USS Suribachi (AE-21) 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...

. The ship was laid down on 31 January 1955 at Sparrows Point, Maryland, by Bethlehem Sparrows Point Shipyard, Inc.; launched on 2 November 1955; sponsored by Mrs. Lemuel C. Shepherd; and commissioned on 17 November 1956, Captain Brooks J. Harral in command measuring and correcting the magnetic fields of naval ships. She was named for the volcano of Iwo Jima

Iwo Jima

Iwo Jima, officially , is an island of the Japanese Volcano Islands chain, which lie south of the Ogasawara Islands and together with them form the Ogasawara Archipelago. The island is located south of mainland Tokyo and administered as part of Ogasawara, one of eight villages of Tokyo...

, Mount Suribachi.

1956–1960

Between commissioning and August 1957, Suribachi completed fitting out and conducted shakedown training out of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba

Cuba

The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...

. In September and October, she participated in three NATO exercises — Seaspray, Strikeback

Operation Strikeback

Operation Strikeback was a major naval exercise of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization that took place over a ten-day period in September 1957....

, and Pipedown — as flagship for the Underway Replenishment Group (URG). During the following year, she continued to operate along the east coast and in the Caribbean Sea, undergoing a yard overhaul and training at Guantanamo Bay. In November 1958, Suribachi sailed on an extended tour of duty with the 6th Fleet. She cruised the Mediterranean until May 1960, taking time in June 1959 to serve as flagship for Service Squadron 2 during Operation Lantflex.

1961–1972

Suribachi deployed to the Mediterranean two more times, from February to August 1961 and from August 1962 until the spring of 1963, before entering the yard of the Maryland Shipbuilding and Drydock Co., at Baltimore, Maryland, for conversion to a Fast Automatic Shuttle Transfer ammunition ship (AE-FAST). At that time, she was placed in commission, in reserve. In addition to the FAST conversion, Suribachi received a helicopter platform on her fantail enabling her to conduct vertical replenishments for the fleet.

On 15 December 1965, the ammunition ship was placed back in full commission at Norfolk, Virginia, where she continued fitting out until the beginning of February 1966. She then got underway for five weeks of shakedown training in the Caribbean area out of Guantanamo Bay. From mid-March to mid-April, she and (DLG-14) conducted the operational evaluation of her newly-installed FAST system, in the vicinity of Mayport, Florida. In June, she returned to her schedule of 6th Fleet deployments and Atlantic coast-Caribbean operations. Between June 1966 and June 1972, she made four more Mediterranean cruises, during which she visited many of the interesting ports along the littoral of the "middle sea". Her mission, as always, was to maintain the logistics support for the fleet at a high level of readiness. When not deployed with the 6th Fleet, she returned to operations along the eastern seaboard and trained in the Caribbean.

1972–1975

On 16 June 1972, Suribachi negotiated the locks of 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...

 and joined the Pacific Fleet

United States Pacific Fleet

The United States Pacific Fleet is a Pacific Ocean theater-level component command of the United States Navy that provides naval resources under the operational control of the United States Pacific Command. Its home port is at Pearl Harbor Naval Base, Hawaii. It is commanded by Admiral Patrick M...

. Ten days later, she arrived in Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...

. After an overnight stop, she continued on to the operating area off the coast of 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...

. From mid-July 1972 until 8 February 1973, Suribachi rearmed and refueled the combat units of the 7th Fleet. She departed from the combat zone fairly frequently for port period 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...

 in the Philippines

Philippines

The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

 and for a visit each to 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...

 and Sattahip, Thailand

Thailand

Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...

. Her periods away from the action zone were brief in every instance, three or four days at most.

On 8 February 1973, she entered port at Subic Bay and, on the 16th, sailed for Yokosuka, 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...

, en route back to the United States. Following stops there and at Pearl Harbor, Suribachi re-transited the Panama Canal in mid-March and rejoined the Atlantic Fleet. After returning to the east coast, Suribachi resumed her old schedule of operations in the western Atlantic-Caribbean area alternating with cruises with the 6th Fleet. She made one Mediterranean deployment, from January to June 1974, and was operating with the 2nd Fleet as of March 1975.

Decommissioning and sale

Suribachi was decommissioned in 1994 after 38 years of service, and was moored at the James River Reserve Fleet site in Newport News, Virginia. On June 8, 2009, the ship was sold for scrapping.

External links

• Suribachi.org is a site for former crewmembers.
• Naval Vessel Regisrty