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USS Mount Katmai (AE-16)
Encyclopedia
USS Mount Katmai (AE-16) was a Mount Hood-class ammunition ship
Ammunition ship
An ammunition ship is a warship specially configured to carry ammunition, usually for Navy ships and aircraft. Their cargo handling systems, designed with extreme safety in mind, include ammunition hoists with airlocks between decks, and mechanisms for flooding entire compartments with sea water in...
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 saw service in the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
and the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
.
The ship was laid down on 11 November 1944 by North Carolina Shipbuilding Co., Wilmington, N.C.; launched on 6 January 1945, sponsored by Mrs. A. E. DeMaray; and commissioned on 21 July 1945 at Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Florida in terms of both population and land area, and the largest city by area in the contiguous United States. It is the county seat of Duval County, with which the city government consolidated in 1968...
, Comdr. C. H. Ross in command.
Pacific, 1945–1950
After shakedown and fitting out, Mount Katmai reported to Commander Service Force Atlantic Fleet on 8 September 1945. She was then ordered to proceed to HawaiiHawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
via the Panama Canal
Panama Canal
The Panama Canal is a ship canal in Panama that joins the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and is a key conduit for international maritime trade. Built from 1904 to 1914, the canal has seen annual traffic rise from about 1,000 ships early on to 14,702 vessels measuring a total of 309.6...
. The ammunition ship was assigned to the western Pacific from there, arriving Leyte in mid-October 1945.
Korean War, 1950–1953
Mount Katmai was involved in normal support operation off the Pacific coast when the Korean WarKorean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
began. On 22 July 1950 she deployed from San Francisco to WestPac, arriving in the combat zone on 18 August. She rearmed and replenished combatant ships of TFs 77 and 95 in the Yellow Sea
Yellow Sea
The Yellow Sea is the name given to the northern part of the East China Sea, which is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean. It is located between mainland China and the Korean Peninsula. Its name comes from the sand particles from Gobi Desert sand storms that turn the surface of the water golden...
and the Sea of Japan
Sea of Japan
The Sea of Japan is a marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean, between the Asian mainland, the Japanese archipelago and Sakhalin. It is bordered by Japan, North Korea, Russia and South Korea. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it has almost no tides due to its nearly complete enclosure from the Pacific...
. Returning home in November 1951, she departed again for the Korean war theater in April 1952, again supporting units of TFs 77 and 95. Back in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in February 1953, she sailed again for the Far East in May 1953. During this deployment, she rearmed approximately 50 ships before the war ended.
WestPac deployments, 1954–1964
Following the armistice, Mount Katmai returned to CONUSConus
Conus is a large genus of small to large predatory sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs, with the common names of cone snails, cone shells or cones. This genus is placed in the subfamily Coninae within the family Conidae. Geologically speaking, the genus is known from the Eocene to the Recent ...
for overhaul at Mare Island Naval Shipyard
Mare Island Naval Shipyard
The Mare Island Naval Shipyard was the first United States Navy base established on the Pacific Ocean. It is located 25 miles northeast of San Francisco in Vallejo, California. The Napa River goes through the Mare Island Strait and separates the peninsula shipyard from the main portion of the...
. She got underway for the Far East in May 1954 for a six-month tour, the first of nine WestPac deployments in the following decade, in which she alternated service on the west coast with operations in the Far East
Far East
The Far East is an English term mostly describing East Asia and Southeast Asia, with South Asia sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons.The term came into use in European geopolitical discourse in the 19th century,...
. In December 1964 Mount Katmai commenced an extensive overhaul period, including installation of increased communications capabilities and a helicopter deck for vertical replenishment.
Vietnam, 1965–1973
On 26 February 1965, the ship departed San Francisco, underway to a new war zone to replenish 7th FleetUnited States Seventh Fleet
The Seventh Fleet is the United States Navy's permanent forward projection force based in Yokosuka, Japan, with units positioned near Japan and South Korea. It is a component fleet force under the United States Pacific Fleet. At present, it is the largest of the forward-deployed U.S. fleets, with...
ships. She arrived 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...
on 15 May via Pearl Harbor. Within a few days, she was underway for rearming operations in the South China Sea
South China Sea
The South China Sea is a marginal sea that is part of the Pacific Ocean, encompassing an area from the Singapore and Malacca Straits to the Strait of Taiwan of around...
, servicing the carrier strike groups and combatant ships 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 –...
. Operating out of Subic, Mount Katmai provided logistical support to the operating forces until late November. She departed Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
on 1 December 1965, arriving San Francisco on 16 December.
Entering Hunter's Point Naval Shipyard on 17 January 1966 for overhaul, the ship returned to an operational status with Service Force Pacific Fleet on 21 March. She participated in type and 1st Fleet training operations until 1 June when she deployed to WestPac. After a short visit in Hawaii, she arrived in her WestPac home port of Subic Bay on 25 June.
On 5 July she was underway for "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...
", to rearm carriers and their escorts. In addition to providing aircraft ordnance for airstrikes against North Vietnam
North Vietnam
The Democratic Republic of Vietnam , was a communist state that ruled the northern half of Vietnam from 1954 until 1976 following the Geneva Conference and laid claim to all of Vietnam from 1945 to 1954 during the First Indochina War, during which they controlled pockets of territory throughout...
, the ship also provided ammunition for ships engaged in support and interdiction shore fire missions along the entire Vietnamese coast.
Once more homeward bound, Mount Katmai was underway from Subic Bay on 12 January 1967, arriving San Francisco on 7 February. After overhaul in Mare Island Naval Shipyard until 19 July, and type training, the ammunition ship was ready to sail west again. Leaving San Francisco on 7 August 1967, she arrived at Subic Bay on 30 August via Pearl Harbor. Rearming operations were conducted in the South China Sea and off the coast of Vietnam with carriers and fire support ships.
Mount Katmai was underway from Subic Bay on 11 March 1968, and arrived San Francisco on 28 March. After a three-month overhaul period and type training, she left San Francisco on 31 August and arrived back at Subic Bay on 24 September. She continued to provide ammunition to U.S. and Allied combatants off the coast of Vietnam into 1973.
Decommissioning and sale
Mount Katmai was decommissioned and struck from the Naval Vessel RegisterNaval Vessel Register
The Naval Vessel Register is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from the time a vessel is authorized through its life cycle and...
on 14 August 1973. Turned over to Maritime Administration (MARAD
Marad
Marad was an ancient Sumerian city. Marad was situated on the west bank of the then western branch of the Upper Euphrates River west of Nippur in modern day Iraq and roughly 50 km southeast of Kish, on the Arahtu River.The city's ziggurat E-igi-kalama was dedicated to Ninurta the god of...
) she was laid up in 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...
until sold for scrapping on 5 April 1974, to Nicolai Joffe Corp., for $243,210.