Final Cruise of the USS Sacramento (AOE-1)

Indian Island, WA to Bremerton WA
25 June 2004

A photo story by R.W. Husted, QMC(SW) USN (Ret)

All photos are clickable.
Feel free to download as you wish.
The first and best of her class of Combat Replenishment ships
 and the last ship to be built by the Naval Shipyard, Bremerton , WA.,
the USS Sacramento (AOE-1) was be decommissioned in Oct. of 2004 after 40 years of service to the Navy.
(Click here for ship's spec's, additional info and USS Sacramento links.)
It was the WestPac cruise of 1980 aboard Sacramento that sparked my interest in celestial navigation
and I have very fond memories of her and the people I served with, especially the Nav Team of;
LT Cheeseman,  QMC Bob Colcleasure,  QM1 Gary Stutzmann,
 QM2 Jim Kaatz,  QM2 Brower, QM2 Husted (me) &  QM3 Cotoni.
This  is me in 1980, when I was a QM3 (E-4)
shooting a sun line from Sacramento's stbd bridge wing.
On June 25, 2004, the Captain and crew of the Sacramento invited their families, friends and former shipmates for her final cruise down Puget Sound, from the Naval Ordinance Station at Indian Island (across from Port Townsend) to the Naval Station, Bremerton.
As a former crew member, I joined the cruise and took over 125 photos of the trip which you can view by clicking on this link;
Final Cruise Photos

The guests were greeted by a wet and gray sky, but that did little to dampen the spirits and we were free to wander all around the ship and enjoy a continental breakfast in the hangar before the underway briefing at 1000.
To demonstrate the jobs and life of a Sacramento sailor, the crew set up wonderful static displays of the replenishment stations, weapons systems , and Damage Control equipment.


Knowledgeable sailors were everywhere and all were eager to show off their ship and explain all of the ins and outs of her operation.


In some cases guests were invited to "dress the part" as they donned the fire fighting suits and OBAs (Oxygen Breathing Apparatus)




Around 1100 we were underway and "Sac" moved away gracefully,
as only she can . . . leaving everything in her wake.

As we steamed south in Puget Sound the weather forecasters were again proved wrong as we enjoyed a wonderfully sunny day.
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