lin ^m,ssil_e lai,„ u°‘ ^submarine ballisi f'enced die ^{C 6rs}’ ^tbe Navy has cor v^8ic bain "r^{iantiing a} Poseidon str ^Q'ⁿ Ravh, ^{C miss}he submarine, Ul a “TCr" ^(SSBN-635).

J^{em R}eaea'°^{n W3S dirc}cted by Pre; _t^Pr°^v'de adr °^{n June 10}’ ¹⁹⁸⁵’ " “demonstram³!^{6 tlme for th}e Sovie r *^trr>ent »„ by their actions a cor ^rarnew₀, i^{0ln u}s in an interi e ⁰ true mutual restrain

sea lat mo-class ‘^ater this ye_ar,

'"Ss / iy

gan said. ‘However, the United States will keep open all programmatic op­tions for handling such milestones as they occur in the future.’

“Dismantlement of the Rayburn consists of removing the missile sec­tion from the submarine. The work is being done at the Charleston Naval Shipyard.”

One inactivated submarine now is planned to be converted in fiscal year 1986 to a pierside training vessel for nu­clear reactor crew members. The Reagan Administration’s fiscal year 1986 budget request included $26.5 million in ad­vance procurement, in addition to $30 million provided by Congress in fiscal year 1985, to continue preparations for a conversion as yet undefined in fiscal year 1987. Congress finally appropriated $175.4 million in fiscal year 1986 to fund fully one conversion to an ARTB—a nuclear reactor training ship.

Four ballistic missile submarines were funded for regular overhauls in fiscal year 1985, the Daniel Boone (SSBN-629), John C. Calhoun (SSBN-630), Benjamin Franklin (SSBN-640), and Simon Bolivar (SSBN-641). A news report stated that the John C. Calhoun's, planned 18-month yard period was slightly behind schedule as of spring 1985 because of radiograph detection of three “major defects” in welds. The George Washington Carver (SSBN-656) was overhauled by Newport News Shipbuilding under fiscal year 1983 funding. She was reported “to have successfully fired a Poseidon missile while cruising submerged 30 miles off Cape Canaveral over the weekend” of 10-11 August 1985 in “what was pri­marily a training mission for the vessel’s crew.”

The British nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine HMS Resolution also operated in Florida waters at mid-year, firing one Polaris that failed on 19 May and a second that succeeded the follow­ing day.

Nuclear-Powered Attack Submarines

The nuclear-powered attack submarine force grew again in 1985; four new ships being commissioned, while only two were decommissioned for a new total at year’s end of 97 vessels. The four ships added were the Augusta (SSN-710), Honolulu (SSN-718), Providence (SSN- 719), and Pittsburgh (SSN-720)— entering service 19 January, 6 July, 27 July, and 23 November, respectively. The Providence, which completed sea trials successfully on 12 May, is notable as the first Los Angeles (SSN-688)-class

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(SSN-618), were decommission^^ L early >ⁿ ^^|S

January 1985. The Skate (SSN-5⁷⁸^' funded to begin inactivation ear >' -_s.

„oi iQ8a f,-,r a tpntntive decoi

year 1986, for a tentative ⁰ rj_au- linn date of 3 August 1986.

to*

under

Shipyard en route to Groton,

y

ia

the Atlantic side, the (he

cut, where she will be open to in 1986 as

morial. She was towed by ^l“” A_and eS'

1187); °ⁿ

AP

LoH'

New

in^eS

.iib-

11 _will , _VU11 1 *U1 1/v/i _{_} ______ Jl

year. The other two diesel-poW^e^ _a[d marines, the Blueback (SS _orted^al Bonefish (SS-582), remain ^hom^_ctiveD' San Diego and Charleston, ^reSP

Amphibious Forces

A summary of major amphib¹^ ju a¹¹ deployments during 1985 is 8 . jpM

accompanying table. Backgro ^\o) mation on unit definitions an ^

ment procedures was g>^vf^a ^bbr^eVI Review 1983 (pages 235-23 )■ ₆ at¹’

ations used here are: MAU. wi*

unit

ilia"

combat service iu^-- . _s PhibRon is the Navy amph¹ ■ for

tl)«

izati°ⁿ

nr

ship to have the 12 Tomahawk vertical launch tubes installed forward, outside the pressure hull.

One Los Angeles-class ship, the Chi­cago (SSN-721), is scheduled to go into commission in 1986, offset by the planned inactivation of the Skate (SSN- 578) before the end of fiscal year 1986. The Navy also requested funds to begin the inactivation late in the fiscal year of both the Sargo (SSN-583) and Snook (SSN-592). The pace of submarine force expansion then is expected to resume in 1987.

The Los Angeles class numbered 33 ships in commission by the end of 1985. However, the number of deployable ships has begun to decline as a growing number of vessels come due for their first regular overhaul. The Cincinnati (SSN-693), scheduled for one of the fiscal year 1986 overhauls, returned home to Norfolk 3 August 1985 after a five-month Medi­terranean deployment. The Cincinnati made port visits at Naples, La Mad- dalena, Palma de Majorca, and Gibraltar. The Groton (SSN-694), also bound for overhaul in fiscal year 1986, was re­ported to have returned to home port Portsmouth, New Hampshire, 29 March 1985 after a two-month deployment. In the Pacific, the third of four ships fore­cast for a fiscal year 1986 overhaul, Bir­mingham (SSN-695), was reported to have arrived in Yokosuka, Japan, 28 July 1985 during Western Pacific operations.

