The fourth USS Vesuvius (AE-15) was laid down under a Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 1381) by the North Carolina Shipbuilding Company, Wilmington, N.C.; launched on 26 May 1944; acquired by the United States Navy on 4 July 1944; and commissioned on 16 January 1945.
The Story of the Vesuvius
VESUVIUS
An Italian volcano located on the western side of the
Bay of Naples. Its most famous eruption, on 24 August 79
A.D., completely destroyed the city of Pompeii and the town
of Herculaneum.
AE-15
Displacement: 5,504 t.
Length: 459’
Beam: 63’
Draft: 29’
Speed: 16 k.
Complement: 255
Armament: 1 5”; 4 3”; 2 40mm
Class: WRANGELL
The fourth VESUVIUS (AE-15) was laid down under a
Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 1381) by the North
Carolina Shipbuilding Company, Wilmington, N C.; launched on
26 May 1944; acquired by the United States Navy on 4 July
1944; and commissioned on 16 January 1945, Comdr. Flavius J.
George in command.
The ship underwent builder's trials out of Brooklyn
N.Y., and then began shakedown out of Hampton Roads, Va., in
the Chesapeake Bay. On 17 February, she sailed to Earle,
N.J., to onload ammunition. She then headed for the island
of Ulithi, via the Panama Canal, on 5 March. She reached
her destination on 5 April and promptly unloaded and took on
more cargo. VESUVIUS departed for Okinawa on 10 April where
she became part of Service Squadron 6. In this role, she
replenished ammunition to the Fleet in the waters around
Okinawa. In July 1945, VESUVIUS joined a rearming group off
Honshu, Japan, to support raids on Japan by the 3d Fleet.
She detached on 2 August and set sail for Leyte Gulf,
Philippines. While there, word of the Japanese capitulation
was received on 15 August 1945. The ship remained in the
Philippines until 28 October, when she left for the United
States. After transiting the Panama Canal, VESUVIUS joined
the Service Force, Atlantic Fleet. The ship arrived at
Yorktown, Va., on 14 December 1945.
VESUVIUS departed Yorktown on 10 January 1946, bound
for Leonardo, N.J., to discharge her cargo and ship's
ammunition to the Naval Ammunition Depot. On 7 February,
she headed for Orange, Tex., arriving there on 13 February
to commence her pre-inactivation overhaul. VESUVIUS was
placed out of commission, in reserve at Orange on 20 August
1946.
In response to the needs imposed by the Korean
conflict, VESUVIUS was recommissioned on 15 November 1951.
She remained at Orange and Beaumont, Tex., for outfitting
and readying for sea until 7 January 1952, when she departed
for San Diego. Having arrived on 14 February, the ship
conducted exercises and loaded ammunition at Port Chicago,
Calif., before sailing on 22 March for Sasebo, Japan.
She arrived at Sasebo on 3 May 1952 and, after voyage
repairs, began supplying ammunition to the ships of Task
Force (TF) 77 on patrol off the east coast of Korea. On
1 December, VESUVIUS headed for the United States, arriving
at San Francisco on 18 December for overhaul.
Over the next decade, VESUVIUS was to make 11 more
extended deployments to the western Pacific where she
serviced units of the 7th Fleet. These operations were
interspersed with port visits to Japan, Okinawa, Taiwan, the
Philippines, and Hong Kong. Periods on the west coast of
the United States were spent in overhaul and in the conduct
of underway training.
On 24 June 1963, VESUVIUS commenced her 13th post-World
War II deployment to the western Pacific, making stops at
Pearl Harbor and at Guam for repairs and arriving at
Yokosuka on 4 August. She serviced the 7th Fleet throughout
August. In October, she visited Sasebo and Kagoshima,
Japan; Subic Bay, Philippines; and Buckner Bay, Okinawa. In
November, she visited Hong Kong and spent the entire month
of December 1963 in and out of Yokosuka, Japan.
VESUVIUS began the year 1964 in Yokosuka making final
preparations for her homeward passage. On 7 January, she
got underway for San Francisco via the great circle route.
She arrived on 31 January and spent February and March
moored to the pier at Port Chicago. A brief trip to San
Diego and participation in an exercise with other units of
the 1st Fleet occupied April, and VESUVIUS spent May in an
upkeep status at Concord. On 6 July, she was underway for
coastal operations. August and September saw the ship in
and out of port, training and providing services to the
Fleet Training Group. In October, she participated in
operations with members of the 1st Fleet. On 20 November
1964, VESUVIUS returned to Concord for upkeep and a holiday
leave period. She got underway on 18 December for the Mare
Island Annex, where she spent the holiday season.
The ship made a brief trip to San Diego beginning on
4 January 1965 before returning to Concord on 15 January.
She began reloading cargo in preparation for deployment and
got underway for the Far East on 1 February. VESUVIUS
reached Subic Bay, via Pearl Harbor and Guam, on
28 February. She then began operations in the South China
Sea interrupted by brief returns for the onload of cargo in
Subic Bay. In July 1965, she received a well-earned respite
from her duties in Hong Kong. After a week there, she
resumed operations. Having made 182 underway replenishments
during the deployment, VESUVIUS returned to Concord, Calif.,
on 28 November.
