Vietnam War operations USS Ashtabula (AO-51)

uss asthabula refueling carrier uss ticonderoga off vietnam in 1966.

in 1968, ashtabula underwent major reconfiguration, or jumboization @ todd shipyards, los angeles division, san pedro, california. 400-foot midsection, built entirely new keel up, inserted , welded between original bow , stern. replaced old 310-foot midsection , increased vessel s liquid cargo capacity on one-third. new configuration closely resembled of more modern type of ship, replenishment oiler. continued vietnam service through august 1972, when made last line swing off vietnam. ship returned long beach on 9 december.

following availability period @ long beach , training exercises off southern california coast, ashtabula once again sailed west on 4 october 1973. while @ subic bay, received orders proceed indian ocean operating area. in december, ashtabula provided services aircraft carriers hancock , oriskany other members of task groups. after 51 continuous days @ sea, ashtabula arrived @ subic bay on 5 january 1974.

following brief availability there, oiler got underway replenish group of amphibious ships in gulf of siam. on 7 march, began three-week voyage home port. spent 1 month in upkeep, sailed new home port, pearl harbor, hawaii, , spent rest of year in overhaul , refresher training.

ashtabula began westpac deployment on 8 february 1975. took part in operation seafox, joint seato exercise 6 other nations. next assignments operation eagle pull , operation frequent wind, held off coast of vietnam. on 11 may, ordered cambodia support rescue of ss mayaqüez, american merchant ship had been captured communist forces. in late july, oiler returned home port, spent next 10 months in upkeep , local operations.

ashtabula sailed westpac on 21 june 1976. ports visited included subic bay; sasebo , yokosuka, japan; hong kong; , keelung, taiwan. cruise highlighted joint training exercise ships of japanese maritime self-defense force. oiler arrived @ pearl harbor on 15 december , spent first 2 months of 1977 providing services ships in pearl harbor area. in march, headed west rendezvous , refuel task group built around aircraft carrier coral sea. on 2 april, ship returned pearl harbor , commenced overhaul period completed on 28 february 1978.

ashtabula sailed alameda, california, on 10 march hold series of qualification trials, returned pearl harbor on 14 april, , began refresher training. got underway on 30 june far east , called @ song kla , pattaya, thailand; subic bay; sasebo; , fremantle, australia. while in australia, ashtabula participated in exercise sandgroper, held in conjunction australian , new zealand navies. oiler proceeded singapore , hong kong liberty calls , closed year in upkeep @ guam.

back @ pearl harbor on 18 january 1979, ashtabula began 8 months of underway training, local operations, , inspections. @ end of august, embarked upon six-week cruise west coast conduct underway replenishment qualification trials , participate in exercise kernel potlatch ii, joint united states-canadian operation test , evaluate plans common defense of north america. @ conclusion of exercise, oiler called @ esquimalt, british columbia,on 6 october. after three-day visit, headed hawaii on 9th , arrived in pearl harbor on 16th.

local operations in hawaiian islands occupied ashtabula s time entire first 9 months of 1980. on 28 september, oiler embarked upon tour of duty in western pacific. steaming way of guam in mariana islands, entered subic bay in philippines on 15 october. deployment marred @ outset engineering casualties required two-month repair period @ subic bay. on 12 december, completed repairs and, following day, put sea begin underway refueling service ships of 7th fleet. next 4 months, ashtabula operated in south china sea, east china sea, , sea of japan, refueling american warships assigned far east. oiler made visits several japanese ports—sasebo, yokosuka, , iwakuni—as okinawa in ryukyu islands , chinhae in korea. returned periodically base @ subic bay. on 15 april 1981, ashtabula departed philippines return hawaii. arrived in pearl harbor on 30th.