Of Los Angeles-class vessels still not due soon for overhaul, steady activity continued to be reported. The Jackson­ville (SSN-699) completed an around- the-world deployment at Norfolk 8 No­vember 1985, having steamed about 50,000 nautical miles in seven months. The Jacksonville made port visits at Mombasa, Kenya; HMAS Stirling naval base, co*ckbum Sound, western Austra­lia; Subic Bay, Republic of the Philip­pines; and Pearl Harbor, returning to the Atlantic via the Panama Canal. Phoenix (SSN-702) was in Portsmouth, England, 20 to 24 September 1985, at the same time as many surface ships which had just taken part in NATO Exercise Ocean Sa­fari ’85. The Boston (SSN-703) also was in Portsmouth, for a 17 to 21 May port visit. The City of Corpus Christi (SSN- 705) completed a seven-month deploy­ment in 1984 and was reported entering the floating drydock Shippingport (ARDM-4) on 29 March 1985 for main­tenance. The Albuquerque (SSN-706) made a port visit at HMS Dolphin subma­rine base, Portsmouth, England, during 25 to 27 March 1985.

The 39 first-line submarines of the Sturgeon (SSN-637), Narwhal (SSN- 671), and Glenard P. Lipscomb (SSN-

685. classes also were active in 1985, but similarly incurred growing long-term maintenance workloads. The Whale (SSN-638), one of the five fiscal year 1986 overhaul ships, was reported com­pleting a deployment on 2 April 1985 and then departing Groton late in the year for overhaul at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. The Tautog (SSN-639) was reported to have conducted her 700th dive in June 1985. Lapon (SSN-661), overhauled at Norfolk Naval Shipyard through fall 1984, returned to homeport Norfolk on 6 December’ 1985 after completing a seven-month, round-the-world cruise. The ship visited Diego Garcia; Perth, Australia; and Pago Pago, American Samoa. The Bergall (SSN-667) was re­ported home from a five-month Mediter­ranean cruise in spring 1985. The Sea­horse (SSN-669) was in Portsmouth, En­gland, on 7 February 1985. The Trepang (SSN-674) also was in Portsmouth 8 to 14 June 1985 after a two-month under-ice deployment. The Drum (SSN-677) pro­vided antisubmarine warfare target ser­vices for Canadian Destroyer Squadron Four ships off San Diego about 10 Febru­ary 1985. The L. Mendel Rivers (SSN-
686. was reported by news media to be in the Mediterranean during July and Au­gust 1985.

Among the Permit (SSN-594)-class vessels, the Barb (SSN-596) was re­ported arriving at Yokosuka, Japan, on 21 August 1985, for a visit called “the 22nd port call at Yokosuka by a nuclear- powered submarine this year.” The Jack (SSN-605), returned to Groton, Connect­icut, 18 April 1985 after sea trials follow­ing completion of overhaul. The Gato (SSN-615) returned to home port 4 Feb­ruary 1985 from the Mediterranean.

The 14 other early nuclear-powered attack submarines received little notice in the press. Shark (SSN-591) was reported off Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in early Octo­ber 1985, prior to conduct of Phase Seven (Brazil) of Exercise Unitas XXVI, held 3 to 27 October. The Swordfish (SSN-579) made a port call in Manila Bay in Febru­ary 1985 after exercising with other Sev­enth Fleet units. Her visit was only the second SSN call at Manila, the first hav­ing been about 15 years ago. The Skate (SSN-578) was in Sasebo, Japan, 12 to 18 May 1985. The Sam Houston (SSN- 609) and John Marshall (SSN-611) both completed overhauls at Puget Sound dur­ing 1985. The Sam Houston was assigned the new home port of Pearl Harbor, while the John Marshall went to Charleston, South Carolina. These two ships are no­table as the only two former ballistic mis­sile submarines being retained in the so-

guiuai puipvnv ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- . gj,

edly having been modified for ^serV_f. transports for special operations sonnel—such as the Navy s ^e

Land (SEAL) Teams. _ing

Older submarines gradually are ^

the active fleet. Two, the G^eor&^<' „ _fSOi\ ington (SSN-598) and Thomas M ^

/O PM 7 I 0\ .. __ rlaoAtntniSSlO^ cal

sioning date of 3 August tilus (SSN-571) began transit

on 28 May 1985 from Mare ^Isla"' _eCti- - ^r-n,nn. Con

a permanent display ^a * le was towed by tne a.

_v............... ) to the Panama ^Cana. _lg7);

corted by the Tuscaloosa (LST- <-,43)

Atlarttir* cirlp thp RPC.OVWy '

provided towing services Hayler (DD-997) served as esc \ rival at the Submarine Base don, was scheduled for 6 July■

Diesel-Powered Attack SubmaWf^

Four diesel-powered attack subn ^ were kept in service throu Sasebo;

Two now are homeported ^_r\je\

Japan, the Darter (SS-576) ^an, _ornep^o(1 (SS-580)—the latter moving " the from Pearl Harbor to Sasebo .

phibious unit: a composite - ^3 ground elements, such ^{as a}_ajr landing team (BLT), as we _e\\cof^ ments such as a medium _a

squadron (HMM). An MSS _up.

