Аммуниционное судно ВМС США «Шаста»

Ammunition ship of the United States Navy

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Shastas keel was laid down 10 November 1969 at the Ingalls shipyard in Pascagoula, Mississippi, sponsored by Mrs. Ralph W. Cousins, wife of the Vice Chief of Naval Operations. She was launched on 3 April 1971. Upon completion, the builder took her to Charleston, South Carolina and delivered her to the Navy. Shasta was commissioned in Charleston on 26 February 1972. 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. Shastas initial armament included four twin 3"/50 caliber gun mounts and multiple .50 caliber machine gun positions. One of Shastas 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. For a ship of its large size, Shasta had an interesting engineering design. It featured three Foster Wheeler water tube boilers driving only one General Electric geared steam turbine connected to one six bladed fixed pitch propeller while having a prominent bulbous bow.

Shastas armament was upgraded during the Cold War to include chaff and two Vulcan Phalanx CIWS 20MM Gatling gun close in weapon systems for missile defense and AN/SLQ 25 Nixie for anti torpedo defense. During the 1980s Shasta conducted many Cold War operations, and many operations related to United States interests in the Iran–Iraq War.

Shasta made the following deployments during the early 1980s: This included three months on station off the coast of Iran and the Hormuz Strait with the Task Force in Gonzo Station. Other ships in this combined task force included Long Beach, Bunker Hill, Gridley, John Young, Leftwich, Buchanan, Hoel, Robert E. Peary, Harold E. Holt, Curts, Reuben James, Wichita, Kansas City and Hassayampa. During the deployment Shasta conducted many airhead operations at al Masirah, Oman. During its time on station, Shasta sortied to rearm destroyers in support of Operation Nimble Archer. Also during this deployment, Shasta made port visits at Lualualei in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; Subic Bay, Luzon, Philippines (two); Singapore; Diego Garcia, British Indian Ocean Territories; Pattaya, Thailand; and Hong Kong. Shasta was also involved in Cold War operations during the deployment, and had frequent contact with Soviet vessels and aircraft. Shasta transited the Northern, Eastern and Western Pacific Ocean the San Bernardino Strait; the South China Sea; the Straits of Malacca; the Bay of Bengal; the Singapore Strait; the northern and southern Indian Ocean; the Gulf of Thailand; the Philippine Sea; the North Arabian Sea; the Gulf of Oman; and into the mouth of the Strait of Hormuz. Shastas crew was awarded the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal and the Sea Service Deployment Ribbon for their service on this deployment. During the deployment, en route from Thailand to Hong Kong, Shasta sailed through a super typhoon in the South China Sea, sustaining damage, but never reducing her operational capacity. During this deployment, Shasta steamed 44,633 nautical miles, and at one point spent 79 consecutive days at sea on station off the coast of Iran, most at condition III (wartime steaming). Shasta crossed the Equator in the Indian Ocean en route to Diego Garcia and held a line crossing ceremony and initiated the shellbacks into the solemn mysteries of the Ancient Order of the Deep. Prior to transit east through the Straits of Malacca and back into the Pacific Ocean, Shasta turned over her duties in the Middle East to her sister ship, the .

In 1988, Shasta supported drug smuggling interdiction operations off Baja California, and conducted a "show the flag" port visit in Mazatlán, Mexico.

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. 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. Shastas crew received a Meritorious Unit Commendation and Sea Service Deployment Ribbon for their service on this deployment. While Shasta was deployed, its home port, the San Francisco Bay Area was hit by the Loma Prieta earthquake, which affected the families of many crew members.

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.