Welcome aboard the USS VEGA (AF-59), the Navy's newest refrigerated stores ship. Whether you come as a new recruit fresh from boot training, as a Navy veteran just transferred, or as a visitor for only a few hours, it is the purpose of this booklet to acquaint you and your families with the VEGA, the facilities, functions and accomplishments. So, let's start at the beginning.
The name "VEGA" is taken from the brightest star in the constellation Lyra and the sixth brightest star in all the sky. The first VEGA was commissioned in 1917 and served as a patrol vessel for four years during World War I. The next ship to bear the name was the USS VEGA (AK-17), which was put in commission in 1921 and finally retired in 1946. During this twenty-five years she carried cargo between San Diego and various Pacific naval bases and survived encounters with the enemy at Pearl Harbor and later at Okinawa.
On June 7, 1954 the Keel was laid for the latest VEGA at Ingalls Shipbuilding Corporation in Pascagoula, Mississippi, and on 10 November of the following year the third VEGA to serve the U.S. Navy was commissioned and turned over to first Commanding Officer, Captain F. T. Thompson, USN.
The USS VEGA (AF-59) which began it's service to the fleet that day is the largest and fastest reefer ship in the Pacific. She has an overall length of 502 feet, an extreme beam of 72 feet, a full load draft of 27 feet, and a maximum speed of 27 knots. The VEGA's holds provide 350,000 cubic feet of refrigerated storage space, and the food in her fully loaded storage boxes would feed 1350 average size families 3 meals a day for a year. Since the VEGA is not a combat ship but a modern auxiliary service ship, it only ha minimal defensive weapons. In peacetime her ship's company includes 15 officers and 236 enlisted men.
These statistics give a good picture of the VEGA's size, but it is the comfort and modern features of the living and working spaces that make her especially attractive. The crew's berthing spaces are located on three different decks and each level has it's own lounge complete with tables for writing and playing cards, linoleum tiling on the decks, fluorescent lighting, library, ship's entertainment speakers and television set. The bunks are three tiers high (in most Navy ships bunks are four tiers high) and each is equipped with a reading lamp and a magazine rack. The mess deck for the crew is situated amidships on the main deck and is distinctive because of its four and six man tables with individual chairs.
The chief petty officers have their own berthing compartment and separate messing and lounging facilities. The officers' wardroom and staterooms are located on the second level above the main deck.