— ---- support 8

ron, the command organi Navy ships involved. ,11 a

The Whidbey Island (LS as^sa Navy ship for the amphibt S Sgj role, was delivered by ^L° ^ ^l9‘ building to the Navy on 8 and was commissioned on , f_ora^c°₍₅. She departed Seattle 15 Marc: tesy call to her namesake, land, over St. Patrick s Day

16-17 March. This addition was offset numerically by the decommissioning of the Monticello (LSD-35) on 1 October.

The Navy’s 59 active and two Naval Reserve Force amphibious lift ships re­mained divided just about equally be­tween the Atlantic and Pacific. These ships supported regular rotational over­seas deployments in the Mediterranean and Western Pacific. Indian Ocean pres­ence by the amphibious assault forces in 1985 was much reduced from that of re­cent years. Only Amphibious Squadron Five and the embarked 13th MAU spent

13 September to 10 October in the Indian Ocean. During this time they participated in a landing exercise, Valiant Usher 85- 5AS, on the western Australian coast.

Marine Corps air-land force deploy­ment patterns in the Pacific were changed significantly during 1985. The First Ma­rine Brigade in Hawaii had provided for several years most of the forces rotating to the Western Pacific to serve afloat in the 31st or 37th MAU. The Marine Corps decided during 1983 to shift primary “sourcing” of WestPac afloat MAUs to the First Marine Amphibious Force (I

MAF) in southern California, beg¹ in 1985. Portions of the 31st M ^ ways had come from 1 MAF, so ¹ ^

considered that forming the entire _ta. in California would “simplify the ^ tion process.” The departure of t e ,pg5 MAU from Long Beach on 4 April ^ initiated this new approach. Eli^nlin of the Hawaii-based units’ resp^onS1 ^ for afloat rotation permitted deact! _and of MSSG-31 on 15 January MSSG-37, at Kaneohe Bay, on 29 The Navy/Marine expeditionary ^ capability was enhanced sign^{1 1} during 1985 as new, specialized ma ^ prepositioning ships (MPS) entere _iaI)j. vice with the Military Sealift Com ^ A Department of Defense news r said:

l

‘The MPS concept, by

desigⁿ­: time to

lessens Marine Corps response _s,. deploy to forward areas by P. _eilt tioning a majority of the ^eCl^a_nj_z6d required by a heavily mec g_fj. 16,500-man Marine Amphi ¹⁰_fCjaI gade (MAB) on board ships forward deployed to locations. These ships ^are ... q₀it)- manned by the Military Sea ¹ mand (MSC).”

■ ■ hin desig^nS’

Adoption of commercial sw configured for rapid offload afford' locations, permitted quicker, mor^ ^_oll)d able expeditionary capability t ³ have been possible by construction ships designed to support °PP^os^_oais ^re' operations. Assault ship lift ® _yelb^c mained set at that needed to pjjibi' assault elements of one Marine ^rP'

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Two maritime prepositiot^|l3^₍|_llIin? (MPS) squadrons were activate fully moc udc i i n/ipS-1 beca

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as 12 other prepositioned C

tanker ships, the latter loade ^ &

and Air Force equipment. pe^trt__ fi^v

supplies. MPS-2 is dual tasked

five newly i

^forces ^Sand^Sfh ^SufP^orting Marine Corps and Air p ^other.^shiP^s supporting Ploy to n o ^{b orce} units that might de­^rePlaces tL f ^Central Command. MPS-2 Zoning p_nr °^mer "Near Term Preposi- ^r°n, Mp_s ,^ce. (NTPF). A third squad- °f fou_r Mpc ■ ^planned for deployment ^ fall 19»< ^S«l^{lps t0 tbe} western Pacific ^tlle Guam _ariH _T^PS.'^{3 wip136} stationed in The 4th m ^Tlnian anas- ⁽MaB) _is | anne Amphibious Brigade P°^sitioned^Pp^{anneCi for depl}°yment to pre- ^°nvav T^^UlP^{ment as}^^ore» located in ^P,an durinp v, ^4tb ‘^VIAB exercised this ??^e Col_d L^March 1986 in NATO Exer-

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;^23t 5^o5a.5Sp ^Corps

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'^ugUst iq_Xs ,^CD()’ Japan, ^ls (LRa i,^^Whi^{re she}J°^ir

c ^lrlift Cnmrv, , ^uy woman

^fr°^m the exp ^{and (MAG}) aircraft to anc foments ,^rC,\^Se Nation. Mobility ar ^rapid niovem ^{6Xist by 1986 for th£}

r. ^{lne to}tal art^{6111 seven} °f a nomina ^CorPs (assiim'^{1Ve MABs in the} Marine

^s, °n/wing _t^{mg three} formed per divi- u^pPiⁿg(to_r;^m ' ^{tbree b}y Navy assauli

