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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive
Contributed by Mike Smolinski

Contributed by Al Grazevich

USS Sierra (AD-18)

International Radio Call Sign:
November - Alpha - Oscar - Delta
 NAOD
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons




Secretary of the Navy Letter of Commendation (2)
Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Navy "Battle E" Ribbon (2) - Navy Expeditionary Medal (2-Cuba)
Second Row - China Service Medal (extended) - American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal
Third Row - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp) - National Defense Service Medal (3)
Fourth Row - Humanitarian Service Medal (1-Hurricane Frederick) - Sea Service Deployment Ribbon - Philippine Liberation Medal
Dixie Class Destroyer Tender:
  • Laid down, 31 December 1941, at Tampa Shipbuilding Co., Tampa, FL.
  • Launched, 23 February 1943
  • Commissioned USS Sierra (AD-18), 20 March 1944, CAPT. Paul B. Koonce in command
  • USS Sierra was assigned to Occupation service and China service in the Far East and Occupation service in Europe for the following periods:


    Navy Occupation Service Medal
    China Service Medal (extended)
    Asia - 7 September to 9 October 194510 October 1945 - 7 February 1946
    Europe - 16 January to 16 June 195016 March 1946 to 11 February 1947
    Europe - 25 June to 25 October 19519 September 1948 - 9 March 1949

  • Decommissioned, and struck from the Naval Register, 15 October 1993
  • Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, 25 August 1995, by the Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service (DRMS) to Simsmetal America, Richmond, VA.
    Specifications:
    Displacement 18,000 t. (lim)
    Length 530' 6"
    Beam 73' 4"
    Draft 24' 6"
    Speed 19.6 kts. (trial)
    Complement
    officer 63
    enlisted 987
    Armament
    four 5"/38 dual purpose gun mounts
    four twin 40mm AA gun mounts
    Largest boom capacity 20 t.
    Fuel Capacity
    NSFO 24,555 Bbls.
    Diesel 2,705 Bbls.
    Propulsion
    two Allis Chalmers steam turbines
    four Babcock & Wilcox "A" (three drum expansion type) boilers 403psi 720°.
    double Falk Main Reduction Gear
    four 750Kw 450V A.C. Ship's Service Generators
    two propellers, 11,000shp
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    Sierra 65k USS Sierra (AD-18) under way, date location unknown. Hyperwar US Navy in WWII
    Sierra
    AD 18 1610-46, Navy Photo, 4/24/46    		 267k USS Sierra (AD-18) at Mare Island, 24 April 1946. Darryl Baker
    Sierra
    AD 18 1611-46, Navy Photo, 4/24/46    		 264k
    Sierra 299k USS Sierra (AD-18) anchored in the Whangpoo River at Shanghai, China, 12 October 1946. Robert Hurst
    Sierra 453k USS Sierra (AD-18) Deck Department, Shanghai, China, 12 October 1946.
    US Navy photo.    		 Robert Hurst
    Repose 68k USS Sierra (AD-18) and USS Repose (AH-16) moored pierside at either Shanghai or Tsingtao, China in 1946. Paul Webb for his father ENS. Ronald H. Webb, USNR USS LST-1102
    Sierra 185k USS Sierra (AD-18) under way off Norfolk, VA., date unknown.
    US Navy photo.    		 Mike Smolinski
    Sierra 78k USS Sierra (AD-18) under way near Hampton Roads in a photo received by the Naval History and Heritage Command in September 1963 but taken earlier. The ship lost its after two 5"/38 gun mounts, still visible here, circa 1962-63.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # KN-8015. From the collections of the US Naval History and Heritage Command    		 Robert Hurst
    Sierra 110k USS Sierra (AD-18) at San Juan, Puerto Rico, 26 February 1967 with six destroyers alongside;
    USS Basilone (DD-824),
    USS Fiske (DD-842),
    USS Davis (DD-937),
    USS Richard E Kraus (DD-849),
    USS Harwood (DD-861),
    USS Gyatt (DD-712)
         		© Richard Leonhardt
    Sierra 132k USS Sierra (AD-18) probably in Souda Bay, Crete, Greece, with an unidentified ship and the destroyer USS Cassin Young (DD-793) alongside, circa October 1959. U.S. Navy photo from the USS Sierra (AD-18) 1959 cruise book Robert Hurst
    Sierra 29k USS Sierra (AD-18) at Barcelona, Spain, 2 July 1977, thirty-two years later than the photo at Shanghai, above, and from a very similar angle, this view shows Sierra's profile had been very little altered (the white masts belong to a ship moored beyond Sierra). The most noticeable change is the absence of 5"/38 guns, the last of which was removed in the mid-70s. Photo by Fabio Peņa
    Sierra 92k A closer view of USS Sierra (AD-18) at Barcelona, Spain, 2 July 1977. Photo by Fabio Peņa
    Sierra 57k USS Sierra (AD-18) under way on the Cooper River at Charleston, S.C., for a dependents cruise in 1979. Gene Snyder
    Sierra 81k USS Sierra (AD-18) under way, date and location unknown. Richard Leonhardt
    Sierra 57k USS Sierra (AD-18) under way, date and location unknown.
    ©Marine Photos, San Diego, CA.    		 Mike Smolinski
    Sierra 246k USS Sierra (AD-18) under way, at Genoa, Italy, 1 March 1979. Photo by Carlo Martinelli
    Sierra 162k USS Sierra (AD-18) under way, date and location unknown.
    US Navy photo from "All Hands" magazine, December 1979.    		 Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret.
    Sierra 78k USS Sierra (AD-18) under way in harbor, date and location unknown. Tommy Trampp
    Sierra 865k USS Sierra (AD-18) moored pierside at Marseille France, circa 1987-88. Photo by Philippe Gonzales
    Sierra 1136k USS Sierra (AD-18) arriving at Genoa, Italy, 9 January 1988. Photo by Carlo Martinelli
    Sierra 254k Officers and crew of the frigate, USS Koelsch (FF-1049) stand at ease before ceremonies transferring the ship to the Pakistani Navy, where it will be commissioned PNS SIQQAT. In the background is USS Sierra (AD-18), 05/31/1989.
    US National Archives photo identified # 6445445    		 US National Archives
    Sierra 61k Stern view of USS Sierra (AD-18) moored pierside at Palma de Mallorca in December 1991. Pedro Vidal Terrasa
    Sierra 346k Crew members man the rails aboard the guided missile frigate USS Nicholas (FFG-47) as the vessel passes the destroyer tender USS Sierra (AD-18), the destroyer USS John Rodgers (DD-983) and the guided missile destroyer USS Semmes (DDG-18) tied up at the pier. Macdonough is arriving at Naval Station Norfolk after being deployed in the Persian Gulf area during Operation Desert Storm, 03/22/1991.
    US National Archives photo identifier # 6465262    		 US National Archives

