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Date: Mon, 30 Oct 1995 11:34:00 -0500
From: Naval Media Center Publishing <pubs@media.mediacen.navy.mil>
Subject: Navy Wire Service A -- 30 October 1995

NWSA1207.  USS Samuel Gompers decommissioned
     NORFOLK (NWSA) -- The destroyer tender USS Samuel Gompers
(AD 37) was decommissioned Oct. 27 in ceremonies at the Norfolk
Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth, Va.
     RADM James F. Amerault, commander, Western Hemisphere Group
(WHEMGRU) in Mayport, Fla., was the principal speaker for the
ceremony.  Amerault was the commanding officer of Samuel Gompers
from July 1989 through July 1991.  USS Samuel Gompers was
commanded by CAPT Robert H. Rankin and had a crew of 50 officers
and 1,450 enlisted personnel.  The ship arrived in Norfolk Oct. 2
from Alameda, Calif., after completing 28 years of active
service.
                              -USN-