^e9uinmp^S^ ^l° ^P°^{Ur fa}y 1996); three tc °^{ne to} the p_nⁿ P^rep°sitioned afloat; and , The Navv^^Ul^^{ment set} 'ⁿ Norway, in^ps Were^yVp^aCtl^Ve ^^eet amphibious lifi ⁸⁵ s<W^P‘ ^ful|y employed during ^ePloyment ~'^{ng tbe} rotational forward ^araw_a <L_H ?^S.^tern' Three of the five .^rT1Phibi_0Us T^c,ass general purpose /Payments ,if^{U 1 sb}'^ps made overseas

ft‘^ic W jt^Sf^{Pan (LHA}'^{2) in th£}

sn^u 0-HA S', ^Tarawa CLHA-1) and ^(LHA-4Wa !^{n the} Pacific. The Nas­. ^r?^al Trek °°,^k ^^art *ⁿ Exercises Uni- >g l98_{5 a}^a"^d_L^Solid Shield during

d^a_rf^hip. NATO S^{engot star billin}g as _ati^{r n}g Exerckp ^^tnklng Fleet Atlantic,

w_eⁿ®^across thei?i^{Cean Safari} ’⁸⁵' °^per“ _a^glan Sea th ^t/^{antlc and} ^^nt0 the Nor- o ^v*^sit at u ^suhsequently made fie/.^Ptemberh"^^Urg’ ^Germany, 24 to

Vea'f ^(LHa^ ^returninS ^home- Nav ^{n 0v}erha,il ^A"^{3) Spent most of the} Tk Shipyard •’ ^e.^ntenng ^Puget Sound Ae₀f ^rdln March.

Pur;^{S heli}copter^{SeVen Iwo Jima} (TPH-2)- «HUⁿf ^S°^me n,„^Ca^^e.^{rs were in} over¹ ’

K

the

^arnphiK; ' ^took Place. (LPD 8¹⁰“^{s tra}nsport docl

^ ^Die₈oto\^n8edu^{her h0m} istlove ^Saf^bo’ ^Japan,

Auxiliary Ships

The Navy includes hundreds of under­way replenishment ships, fleet support ships, yard craft, and other vessels. Dis­cussion of their activities must be limited to a few unusual or notable events. The underway replenishment ship force, in­cluding both Navy and MSC ships, con­ducted numerous deployments in direct support of carrier battle group operations. For example, the Camden (AOE-2) de­ployed with the Constellation (CV-64) battle group during 1985, while her sister ship Seattle (AOE-3) operated with the Saratoga (CV-60) group at year’s end.

Fleet support duty is just as demanding as that required of the combat forces. For example, the Pyro (AE-24) steamed more than 10,000 miles in a three-month West­ern Pacific deployment concluded in December 1985. Replenishment opera­tions also could be dangerous. The San Diego (AFS-6)’s UH-46 vertical replen­ishment helicopter accidentally crashed into a parked Marine Corps Cobra heli­copter on board the USS Iwo Jima (LPH- 2) during a night replenishment on 17 November 1985. An Iwo Jima sailor was killed by flying debris and four heli­copter crewmen were injured. The Caloosahatchee (AO-98) grounded in the Elizabeth River near Norfolk on 4 No­vember 1985, taking two days to refloat. Three crewmen on board the rescue ship Preserver (ARS-8) were injured when a cable snapped during salvage work.

Some of the usually harbor-bound sup­port ships also occasionally deployed to test their readiness. The 40-year old tender Sierra (AD-18) took part in Exer­cise ReadEx 1-85 held 12 to 31 March. The Yellowstone (AD-41) deployed to the Mediterranean during fall 1985, relieving Puget Sound (AD-38) of Sixth Fleet tender duties at Gaeta, Italy. The Puget Sound served both as tender, providing maintenance to over 400 ships in the Mediterranean since 1980, and as Sixth Fleet flagship. She returned to Norfolk 19 October 1985. The Acadia (AD-42) made a port call at Shimoda, Japan, 16 to 18 May. The Vulcan (AR-5), 44 years in commission at mid-year, departed Nor­folk 1 October 1984 for an overseas de­ployment taking her to the Mediterranean and Indian Ocean. The Hector (AR-7) was in the Western Pacific at about the same time, providing maintenance sup­port to the fleet in Japanese harbors. The Jason (AR-8) was in the Indian Ocean during spring 1985. After an emergency drydocking at Philadelphia Naval Ship­yard to repair machinery elements, the Fulton (AS-11) deployed 5 January 1985 to the Mediterranean. Stopping in Nor­way and at Earle, New Jersey, en route home, she arrived at New London 10 May. Her sister, the Orion (AS-18), re­mained homeported at La Maddalena, Italy, on the island of Sardinia.

Sources

Department of Defense and Depart­ment of the Navy news releases and pub­lished presentations to the Congress were the principal sources of information pre­sented here. An increased number of questions had to be posed directly to the Navy’s Office of Information this year, reflecting a comparative dearth of de­tailed information on U. S. naval opera­tions appearing in published media dur­ing 1985. The writer again thanks Mrs. Anna Urband of the Navy Office of In­formation in the Pentagon for painstak­ingly administering these many last- minute queries. In turn, the assistance provided to Mrs. Urband by the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, in particu­lar the fleet operations staff, has been most appreciated.

Grateful thanks also are given to the public affairs staffs of Commander Sec­ond Fleet; Commander Third Fleet; Com­mander Submarine Force Atlantic Fleet; Commander Sixth Fleet; and, with un­matched quickness despite long dis­tances, the Commander Seventh Fleet. These offices provided copies of news releases that were most helpful in amass­ing the story of 1985 fleet activities.

