To accomplish her underway replenishment mission, Shasta utilized seven underway replenishment stations utilizing the Standard Tensioned Replenishment Alongside Method (STREAM),[2] and utilized four cargo booms to load and unload cargo. To accomplish her vertical replenishment mission, Shasta embarked two CH-46 Sea Knight helicopters together with their air and maintenance crews; Shasta's ship's company ran the flight deck and tower.
Shasta was a combat logistics ship whose primary missions were underway replenishment ("UNREP"), where it passed cargo and supplies to other warships steaming alongside close aboard, and vertical replenishment ("VERTREP"), where helicopters would transfer cargo to nearby ships. The main supplies transferred by Shasta was ammunition (bombs, missiles, etc.), but she also transferred significant quantities of fuel oil (Diesel Fuel Marine, or DFM, also known as NATO F76), spare parts, food, dry goods and personnel.
One of Shasta's innovations was a covered main deck, which allowed for protected cargo handling operations, and fork truck use from the flight deck to the forward cargo holds and unrep stations.
After fitting out, the newly commissioned Shasta departed Charleston on 22 May 1972 for her shakedown cruise and training at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. After completing shakedown and training on 10 June, she headed for the Pacific, where her new homeport was to be the Naval Weapons Station in Concord, California. Along the way, she made port visits to Kingston, Jamaica; Cartagena, Colombia; Panama City, Canal Zone; and Acapulco, Mexico. She passed through the Panama Canal and finally arrived in Concord on 3 July.[3]
After arrival in Concord, she underwent ship's qualification trials and final contract trials. Upon completion of trials and preparations for deployment, Shasta departed Concord to join the 7th Fleet in the western Pacific (WestPac in US Navy terminology) on 3 January 1973 in support of operations off Vietnam during the Vietnam War, returning to Concord in July 1973.[3]
Shasta made the following deployments during the early 1980s:[4]
September 1980 – April 1981: Western Pacific & Indian Ocean/North Arabian Sea with HC-11 Detachment 7 embarked with two CH-46D helicopters. During this deployment, Shasta rescued 298 Vietnamese and Cambodian refugees in the South China Sea, for which Shasta's crew received the Humanitarian Service Medal.
September 1982 – April 1983: Western Pacific & Indian Ocean/North Arabian Sea. Port Calls included: Hawaii, Guam, Japan, Philippines, Hong Kong, Korea and Thailand. Also, extended operations in the Indian Ocean/Persian Gulf. Helicopter Combat Support Squadron Eleven (HC-11) Detachment One from Naval Air Station North Island, San Diego California – Deployed for Support Operations, with Two Boeing HH-46A Sea Knight Helicopters.
1985 deployment to Western Pacific and Middle East
1987 deployment to Western Pacific and Middle East
Shasta operated with the Carl Vinson (CVN-70) battle group in the Gulf of Alaska 24 January to 6 February 1987.[3]Shasta conducted these operations during a major winter storm in the Gulf of Alaska.[citation needed]
In 1988, Shasta supported drug smuggling interdiction operations off Baja California, and conducted a "show the flag" port visit in Mazatlán, Mexico.
1989 deployment to Bering Sea and Western Pacific
In 1989, under the command of Commander Daniel A. Gabe, Shasta deployed independently to the Gulf of Alaska, Aleutian Islands, and Bering Sea during PACEX 89 as a show of force against the Soviet Union. While operating independently during PACEX, Shasta conducted operations in conjunction with several aircraft carrier and battleship task forces, including operations with the New Jersey (BB-62). Thereafter, Shasta deployed independently to the Western Pacific, South China Sea, East China Sea and Philippine Sea for logistics operations in Eastern Asia, all for Cold War operations. During this deployment, Shasta conducted airhead operations at Cold Bay, Alaska and King Cove, Alaska (both on the Alaskan Peninsula), and Amchitka, Alaska (in the Rat Islands of the Aleutian Chain). Shasta transited the San Bernardino Strait, Amchitka Pass, Unimak Pass, and the Andreanof Islands. Shasta made port calls at Guam; Subic Bay, Luzon, Philippines; Hong Kong; Okinawa; Sasebo, Japan; Yokosuka, Japan; and Pearl Harbor. When Shasta arrived in Hong Kong, the crew learned that the Berlin Wall had fallen, one of the final episodes of the Cold War. Shasta maneuvered through a major winter storm during its transit of the Bering Sea, and engaged in typhoon evasion in the Philippine Sea, San Bernardino Strait and South China Sea; Luzon sustained significant damage from the typhoon.
Shasta had a special relationship with the Benicia Yacht Club, in Benicia, California, and participated in many of its Blessing of the Fleet ceremonies in the Carquinez Strait of the Sacramento River, leading to many memorable festivities. Shasta also participated in Fleet Week in San Francisco Bay.
Shasta's crew participated in community events in Shasta, California, her namesake city and near her namesake Mount Shasta, and extinct volcano in Northern California, including Shasta's honor guard marching in holiday parades.
In early 1990, Shasta underwent a major shipyard overhaul on the San Francisco waterfront, and conducted sea trials in May 1990. Among other upgrades, the berthing compartments were upgraded to accommodate approximately 45 enlisted women.[citation needed]
Shasta deployed in support of Operations Desert Storm and Desert Shield from 8 December 1990 to 8 June 1991.[3]
Shasta deployed to the Western Pacific, Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf in 1993. Shasta underwent shipyard overhaul, including dry dock from January through June 1994. Shasta also deployed to the Western Pacific, Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf from November 1995 through June 1996. This was Shasta's last deployment before her decommissioning transfer to Military Sealift Command.[4] Commander Carol M. Pottenger was the ships captain between 8 March 1996 and 1 August 1997.[8]
Transfer to Military Sealift Command
Shasta was decommissioned on 1 October 1997[1][3] as a "United States Ship" and transferred to the Fleet Auxiliary Force of the Military Sealift Command (MSC) as a "United States Naval Ship". On the same day, her hull number was changed and she became USNS Shasta (T-AE-33). Shasta served in the Pacific and Indian Oceans for MSC.
Fate
Shasta was inactivated on 7 April 2011[1][3] and transferred the reserve fleet, resting in reserve in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
In 2013, Shasta was towed from Pearl Harbor to Brownsville, Texas, where, scrapping was completed in May 2014.[9]
The Navy donated Shasta's anchor to the city of Crowley, Texas. In April 2014 it was placed in Crowley's Veterans Plaza.[10]
Shasta figured prominently in Tom Clancy's 1989 novel Clear and Present Danger. In the novel, Shasta delivered the weapons that were dropped on a meeting of Colombian drug lords.[11]
^For further reading on Operation Earnest Will, see: Wise, Harold Lee (2007). Inside the Danger Zone: The U.S. Military in the Persian Gulf 1987–88. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN978-1-59114-970-5.
This article includes information collected from the Naval Vessel Register, which, as a U.S. government publication, is in the public domain. The entry can be found here.