>From the "Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships," 

(1970) Vol. 5, p.320.





SANTA BARBARA





	A seaside resort and residential city in southwestern 

California.





AE-28

Displacement:  18,088 t. (fully loaded)

Length:  564’0”

Beam:  81’0”

Draft:  28’0”

Speed:  20 k.

Complement:  362

Armament:  8 3”

Class:  KILAUEA





	The third SANTA BARBARA was laid down on 30 December 

1966 by the Bethlehem Steel Corp., Sparrows Point, Md.; 

launched on 23 January 1968; sponsored by Mrs. Graeme C. 

Bannerman, wife of Assistant Secretary of the Navy for 

Installations and Logistics; and commissioned on 11 July 

1970, Capt. Charles A. Whitmore in command.



	Following fitting out at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard, 

SANTA BARBARA arrived at her designated home port, 

Davisville, R.I., on 18 September 1970.  On 6 October, the 

ammunition ship conducted her first underway replenishment.



	SANTA BARBARA departed Davisville on 15 October for the 

Caribbean and six weeks of shakedown training at Guantanamo 

Bay, Cuba.  Her shakedown completed on 25 November, SANTA 

BARBARA returned to her home port of Davisville on 

5 December.



	Underway again on 11 January 1971, SANTA BARBARA 

arrived at the Naval Ammunition Depot, Earle, N.J., for her 

first regular loadout, which was completed four days later 

at the Naval Weapons Station, Yorktown, Va.



	After a short period in Davisville, SANTA BARBARA got 

underway on 1 February for her first regularly scheduled 

fleet exercises.  With units of Task Force 27 participating 

in Operation "Springboard," the ammunition ship operated out 

of Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico, until 25 February, rearming 

17 ships and successfully transferring over 400 tons of 

missiles, bombs, and projectiles.  On 15 March, SANTA 

BARBARA began a two month availability at the Boston Naval 

Shipyard.  Departing on 25 June, she arrived the next day at 

Davisville.



	In July, she sailed to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for 

refresher training; then, returned to Davisville in August.  

In September, SANTA BARBARA was deployed to the 

Mediterranean, returning to the United States on 17 March 

1972.  She departed the New England coast in April, bound 

for a short cruise in the Caribbean.  Returning to Rhode 

Island in late May, she departed again on 5 June; this time 

ordered to the western Pacific on an extended deployment.  

After seven months in Asian waters, SANTA BARBARA entered 

Pearl Harbor on 5 February 1973; then, proceeded on to 

Quonset Point, R.I., via the Panama Canal, arriving on the 

22nd.  She operated along the east coast and in the 

Caribbean for the remainder of 1973 and for three months 

into 1974.  In April 1974, SANTA BARBARA embarked upon 

another Mediterranean cruise.  As of June 1974, she is still 

operating with the 6th Fleet.



	[Decommissioned on 30 September 1998, SANTA BARBARA was 

transferred to the Military Sealift Command (MSC), Naval 

Fleet Auxiliary Force the same day and her hull number was 

changed to T-AE-28.  As of October 1999, she was in a 

Reduced Operating Status and laid up pending overhaul.]



Internet Web Sites:

	Naval Vessel Register

		www.nvr.navy.mil/nvrships/details/AE28.htm

	United States Naval & Shipbuilding Museum

		www.uss-salem.org/worldnav/usa/aux_flt.htm

“Jane’s Fighting Ships, 1999-2000,” p.839.





Transcribed by Michael Hansen

mhansen2@home.com