As indicated by the footnotes, several official and private publications have been of considerable value. The Navy’s Surface Warfare magazine continues to provide the best quality articles address­ing both technological and operational matters. The weekly commercial news­paper Navy Times again provided much specific information useful for this arti­cle. Other newspapers useful in previous years, such as the New York Times and Washington Post', had relatively little de­tailed coverage of naval activities during the year.

Foreign naval journals and newspapers continue to provide greater detail and depth on current operations than usually found in U. S. publications. The fullest coverage of exercises—this year, unfor­tunately, only for Ocean Safari—was found in Armed Forces (Ian Allan, U. K.) Other journals consulted included Royal Navy News, Ships Monthly, and Marine News (U. K.); Marine, the superb quarterly French magazine of their naval reserve association; Marine Rundschau, the now sadly emaciated German maga­zine that has been appearing since 1890; Revista General de Marina (Spain);

the Mar,„ r, ~ ~ ‘“UIUIUICU.

, ,^e Corps Association’s excel-

, U riauo

^Cepent cover^S° ^Contlnues to provide ex­ions ^{<d carner}-based aviation

other •„ ^anc We_re^mals

such as Naval Forces also

^ Command Exercises

rS/Mt (qq of ^t0 16 March): JVam- l^Ck Se_a on ^{and Koels}ch (FF-1049) Z^ol(t lV,r ^Peratl°ns.

e^k°^ns°red^C3^^ander'^in_Chier Europe- M_n^ere'se, j ^IUrn scale cold weather ^ril'^ay by _;i:_r°.y^,n8 reinforcement of p^B) and _Sea^(G'.^S-^Marine Co ' "

W*?⁽n^{nUsh Marines})- (J o^S°^red _m , ^2t0 21 March): i •r ■’ Pren_cu ^{U 11 ateral} exercise

n ^KH-5n ~ ,.^c*ercise in North \iy^rm r,^de 'copters took part.

NZ^: The ^1,85 (26 April to 28

lav , ‘he 3o,t, l⁴⁶ April to 28

’_So^al0_n.Q,!. activation of the NATO n.®°vv_en .pc Force Mediterranean, &» «^T°!⁹.» “l-ded.

US-

east

V,

"An,

Van r- ^VU1UI1 am

giurn, _w^lr>deren of Antwerp, Bel i„ rj considerably valuable in re­e ac, ' Navy ship port visits in tion q ^C •^{3S deta}ils of current con- ■ v by _M^lm*^larly. the superb photog- ^Sekai „n ^Glorg¹⁰ Arra appearing in ^lent _Pro_fe:;- ^v-^orPs Association’s excel- Gazei_{te Drr}.^l°'?^a* j°^urnal Marine Corps

!'°ⁿ °n Mar^{Vl m}°^{St ncedcd} informa- ^h°°k Ass Jⁿf-^Corps activities. The Tail-

Hook Z°^{n S fine} 9^uarterly journal

°^Peratio_{ns a}“f^v' ^u‘ ^carner-based aviati ^er joumai* ^materiel- A few articles in

^Valuablt

%-0 ----------------------------

^Pean bilateral ^(includes U. S./Euro- ^013,111 exercis ^ national com-

^Refor_ger «^e*^beld in the NATO region) ^many) r, (return of Forces to Ger-

J^bility exercLe ‘c ^^ebruary^{): Annual}

^f°r firs. conducted during win-

l>gin u^m_s^et^CeJ⁹⁷⁹- ^Car"° ^shiP

^J^^nuary\%s ^{26 December 1984 t0}

J^darch): NATn* ⁸⁵ (^2b February to 13 ^and Post p_v^annual worldwide Com-

S^eS-CeGl^Se(CPX)’^eighthinthe

^dleipate ’ ^Greece’ ^and Spain did not

, ^ai(>CkO_r,. Or

Sf (cT

l^ck Sea

^rinter <

Com (completed 26 March): J rnedif,^{nder in}"^Chief Europe-

M_A> ^by air (U^ng_s nctnforcement of ( ¹ and sea D-^S' ^Manne Corps 4th J>i_a.«®^ntish Marines). ⁿ^ted _m . ^7t0 21 March): Italian-

r ’French i^ateral. ^{exercise with}

f>_r^QP°ⁿ 85 , j ^and Spanish participation.

Annual ex-

fi,^ation onlv^approaches, U. S. par­cel⁶Harr£_r85 f^^W/P^{atro1 airc}raft. U. s Measures ^{56-20 A}P^nl>^{: Min}e o' Pll-s^ ^CXerc,se in North Sea.

,1 ^Urn'^scal_ese. bCINCEUR-sponsored

---- vnwPlOX. Ill

Dutch, Turkish,

’^8s/Naval o •

^val Review 1986

French. Italian, U. K. and U. S.

Bright Horizon (7-16 May): NATO exercise in Skagerrak area, NATO Stand­ing Naval Force Atlantic (StaNav- ForLant) taking part.

Locked Gate (4 to 11 June): Exercise of sea control in Gibraltar approaches.

Trabuco-85 (Spring): U. S./Spanish bilateral special forces exercise.

Flintlock 85 (completed 30 May): USCINCEUR-sponsored series of special operations exercises throughout Europe and North Africa.

