USS Arcturus (AF-52) - Commissioned With A Navy Crew

Commissioned With A Navy Crew

Following her return from European waters to New York in the summer of 1961, Golden Eagle entered the New York Naval Shipyard to begin modifications to prepare her to become a commissioned ship. She was renamed Arcturus on 13 October 1961 and placed in commission at New York on 18 November 1961, Capt. Maxie B. Davis in command. Shakedown training in the West Indies and post-shakedown repairs at the Maryland Shipbuilding & Drydock Co. in Baltimore, Maryland, occupied her until the summer of 1962.

In June 1962, Arcturus stood out of Norfolk, Virginia, on her first deployment to the Mediterranean as a unit of the U.S. 6th Fleet. Over the next decade, the ship provided logistics support for Navy forces operating in the Mediterranean Sea and in the West Indies. During most years, she served three tours of duty resupplying ships of the U.S. 6th Fleet. In between those assignments, Arcturus made logistics support voyages to the West Indies, conducted type training, and participated in multiship exercises. Regular overhauls periodically interrupted that schedule and, when they occurred, usually limited her to one or two deployments to the Mediterranean for the year in question.

LTJG Dorsey served as Supply Officer from 1964-1966. LTJG Curry served as Deck Officer, then Navigator from 1965-1968.