This is the only deep water port for the Island Territory of Guam USA. There are
different piers within the port. On the breakwater side is the commercial port
which brings in consumer commodities and military supplies. The fuel pier sits
right across the quay from the commercial port. Further into the harbor and
closest to what is called Marine Drive the Navy Supply Pier can be found.
Entering the port on the Starboard side is the Ammo Pier. Each time I was on the
KILAUEA both in the Navy and MSC the Ammo Pier was our dock. However in 1975 the
first time I saw Guam we had gone to the fuel dock. I had never seen such a
sight of pristine clear turquoise blue water. I would have to say that my first
visit to Guam was the least boring. I really did not see much of the Island but
I did visit some of the night spots. The most memorable was the club called the
Korean Village. There was an all girl band playing there with the exception of
the keyboard which was played by a guy. One of the girls came up to me and I
sang one those romance songs that Ray Price made into an easy listening tune. I
sang the verse "Lay your head upon my shoulder".
I was a young single sailor back then and they were so
very beautiful. In the 90's Guam was our home port for the forward
deployed Fast Store ships. I was assigned to the SAN JOSE and the SPICA
there. When these ships were regular Navy they were home ported in ports
near major stateside Supply Centers all of these ships just like the
KILAUEA carried sea knight helicopters. There were two sea knights per
ship and en-route to Westpac the choppers would join the ships from a
North Island NAS squadron. With the forward deployed ships the choppers
now fly out from Anderson Air Base on Guam. Now these are special
animals because Navy families are never allowed to accompany the Tankers
or special project ships. Now this may have changed since I left in
1998. There was a plan on the books that would eliminate the MILDEPT on
all of our ships. I do not know if that took place. Most of our MSC
supply types had gotten their experience in the regular Navy. I ran up
my Sear's Credit Card over the months that I found myself on Guam. The
bus out to Agana just was not convenient. When I did not want to go into
town I would ride my bike to the Navy Exchange or to the Pizza Hut that
was only 2 miles from the base.
Historically the Pan Am clipper seaplanes
stopped at Guam for fuel on their way to Japan or Hong Kong. The
facility though no longer standing stood on the site of the base
welfare and recreation yacht club. There is an historical marker at the
spot. In the aerial photo you will notice a runway this was the site of
a Naval Air Station at one time for propeller driven air craft.
Occasionally a helicopter will land there. There had been a rumor of
possibly reactivating the field and modernizing it but as of 1998 all
naval air craft were flying out of Anderson AB. In reality this
was the only place on the Island where you could run a car over 50 miles
per hour.