Poopdeck 1-85 (June): Nimitz (CVN- 68) battle group exercise with U. S., Spanish Air Forces.

PhibLEx 9-85 (19 to 24 July): U. S.l Moroccan combined amphibious landing exercise.

Olives Vertes (Summer): French mine countermeasures exercise, with U. S. Navy P-3Cs acting as minelayers.

Swordfish 85 (Summer): Portuguese ASW exercise with U. S. Navy VP par­ticipation.

Ocean Safari 85 (28 August to 20 Sep­tember): NATO exercise of ability to pro­tect supply and reinforcement shipping from North America to Europe, taking place in the North Atlantic, English Channel, and Norwegian Sea.

Brave Defender (2 to 13 September): Conventional defense of the United Kingdom exercise, including U. S. par­ticipation in defense of U. S. installa­tions.

BaltOps 85 (7 to 25 October): Multilat­eral exercise held periodically to conduct mutual readiness training and demon­strate U. S. interest in the Baltic.

Display Determination 85 (15 Sep­tember-23 October): CinCSouth/

USCinCEur-sponsored air, land, and sea exercise in NATO Southern Region.

lies d’Or (November): French-spon­sored exercise in Mediterranean, with U. S., Italian, Spanish, U. K., and Greek participation.

(No name announced) (early Novem­ber): U. S./Israeli exercise reported in the press, including Israeli personnel mobili­zation test.

BlackOps 86-1 (December): Yorktown (CG-48) and Caron (DD-970) Black Sea operations.

The Air Force’s mining capability was exercised in Team Spirit 85 in March. Here a B-52G Stratofortress drops a practice naval mine while escorted by an F-16 Fighting Falcon.

Second Fleet Exercises (western Atlantic and eastern Caribbean)

(No name announced) (early 1985): Short (24-hour) warning readiness exer­cise. Surge deployment of 44 nuclear- powered attack submarines into the At­lantic, with full weapons load.

ReadEx 1-85 (12 to 31 March): Major readiness exercise involving Nimitz (CVN-68) battle group and other forces, including U. K. and Dutch warships.

Computex 2-85 (22 April to 8 May): Composite Unit Training Exercise in anti­air, anti-submarine, and anti-surface op­erations. One carrier air wing participat­ing from shore bases.

Snap Lock (24 May to July): Short (20- hour) notice deployment from homeport to conduct surveillance operations in Norwegian and Barents Seas against So­viet warships, carried out by USS Missis­sippi (CGN-40).

MarCoT 1/85 (4 to 17 June): Canadian Maritime Command Training exercise off with U. S. participation by Sculpin (SSN- 590) and VP aircraft.

Computex 3-85 (6 to 20 June): Readi­ness exercise limited to Virginia Capes OpAreas, involving nine surface ships and four submarines.

ReadEx 2-85 (2 to 25 July): Major fleet exercise involving Saratoga (CV-60) and Eisenhower (CVN-69) battle groups, other forces. StaNavForLant participa­tion.

ReadEx 3-85 (13 August to 7 Septem­ber): Exercise of a wide range of naval warfare operations, with participation by Coral Sea (CV-43) battle group and other units, including one British and one Dutch frigate.

Other U. S. National and Atlantic Com­mand Exercises

Brim Frost (24 January-3 February): Joint readiness exercise for Alaskan de­fense, included moving cargo by ship from Seattle (all personnel by air).

Amphibious Force Deployments 1985

Activities

Atlantic Command

Mediterranean Amphibious Ready Group 3-84

PhibRon 2:

Inchon (LPH-12)

22nd MAU:

BLT 1/8

HMM-264(—)(Rein) MSSG-22

Shreveport (LPD-12) Hermitage (LSD-34)

Sumter (LST-1181)

La Moure County (LST-1194) Plus supporting units

Mediterranean Amphibious Ready Group 1-85 24th MAU: PhibRon 8:

BLT 3/8 Saipan (LHA-2)

HMM-162(—)(Rein) Nashville (LPD-13)

MSSG-22 Spartanburg County (LST-1192)

Plus supporting units

Mediterranean Amphibious Ready Group 2-85

22d MAU:

BLT-3/8

HMM-261 (—)(Rein) MSSG-26

PhibRon 4:

Iwo Jima (LPH-2)

Austin (LPD-4)

Pensacola (LSD-38)

La Moure County (LST-1194) Barnstable County (LST-1197) Plus supporting units

Ships departed homeport 25 July 1984 en route p_ City, North Carolina, to embark USMC personne. ^

12 detached from force at Rota, Spain, to em ^ar_a. helos and personnel for Red Sea mine clearance P ^ tions. Some Marines transferred to other ships, ^s ,g₄ at Rota. Took part in exercise Display Determina _g (17 September to 15 October 1984), amphibious exercises with Tunisia and Morocco. Ships return homeports 20 February 1985.

Ships departed homeports on 22 January 1985­in exercises Distant Hammer ’85, Sardinia 85, ^_orre

85; made amphibious landings at Pian di SP'*^{le a} . _s re- Veneri, Italy. Bilateral exercise with Morocco, turned to homeports 9 August 1985.