    For more photos and information about USS Sierra, see:
  • Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
  • MARAD Vessel History Database
  • Memorabilia
    • Commanding Officers
    01CAPT. Paul Brogdrn Koonce :RADM20 March 1944 - 26 June 1945
    02CAPT. Elmer R. Runquist26 June 1945 - 27 April 1946
    03CAPT. Redfield Mason :RADM27 April 1946 - 8 February 1947
    04CDR./CAPT. James Roland Pace, USNR (RADM)8 February 1947 - 3 April 1947
    05CAPT. Theodore Joseph Shultz (Ted)3 April 1947 - 22 July 1948
    06CAPT. Herald Franklin Stout :RADM22 July 1948 - 1 September 1949
    07CAPT. Eugene Clark Rook1 September 1949 - 5 July 1950
    08CAPT. Francis Dow Hamblin5 July 1950 - 2 June 1951
    09CAPT. Elmer Olcott Davis2 June 1951 - 7 August 1952
    10CAPT. Charles Thomas Mauro Jr.7 August 1952 - 23 July 1953
    11CAPT. Paul Louis DeVos23 July 1953 - 6 October 1954
    12CAPT. Edwin Bickford Hooper, USN (USNA 1931) :VADM6 October 1954 - 9 November 1955
    13CAPT. Edward Elias Grimm :RADM9 November 1955 - 6 December 1956
    14CAPT. William Daniel Kelly6 December 1956 - 4 December 1957
    15CAPT. Nicholas John Nicholas4 December 1957 - 6 March 1959
    16CAPT. Stanley Maitland Barnes6 March 1959 - 28 December 1959
    17CAPT. Walter J. Stencil28 December 1959 - 21 October 1960
    18CAPT. Charles Ellsworth Pone21 October 1960 - 20 October 1961
    19CAPT. George R. Reinhart III20 October 1961 - 18. October 962
    20CAPT. Eli Vinock18 October 1962 - 26 October 1963
    21CAPT. Grover Leonard Rawlings26 October 1963 - 25 November 1964
    22CAPT. Leslie Richard Olsen, USN (USNA 1942)25 November 1964 - 18 August 1965
    23CAPT. Alfred Richard Olsen Jr., USN (USNA 1945)18 August 1965 - 3 June 1966
    24CAPT. Joseph James Doak Jr., USN (USNA 1945)3 June 1966 - 8 September 1967
    25CAPT. Paul Clinton Boyd :RADM8 September 1967 - 27 June 1969
    26CAPT. Roy Francis Hoffmann :RADM27 June 1969 - 17 December 1970
    27CAPT. Richard Allen Bihr17 December 1970 - 12 June 1972
    28CAPT. Robert George Buechler, USN (USNA 1948-B)12 June 1972 - 18 September 1974
    29CAPT. Robert A. Shaid18 September 1974 - 2 July 1976
    30CAPT. Samuel Oather Jones Jr., USN (USNA 1951)2 July 1976 - 7 July 1978
    31CAPT. Stephen Sackett Kingsley7 July 1978 - 14 July 1981
    32CAPT. David Walter Somers Jr.14 July 1981 - 24 June 1983
    33CAPT. Joseph Jack D'Amato 24 June 1983 - 11 January 1985
    34CAPT. Nicholas Joseph Stasko11 January 1985 - 27 February 1987
    35CAPT. William Robert Parchen27 February 1987 - 17 March 1989
    36CAPT. Thomas Smith Weaver17 March 1989 - 22 March 1991
    37CAPT. Robert A Kamrath22 March 1991 - 13 November 1992
    38CAPT. Franklin T. Dunn13 November 1992 - 15 October 1993
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log
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    Last Updated 10 March 2023