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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive
Contributed by Mike Smolinski

USS Bryce Canyon (AD-36)

International Radio Call Sign:
November - Bravo - Kilo - Zulu
 NBKZ
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - National Defense Service Medal - Korean Service Medal (1)
Bottom Row - Navy Sea Service Deployment Ribbon - United Nations Service Medal - Republic of Korea War Service Medal (retroactive)
Shanandoah Class Destroyer Tender:
  • Laid down, date unknown, at Charleston Navy Yard, Charleston, S.C. (the last ship to be built by the yard)
  • Launched, 7 March 1946
  • Commissioned USS Bryce Canyon (AD-36), 15 September 1950, CAPT. M. H. Gerin in command
  • During the Korean War Bryce Canyon participated in the following campaign:
    Korean War Campaign
    Campaign and Dates
    Korean Defense Summer-Fall 1952, 11 and 12 September 1952
  • Decommissioned, 30 June 1981, at Naval Station Pearl Harbor, HI.
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 30 June 1981
  • Custody transferred to the Maritime Administration, for disposal
  • Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, to National Metal & Steel, Terminal Island, CA., 6 April 1982
  • USS Bryce Canyon received one battle star for her service in the Korean War
    Specifications:
    Displacement 8,165 t.(lt) 16,900 t.(fl)
    Length 492'
    Beam 69' 6"
    Draft 27' 6" (lim)
    Speed 18.5 kts (trial).
    Complement
    Officers 59
    Enlisted 918
    Largest Boom Capacity 30 t.
    Armament
    two single 5"/38 cal dual purpose gun mounts
    four twin 40mm AA gun mounts
    Fuel Capacities
    NSFO 16,105Bbls
    Diesel 4,415Bbls
    Propulsion
    one Westinghouse geared turbine
    two Foster & Wheeler D-type boilers, 435psi 740°
    double Westinghouse Main Reduction Gear
    Ships Service Generators
    four turbo-drive 750Kw 450V A.C.
    two turbo-drive 300Kw 120V/240V D.C.
    single propeller, 8,500shp
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    Bryce Canyon 102k USS Bryce Canyon (AD-36) underway near Charleston, S.C., shortly after commissioning in September 1950.
    US National Archives RG-19-LCM, photo # 19N-135885, a US Navy Bureau of Ships photo now in the collections of the US National Archives.     		Robert Hurst
    Bryce Canyon 88k USS Bryce Canyon (AD-36) underway, date and location unknown.
    US Navy photo    		 Bob Hall
    Bryce Canyon 71k USS Bryce Canyon (AD-36) 11 September 1959, location unknown.
    US Navy photo    		 Bob Hall
    Bryce Canyon 77k USS Bryce Canyon (AD-36) underway, date and location unknown. 1960s configuration.
    US Navy photo    		  
    Bryce Canyon 67k
    The Oriskany Fire - of 26 October 1966

    "Its a rare sight to see a Destroyer Tender alongside an Aircraft Carrier. As a matter of fact, no one here knows whether it has ever happened before.
    Recently, however, at Subic Bay, in the Philippines, USS BRYCE CANYON (AD-36) wrote a new page in Western Pacific history by going alongside USS ORISKANY (CVA-34). The event was occasioned by a serious fire which had broken out in ORISKANY while operating off the Vietnam coast. As soon as the ships were moored together, BRYCE CANYON's repair personnel swarmed aboard the carrier, and commenced around-the-clock operations. First on the agenda was the immediate recharging of some 107 CO2 fire extinguishers, which had been used in fighting the blaze. At the end of six days, all repair work was completed. Every one of the seventy ventilation and heating systems, as well as all electric motors in the damaged area had been checked out and restored to order. During this period, working parties from the tender had also pitched in with ORISKANY sailors and personnel from SRF Subic, in cleaning up the fire and smoke damaged areas to make them habitable. Elsewhere aboard the tender, skilled technicians worked on countless jobs not immediately associated with the fire damage, giving the carrier a tender availability the like of which she had never seen. On conclusion of work, BRYCE CANYON's modern electronic accounting machine installation tallied the results of her 6-day effort. In all, a total of 6,019 manhours had been expended; the equivalent of a two week availability for four destroyers.
    As both ships got underway at the crack of dawn on the sixth day, ORISKANY sent the following visual message to the tender: "Your outstanding service and voluntary assistance in removing our scars is greatly appreciated. The willingness to work and your speed and efficiency helped us leave Subic Bay in outstanding shape for our transit home. Well done to all men aboard BRYCE CANYON!"    		 Bruce A. Campbell USS Bryce Canyon
    Bryce Canyon 59k
    Bryce Canyon 81k USS Bryce Canyon (AD-36) at Pearl Harbor, HI, December 1968,
    with USS Nicholas (DD-449) alongside    		 © Richard Leonhardt
    Bryce Canyon 58k USS Bryce Canyon (AD-36) and USS Wiltsie (DD-716) at anchor in the harbor at Hong Kong, BCC, April 1971. Richard Miller BMCS USNR Ret.
    Bryce Canyon 99k USS Bryce Canyon (AD-36)'s crew man the rail as she enters port, date and location unknown.
    US Navy photo.    		 Robert M. Cieri
    Bryce Canyon 97k USS Bryce Canyon (AD-36)'s crew man the rail as she enters port, date and location unknown.
    ©Marine Photos, San Diego, CA.    		 Richard Miller BMCS USNR Ret.
    Bryce Canyon 47k USS Bryce Canyon (AD-36)'s crew man the rail as she enters port, date and location unknown.
    ©Marine Photos, San Diego, CA.    		 Mike Smolinski
    Bryce Canyon 137k USS Bryce Canyon (AD-36) Welcome Aboard pamphlet. Richard Miller BMCS USNR Ret.
    Bryce Canyon 47k USS Bryce Canyon (AD-36) underway, date and location unknown.
    US Navy photo from "All Hands" magazine, December 1974.    		 Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret.
    Bryce Canyon 363k USS Bryce Canyon (AD-36) moored at Naval Station Pearl Harbor, HI., October 1979. Photo by Gerhard Mueller-Debus
    Bryce Canyon 120k USS Bryce Canyon (AD-36) being moved after decommissioning by Neodesha (YTB-815), probably at Naval Station Pearl Harbor, HI., after 30 June 1981.
    US Navy photo from "All Hands" magazine, December 1981.    		 Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret.
    USS Bryce Canyon Additional Ships Patches
    Bryce Canyon
    Contributed by Mike Smolinski    		 Bryce Canyon
    Contributed by Bruce A. Campbell

    For more photos and information about USS Bryce Canyon, see;
  • Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships
  • USS Bryce Canyon
  • Commanding Officers
    • Crew Contact And Reunion Information Web Sites
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 2 September 2011