Ships departed homeport on 2 July 1985. Took P^aIg_rjght US/Moroccan exercise Phiblex 9-85 (19-24 J^u ,^ ’j_on ’85 Star ’85 (4 to 10 August), and Display Deternim _nja) (amphibious landing phase 15-20 September a ^ p_e- No Indian Ocean ops. Returned to homeports on cember 1985.

Mediterranean Amphibious Ready Group 1-86

26th MAU: BLT 3/4 HMM-263 MSSG-24

PhibRon 6:

Guadalcanal (LPH-7) Ponce (LPD-15)

El Paso (LKA-117) Hermitage (LSD-34) Manitowoc (LST-1180)

, iq«5 en

Ships departed homeport on 21 November i?' ’

Sixth Fleet operational control 4 December 19 •

,tering

Pacific Command

31st MAU:

BLT 2/3

HMM-262(—)(Rein) MSSG-31

11th MAU:

BLT 3/1

HMM-163 (—)(Rein) MSSG-11

USMC units stationed ashore in Okinawa embarked for training

PhibRon 1:

Tarawa (LHA-1)

Duluth (LPD-6)

Juneau (LPD-10)

St. Louis (LKA-116)

Mount Vernon (LSD-39) Tuscaloosa (LST-1187)

Plus supporting units

PhibRon 7:

Peleliu (LHA-5)

Ogden (LPD-5)

Cayuga (LST-1186)

Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit One, Detachment 19 Plus other supporting units

Amphibious Ready Group Bravo: St. Louis (LKA-117) Anchorage (LSD-36) Monticello (LSD-35)

PhibRon 5:

Okinawa (LPH-3)

Cleveland (LPD-7)

Fort Fisher (LSD-40) Durham (LKA-114)

Ships departed San Diego 18 October 1984. ^°°^₀vefl¹^^er exercise Bell Volcano 85-1 (held 29 October-/ _irit in Hawaiian waters). Took part in exercise Tea p₀h3ⁿ?' ’85, including landing at Tok Sok Ri beach, ne Ships returned to homeports May 1985.

to homeports 3 September.

in ^e

• P 3S

Deployed to the Western Pacific at the same ti^ PhibRon 7. Took part in U. S.-Philippine exe ^ _{I i|v} Balikatan ’85. LSD-35 returned to San Diego

Balikatan ’85. LSD-35 returned to San ₅

LSD-36 returned to Long Beach 3 Septembe

116 homeported at Sasebo, Japan. pee³¹¹

Ships departed homeports 15 July. Entered j_se ^

13 September. Took part in U. S./Australian ^_igSt eo³' iant Usher 85-5AS (held 19-23 September) on of Australia. Departed Indian Ocean 10 Oc 0 Ships returned to homeports 15 December 19

>e_anl tas

U l ^llmi'ed to If q V r- r

<^cs Guard⁸ errs:

ana^Phib'OU_S ]I h ^eXerdSe’ ^{includin dria}- Presl ^{ndmg exerc}i^se near A S ^t'^led exerri ^{reports sa}y smaller *^malia. and n^{S planned} with Jor _ley<her_n u,^man—unconfirmed

■tor fci_s

<'■■■•, i ??«<£;

'a l_Ce7- ^USClN_C^g_L⁽³^^{UgUSt t0} " lanj and to » ,^LANT-sponsorec n Hef_en^Va|uate Commandei

ex_eSeP«/_m^F"^CeCapabi,itX

D^^1Se held o ^Ptember): Multil

ⁱ&^Pati°nb_yⁿuT^L^^Ciai.^ISlan£

iati_0n/ ' and other eas

Continual ^UJ^{(11 Februar}y to 3 May): ^exercise (see °\r ^U',^S/Honduran defense Comet k ^^{Va Review 1984}'>- ^dated A/nK'i- ^{and Ma}y)^; Consoli- ^held in con' ‘^Zatlon Exercise Training, ^Ca'm _MS^C,1?^{n wdb} Army exercise ^KR-293-, ^{1 F}USNS Capella (T- {]„.> ^t0°k part.

^b- S./Hondn⁷^ ^{85 April t05} May): ^lng sir ]_an,_q^{fan comba}t exercise involv- Solid cL- ! ,^{and sea}operations.

^22nd annual ^{S5 (3}° ^April ,^{t0 16 Ma}y)^:

^andsea exp .^a^^lnS °f ^a major air, land, ^c°astai regio^^1Se °^{n tbe soutbeast}

?^ee°^nd annnfw^ ^{85 (April and} May): ogistic_{s m} .... °NUS-wide version of a ^he *970s in f^1Zatlon exercise begun in ^{3S a}“week? a^{6 San Francisc}o Bay area „ ^Wargaming effort.”

?^NCsouth-S ^{JUne t0} August): ^u- S.

^§ency exerci ^P°^nsored counterinsur-

, %2vt^C,^]n Honduras.

er ^S- Atlantic^^{00 June t0 27 0ctober}): c^Clse under r ^Umimand-sponsored ex- »?^rce. U ^otnmander, South Atlantic t ^kin§ Part ^A‘^lantic Fieet- Counl

V^Uad°T Pir ^BraziI’ ^Chile- Colom . ^enezuel_a c„ ®^Uay’ Peru. Uruguay, h^itedr^'^IXjO

^OTs

at'n,*⁸ Octohp^{1 Fogist}ics over the n?^nta Rosa P ^^ob*^bty exerci

de_ni ⁴ Octobe”; "²"^{25 Cruise} H

CAS ‘or°est?f^Cember):

b ^Gfe^W-- " ^W3te

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ti₀ !^nessc_0m^eX2C0 (Naval P

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£SonexV^Exercise’^aj^oint n

%_e^^C!n^{e at} NAS Pen.