VESUVIUS began the year 1966 by steaming on 3 January
to the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard at Bremerton Wash., to
undergo repairs for six weeks. After leaving Bremerton, the
ship headed south to Concord to onload ammunition. On
5 March, she sailed for San Diego for refresher training.
Shortly after arrival, a 26-inch crack in one of her hull
plates was discovered. She promptly began transferring her
load of ammunition to other ships. By 26 March, the
ammunition had been successfully offloaded; and, on 28 April
1966, VESUVIUS proceeded to the Bethlehem Steel Shipyard in
San Francisco. On 14 May, VESUVIUS deployed for the western
Pacific. From 13 June through 27 November 1966, VESUVIUS
conducted replenishment operations between the Philippines
and the South China Sea. In December, she stopped at Pearl
Harbor on her way home, where an unusual cargo was
embarked--$9,700,000 was brought on board for a special
currency lift back to the United States. Shortly before
Christmas, VESUVIUS reached Concord.
The year 1967 found the ship berthed at Mare Island
preparing to undergo her first major overhaul since 1962.
Following completion of overhaul at the Mare Island Naval
Shipyard and underway training, VESUVIUS departed for the
western Pacific on 15 July 1967, bound for Subic Bay.
Except for brief periods in Hong Kong, VESUVIUS came off the
line in the South China Sea only long enough to fill her
hold with more ammunition.
Near the end of January 1968, VESUVIUS sailed to
Yokosuka on her return trip to the United States, only to be
recalled to the seas off Vietnam following the PUEBLO
incident. VESUVIUS finally returned to the San Francisco
Bay area on 17 March 1968, offloaded, proceeded to the Naval
Shipyard at Mare Island and, on 4 April, entered the Triple
A Shipyard in San Francisco for extensive repairs and
upkeep, repairs were completed on 10 May, and the ship began
refresher training in June. Following inspections and
loadout, VESUVIUS deployed again on 31 July 1968. She
reached Subic Bay on 20 August for receipt of ammunition,
then began operations in the Vietnam area. She remained on
line through 3 December, when she left for a period of rest
and recreation in Hong Kong. She departed there on
10 December to return to Vietnam.
VESUVIUS remained on line through January and February
1969. In late February, she sailed into Bangkok, Thailand.
>From Bangkok, the ship went to Subic Bay to commence her
final loadout before heading home. After a brief stop in
Hawaii, VESUVIUS arrived in Concord on 1 April 1969. In
late April, the ship underwent six weeks of restricted
availability at a commercial yard in San Francisco. Late in
June, she steamed for San Diego and refresher training and
exercises. By 23 July, she had returned to San Francisco
and began three weeks of loadout for yet another deployment.
VESUVIUS departed for the western Pacific on 17 September
1969. After stopovers in Pearl Harbor and Yokosuka, she
touched at Subic Bay for a few days before starting her line
period off Vietnam.
During this deployment, VESUVIUS conducted seven line
runs in the South China Sea and the Tonkin Gulf in support
of 7th Fleet operations. On 25 April, she left for home
with stops at Kobe, Japan, and Pearl Harbor. She arrived at
Concord on 23 May 1970. The ship entered a three-month
upkeep in San Francisco from July to October followed by a
predeployment inspection. On 9 November, VESUVIUS departed
the San Francisco area for intensive training in San Diego
and, on 6 December, steamed back to Port Chicago for a
holiday leave period.
VESUVIUS again departed for the western Pacific on
4 January 1971. She arrived at Subic Bay on 25 January,
and, one week later, was underway for her first line run of
the deployment. On 20 February, she pulled into Singapore
and then proceeded shortly thereafter to the Philippines for
a 15-day upkeep period. VESUVIUS then resumed her
assignment of providing ammunition logistics support to the
7th Fleet and Royal Australian Navy units off the coast of
Vietnam. On 2 August 1971, VESUVIUS left Subic Bay for San
Francisco, arriving on 1 September. After offloading
ammunition at Concord Naval Weapons Station, the ship moved
to the Mare Island Naval Shipyard for a month of standdown.
On 4 October, she entered a six-week upkeep. Upon
completion, she returned to Concord on 19 November.
VESUVIUS departed Concord on 29 November for refresher
training off San Diego, returning to Mare Island on
4 December.
VESUVIUS got underway on 3 January 1972 and, on
5 January, commenced refresher training in San Diego. She
returned to Concord on 29 January. Preparations for
deployment began immediately, and the ship left California
on 14 February. Upon arrival at Subic Bay, VESUVIUS again
supported combat operations for the 7th Fleet. On 29 June,
she began upkeep and returned to action on 18 July. Her
duties were interrupted for short trips to Hong Kong and
Bangkok in August and October. In December, she entered
drydock at Subic Bay to replace her propeller, but she
promptly returned to Vietnam and ended the year in the
combat zone.
The ship returned to Concord on 3 March 1973. After
offloading ammunition, the ship moved to Mare Island. The
ship was scheduled for upkeep from April to July. However,
a message was received from the Chief of Naval Operations in
July to prepare the ship for decommissioning. On 14 August
1973, VESUVIUS was decommissioned and transferred to the
Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility at Mare Island for
further disposition. She was struck from the Navy list on
14 August 1973.
VESUVIUS received two battle stars for World War II,
two battle stars for the Korean War, and 10 battle Stars for
her service in Vietnam.
Transcribed by Michael Hansen
mhansen2@home.com
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ok who's got the san magoo ??? cough it up !!!
I made it too...:)
glad to be on - board, thanks dave
SNAFU fixed
Yeah Gary, the flood gates are open. Stand back, so you don't get trampled by the multitudes, LOL!
looks like I made it. finally
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