USS Mauna Kea (AE-22) was a of the United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

 that was laid down at the Bethlehem-Sparrows Point Shipyard Inc., Sparrows Point, Maryland on 6 May 1955; launched on 3 May 1956; sponsored by Mrs. Charles R. Brown; and commissioned on 30 March 1957, Captain Kenneth Loveland in command. The ship was decommissioned 30 June 1995 with over 38 years of active service. Mauna Kea was the oldest active ship in the Navy prior to being decommissioned and is the last non-aircraft carrier ship to hold that distinction.

1957–1965

Following shakedown, Mauna Kea, designed for rapid replenishment of ammunition at sea, reported for duty with ServRon 1 in the eastern Pacific. Into the fall of 1957 she serviced the 1st Fleet and in November made preparations for her first WestPac deployment. Sailing west, she reported to SevRon 3 at Sasebo, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

, in December and commenced distributing the bullets of “beans, bullets, and black oil” to the ships of the 7th Fleet. From that time until 1965, she rotated between duties with the above‑noted service squadrons, participating while with the 7th Fleet, in SEATO exercises and in joint exercises with Korean, Japanese, and Chinese Nationalist Forces.

1965–1969

On 28 February 1965, the ammunition ship arrived at the Lockheed Shipbuilding and Construction Company

Lockheed Shipbuilding and Construction Company

Lockheed Shipbuilding and Construction Company , was a shipyard in Seattle, Washington on Harbor Island at the mouth of the Duwamish River. Founded in 1898 as the Puget Sound Bridge and Dredging Company, the company that built Harbor Island, it was purchased by Lockheed in 1959...

 yards, Seattle, Washington

Seattle, Washington

Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...

. There having reverted to in commission in Reserve status, Mauna Kea commenced FAST (Fast Automatic Shuttle Transfer System) conversion. Completion of this conversion, which would enable her to transfer a “bird” from her hold to the magazine of a missile‑firing ship in 90 seconds and allow her greater versatility in servicing the fleet with the addition of a helopad for vertical replenishment capabilities, was delayed for 8 months, because of strikes and lack of necessary parts, until June 1966. Then followed a fitting out period and intensive post-conversion shakedown exercises, which continued into the fall. By November she was again an active unit of the Pacific Fleet’s Service Force and on 28 December she departed her home port of Concord, California

Concord, California

Concord is the largest city in Contra Costa County, California, USA. At the 2010 census, the city had a population of 122,067. Originally founded in 1869 as the community of Todos Santos by Salvio Pacheco, the name was changed to Concord within months...

, for her ninth WestPac deployment.

Traveling westward, Mauna Kea arrived at Subic Bay

Subic Bay

Subic Bay is a bay forming part of Luzon Sea on the west coast of the island of Luzon in Zambales, Philippines, about 100 kilometers northwest of Manila Bay. Its shores were formerly the site of a major United States Navy facility named U.S...

, Philippine Islands, 9 January 1967 to join ServRon 7. Four days later she departed Subic Bay for her first trip to the line off Vietnam

Vietnam

Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...

. For the next six months she rearmed carrier groups on Yankee Station

Yankee Station

Yankee Station was a point in the Gulf of Tonkin off the coast of Vietnam used by the U.S. Navy aircraft carriers of Task Force 77 to launch strikes in the Vietnam War. While its official designation was "Point Yankee," it was universally referred to as Yankee Station...

 and cruisers and destroyers in the Corps’ areas off South Vietnam

South Vietnam

South Vietnam was a state which governed southern Vietnam until 1975. It received international recognition in 1950 as the "State of Vietnam" and later as the "Republic of Vietnam" . Its capital was Saigon...

. At the end of July, she headed north to Japan for a brief visit at Yokosuka before getting underway for California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

. Arriving at Concord, 22 August, she underwent availability and then commenced participation in fleet and local exercises along the California coast. On 20 February 1968 she departed for her second tour of duty off Vietnam

Vietnam

Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...

, returning 14 October, for leave and upkeep, after which she, into 1969, continued servicing the 1st Fleet until setting out for the western Pacific and another tour with the 7th Fleet.

Decommissioning and disposal

Mauna Kea was decommissioned on June 30, 1995, and struck from the Navy list on December 12, 1996. On December 18, 1998, she was transferred to the Maritime Administration as part of the National Defense Reserve Fleet

National Defense Reserve Fleet

The National Defense Reserve Fleet consists of "mothballed" ships, mostly merchant vessels, that can be activated within 20 to 120 days to provide shipping for the United States of America during national emergencies, either military or non-military, such as commercial shipping crises.The NDRF is...

 at Suisun Bay

Suisun Bay

Suisun Bay is a shallow tidal estuary at in northern California, USA. It lies at the confluence of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers, forming the entrance to the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, an inverted river delta...

, California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

. The ship was finally sunk as a target during RIMPAC

RIMPAC

RIMPAC, the Rim of the Pacific Exercise, is the world's largest international maritime exercise. Conducted biennially , it is hosted and administered by the United States Navy, with the United States Marine Corps, United States Coast Guard, and Hawaii National Guard forces under the leadership of...

2006 off the coast of Kauai, Hawaii, on July 12, 2006.