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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

USS Great Sitkin (AE-17)


International Radio Call Sign:
November - Uniform - India - Delta
NUID
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - American Campaign Medal - World War II Victory Medal - National Defense Service Medal (2)
Bottom Row - Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (1-Cuba) - Vietnam Service Medal (2) - Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal
Mount Hood Class Ammunition Ship:
  • Laid down (date unknown), as a Maritime Commission type (C2-S-AJ1) hull under Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 1706) at North Carolina Shipbuilding Co., Wilmington, N.C.
  • Launched, 20 January 1945
  • Commissioned USS Great Sitkin (AE-17), 11 August 1945, at Charleston, S.C., LCDR. William F. Smith in command
  • During the Vietnam War USS Great Sitkin participated in the following campaigns:
    Vietnam War Campaigns
    Campaign and Dates Campaign and Dates
    Vietnamese Counteroffensive - Phase IV
    1 to 12 May 1968
    25 May to 8 June 1968     		Vietnamese Counteroffensive - Phase V
    23 September to 4 October 1968

  • Decommissioned (date unknown)
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 2 July 1973
  • Final Disposition, sold by the Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service for scrapping, 1 March 1974 to US Ship Co., Camden, N.J. for $152,666,60, dismantled, March to October 1974.

    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
    two twin 3"/50 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 Source
    Great Sitkin 63k USS Great Sitkin (AE-17) underway, date and location unknown.
    US Navy photo from "All Hands" magazine August 1959    		 Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret.
    Great Sitkin 77k USS Great Sitkin (AE-17) underway, date and location unknown.
    US Navy photo from "All Hands" magazine October 1962    		 Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret.
    Great Sitkin 69k USS Great Sitkin (AE-17) is left behind as USS Lester (DE-1022) pulls away after an underway replenishment of ammunition, date and location unknown.
    US Navy photo from "All Hands" magazine October 1962    		 Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret.
    Springfield 275k USS Great Sitkin (AE-17) delivers ammunition to USS Springfield (CLG-7) during an underway replenishment in the Mediterranean Sea during 1965 William C. Swisher
    Great Sitkin 87k USS Great Sitkin (AE-17) underway, date and location unknown. Hyperwar US Navy in WWII
    Great Sitkin 78k USS Great Sitkin (AE-17) underway, date and location unknown. Hyperwar US Navy in WWII
    Great Sitkin 160k USS Great Sitkin (AE-17) underway in the Mediterranean Sea in May 1967. Photo by Jim McCoy
    View the USS Great Sitkin (AE-17)
    DANFS history entry located at the US Naval Historical Center web site
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S.Navy Memorial Foundation
    Fleet Reserve Association
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    USS Great Sitkin Association
    "AE" Sailors Association
    Back To The Navsource Photo Archives Main Page Back To The Service Force Ship Type Index Back To The Ammunition Ship (AE) Photo Index
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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 15 February 2008