CS-- &^{(210ctober t0}

Af_o^yment exerr⁶^^{1065 readine;} C'W^e!®^{e ln} CONUS.

ei_Se^Service_s o h^^{2 t0 22 Nove}

<V ^Naval WeS^anCec ^handlinS eapons Station Co

King’s Guard 86-1 (December): Small USCinCSouth-sponsored naval surveil­lance exercise on Honduran north coast.

Pacific Command Exercises

Seventh Fleet Exercises

Team Spirit 85 (February to 30 April): Large scale U. S. CinCPac-sponsored joint/combined U. S./Republic of Korea exercise emphasizing rapid deployment of forces to Korea and subsequent de­fense operations. Tenth in annual series begun in 1976.

Flying Fish (began 8 March): U. S./ Australian exercise off Australian east coast. Replaced U. S./Australian aspect of cancelled ANZUS Sea Eagle.

Valiant Usher 85-3K (29 April-2 May): Amphibious landing exercise in Korea.

Balikatan ’85 (concluded 17 May): USCINCPAC-sponsored air, land, and sea exercise with Republic of the Philip­pines (name is Filipino for “shoulder-to- shoulder”).

Valiant Usher 85-4 (22-27 May): Amphibious landing exercise in Oki­nawa.

Cobra Gold 85 (13 June to 17 July): U. S./Thai combined maritime and air defense exercise, fourth in an annual se­ries. Included amphibious landing at Songkhla 12 June.

ASWEX (24 to 27 August): U. S./ Japanese anti-submarine warfare exercise in Japanese waters.

Valiant Usher 85-5AS (19 to 23 Sep­tember): U. S./Australian amphibious landing exercise on west Australian coast.

Coral Sea (8 to 17 October): U. S./ Australian exercise off Australian east coast. Replaced Kangaroo series for 1985.

(No name announced) (5 to about 18 October): Major U. S./Japanese maritime exercise, including Midway (CV-41) bat­tle group and “half the Japanese naval strength” (Reuters News Agency).

Fortress Blitz (2 to 7 November): Fire support coordination exercise in Zam- bales amphibious training area, involving PhibRon 5, elements of 13th MAU.

Third Fleet Exercises ReadiEx 85-1 (began 15 January): Readiness exercise off southern Califor­nia involving Constellation (CV-64) bat­tle group and other units.

Bell Buoy 85 (completed 28 March): Two-week naval control of shipping ex­ercise emphasizing Navy-to-merchant ship communications. Extensive Naval Reserve participation.

Kernel Usher 85-2 (5 to 14 March):

Amphibious landing exercise off south­ern California by PhibRon 7, 11th MAU. Extensive mine countermeasures.

Codefex 1-85 (Coast Defense Exercise) (April): Naval reserve exercise conducted in San Francisco Bay area, coordinated with MinEx 85-1.

Minex 85-1 (April): Port break-in and break-out exercise in Monterey Bay, CA, including helicopter minesweeping from aboard Tripoli (LPH-10).

ReadiEx 85-2 (16 April to 2 May).

Kernel Usher 85-3 (21-29 May): Amphibious landing exercise.

ReadiEx 85-3 (21 May to 6 June): Major exercise off southern California coast involving Enterprise (CVN-65) battle group, Canadian and Japanese ships.

Minex 85-2 (1 to 4 June): Mine coun­termeasures exercise conducted in vicin­ity of Astoria, OR, involving Tripoli (LPH-10).

Kernel Usher 85-4 (22 to 27 June): Amphibious landing exercise by PhibRon 3, 44th MAU off southern California.

Minex 85-3 (24 to 27 June): Mine countermeasures exercise in the Adak, AK, area, involving four minesweepers and two Coast Guard cutters.

Kernel Usher 85-5 (23 July to 1 Aug.): Amphibious landing exercise at Camp Pendleton, Calif., during darkness on night of 29 July, carried out by PhibRon 5, 13th MAU.

Varsity Player 85-2/Behavior Criterion 85-12 (August): Three day exercise in­volving five frigates and one tank landing ship.

MarCoT 2/85 (Maritime Command Training) (9 to 20 September): Major Canadian naval exercise in Juan de Fuca Straits and off U. S. coast, with signifi­cant U. S. Navy participation (six frig­ates, four minesweepers, etc.).

ReadiEx 86-1 (mid-November): Major exercise off southern California involving Enterprise (CVN-65) battle group.

(No name announced) (December): Amphibious landing exercises with land­ing by 11th MAU on San Clemente Is. on 10 December. Short-notice media per­sonnel pool exercise involved (see Balti­more Sun 12 Dec., p. 21).

Since 1970, Mr. Wright has worked for the Department of Defense. From 1976 to the present, he has been in the of­fice of Director, Program Anal­ysis and Evaluation (Tactical Air Forces Division). In his spare time, he is editor of the quarterly magazine Warship International. He has held that position since 1977; from 1970 to 1977, he was assistant editor.