USS Butte (AE-27)

History

United States
Name	USS Butte
Namesake	Butte, Montana
Ordered	30 March 1965
Laid down	21 July 1966
Launched	9 August 1967
Commissioned	14 December 1968
Decommissioned	3 June 1996
In service	Transferred to the MSC
Out of service	24 May 2004
Stricken	24 May 2004
Homeport	Norfolk, Virginia (original) Naval Weapons Station Earle (last)
Motto	"We keep the guns loaded"
Fate	Sunk as a target 3 July 2006
General characteristics
Class & type	Kilauea-class ammunition ship
Displacement	Light: 10,524 tons Full load: 20,068 tons
Length	564 ft (172 m)
Beam	81 ft (25 m)
Draught	30 ft (9.1 m)
Propulsion	3 × boilers steam turbines single shaft 22,000 shp
Speed	20 knots (37 km/h)
Complement	As AE-27: 28 officers, 388 enlisted as T-AE-27: 125-133 civilian crew, 7-24 military
Armament	As AE-27: two Phalanx CIWS as T-AE-27: none
Aircraft carried	2 CH-46 Sea Knight helicopters

The second USS Butte (AE-27) was a Kilauea-class ammunition ship in the United States Navy. She was laid down 21 July 1966 by General Dynamics Quincy Shipbuilding Division at Quincy, Massachusetts, and was christened and launched 9 August 1967. She was commissioned on 14 December 1968 in the Boston Naval Shipyard and assigned to the U.S. Atlantic Fleet, originally homeported in Norfolk, Virginia.