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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive
Contributed by Mike Smolinski

AE-14 Firedrake

Flag Hoist/International Radio Call Sign:
November - Kilo - Delta - Bravo
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons




Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (1) - World War II Victory Medal
Second Row - National Defense Service Medal (2) - Korea Service Medal (4) - Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (1-Taiwan Straits, 1-Quemoy-Matsu, 2-Vietnam
Third Row - Vietnam Service Medal (6) - Korean Presidential Unit Citation - Philippine Liberation Medal (1)
Fourth Row - United Nations Service Medal - Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal - Republic of Korea War Service Medal (retroactive)
Mount Hood Class Ammunition Ship:
  • Laid down, as SS Winged Racer, a Maritime Commission type (C2-S-AJ1) hull, under Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 1379) at North Carolina Shipbuilding Co., Wilmington, N.C.
  • Launched, 12 May 1944
  • Commissioned USS Firedrake (AE-14), 27 December 1944. CDR. A. Elb, USNR, in command
  • Decommissioned, 21 February 1946, at Orange, TX.
  • Laid up in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet, Texas Group, Orange
  • Recommissioned, 11 October 1951
  • During World War II Firedrake was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater and participated in the following campaign:
    Asiatic-Pacific Campaign
    Campaign and Dates
    Okinawa Gunto operation
    5th and 3rd Fleet raids in support of the Okinawa Gunto operation, April 1945

  • During the Korean War Firedrake participated in the following campaigns:
    Korean War Campaigns
    Campaign and Dates Campaign and Dates
    Second Korean Winter
    15 to 18 April 1952     		Third Korean Winter
    6 to 14 March 1953
    28 March to 4 April 1953
    21 to 27 April 1953
    Korean Defense Summer-Fall 1952
    3 to 12 May 1952
    29 May to 8 June 1952
    24 to 26 June 1952
    3 to 15 July 1952     		Korean Summer-Fall 1953
    7 to12 May 1953
    1 to13 and 18 to 27 June 1953
    7 to 20 and 27 July 1953

  • During the Vietnam War Firedrake participated in the following campaigns:
    Vietnam War Campaigns
    Campaign and Dates Campaign and Dates
    Vietnam Defense
    24 November to 5 December 1965
    14 to 21 December 1965     		Tet 69/Counteroffensive
    27 February to 11 March 1969
    19 to 25 March 1969
    8 to 22 April 1969
    4 to 8 June 1969
    Vietnamese Counteroffensive
    6 to 15 January 1966
    28 January to 7 February 1966
    27 February to 8 March 1966
    25 March to 7 April 1966
    27 April to 11 May 1966
    14 to 18 May 1966     		Vietnam Summer-Fall 1969
    9 to 21 June 1969
    29 June to 25 July 1969
    16 to 25 August 1969
    Vietnamese Counteroffensive - Phase III
    5 to 24 December 1967     		Vietnamese Counteroffensive - Phase VII
    1 to 6 and 13 to 26 July 1970
    1 to 3 August 1970
    25 August to 6 September 1970

  • Decommissioned in October 1970 at the Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility, Vallejo, CA.
  • Struck from the Naval Register (date unknown)
  • Transferred to the Maritime Administration for lay up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, Suisun Bay, Benecia, CA.
  • Final Disposition, disposed of by Maritime Administration (MARAD) sale, 1 December 1977 for scrapping
  • Firedrake was awarded one battle star for World War II service, four battle stars for Korean War service, and six campaign stars for Vietnam War service
    Specifications:
    Displacement 13,910 t.(fl)
    Length 459' 2"
    Beam 63'
    Draft 28' 3"
    Speed 16 kts.
    Complement 267
    Armament
    one single 5"/38 dual purpose gun mount
    four single 3"/50 dual purpose gun mounts
    two twin 40mm AA gun mounts
    eight twin 20mm AA gun mounts
    Propulsion geared turbine, single propeller, 6,000shp
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    Firedrake 42k Firedrake (AE-14) at the Yorktown Naval Mine Depot, circa late January 1946. Photo by Richard Wagner USS Firedrake
    Firedrake 161k Firedrake (AE-14) underway in San Francisco Bay during Fleet Review, 13 June 1957. Photo ©Allied Photographers of San Francisco. Robert M. Cieri
    Firedrake 82k Firedrake (AE-14) underway, date and place unknown.
    US Navy photo from "All Hands" magazine November 1963    		 Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret.
    Firedrake 24k Firedrake (AE-14) underway, circa 1954 Hyperwar US Navy in WWII
    Firedrake 56.k Broadside view of Firedrake (AE-14) departing Mare Island Naval Shipyard, 17 August 1956. Firedrake was at Mare Island undergoing repairs from 13 June to 17 August 1956. The tug forward appears to he one of the YTMs Mare Island built and the aft tug appears to be either Awatobi (YTB-264) or Dekaury (YTB-178).
    Mare Island Naval Shipyard photo # 30736-8-56, 8/17/56.    		 Darryl Baker
    Firedrake 103k Firedrake (AE-14) holds her position while an unidentified aircraft carrier approaches on her port side to begin an underway replenishment, date and place unknown.
    US Navy photo from "All Hands" magazine February 1964    		 Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret.
    Firedrake 89k Firedrake (AE-14) replenishing Buchanan (DDG-14) off her starboard side and Ticonderoga (CVA-14) off her port side, 14 May 1969.
    US Navy photo    		 Jim Flanders EM3 USN USS Firedrake
    Firedrake 109k Firedrake (AE-14) replenishing Buchanan (DDG-14) off her starboard side and Ticonderoga (CVA-14) off her port side, 14 May 1969.
    US Navy photo    		 Chet Morris
    Firedrake 44k Firedrake (AE-14) replenishing Coontz (DLG-9) to starboard and Ranger (CVA-61) to port, during a WESTPAC in the early 1960s.
    US Navy photo    		 EMC(SW) Brian Kroenung
    View the Firedrake (AE-14)
    DANFS history entry located at the US Naval Historical Center
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S.Navy Memorial Foundation
    Fleet Reserve Association
    2007 Reunion Information
    Date:1 to 6 October 2007
    Place: Red Lion Inn at the Quay
    Phone: (360) 694-8341 or 1-(800) 733-5466)
    Address: 100 Columbia Street, Vancouver, WA 98660
    Reunion Coordinators:
    Ken Voss, Vancouver, WA, ph (360) 892-6982, Email: Firedrake 2007 Reunion
    Dick Tracy., Fleetwood, PA, ph: (610) 944-9675, Email: Firedrake 2007 Reunion
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    "AE" Sailors Association
    USS Firedrake (AE-14)
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
    © 2005 Gary P. Priolo © 1996 - 2008 NavSource Naval History. All Rights Reserved.
    Last Updated 20 April 2007