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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive
Contributed by Mike Smolinski

AE-19 Diamond Head


Flag Hoist/International Radio Call Sign:
November - Uniform - India - Foxtrot
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons



Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation
Second Row - Navy Expeditionary Medal (3-Cuba) - American Campaign Medal - World War II Victory Medal
Third Row - National Defense Service Medal - Vietnam Service Medal (3) - 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 1709) at North Carolina Shipbuilding Co., Wilmington, N.C.
  • Launched, 3 February 1945
  • Acquired by the Navy, 10 March 1945
  • Converted to an Ammunition Ship at Bethlehem Steel Key Highway Shipyard, Baltimore, MD.
  • Commissioned, USS Diamond Head (AE-19), 9 August 1945, LCDR. F. C. Snow, USNR, in command
  • Decommissioned, 23 August 1946, at Galveston, TX.
  • Laid up in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet, Texas Group, Galveston
  • Recommissioned, 9 August 1951
  • During the Vietnam War Diamond Head participated in the following campaigns:
    Vietnam War Campaigns
    Campaign and Dates Campaign and Dates
    Vietnamese Counteroffensive - Phase II
    5 to 23 May 1967     		Tet Counteroffensive
    27 to 28 March 1968
    Vietnamese Counteroffensive - Phase III
    5 to 28 June 1967
    18 to 31 July 1967
    17 to 31 August 1967
    25 September to 17 October 1967
    24 to 31 October 1967
    6 to 8 December 1967     		.

  • Decommissioned (date unknown)
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 1 March 1973
  • Custody transferred to the Maritime Administration (MARAD), 24 March 1974 for disposal
  • Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, 3 October 1974
    Specifications:
    Displacement 15,295 t.(fl)
    Length 459' 2"
    Beam 63'
    Draft 28' 3"
    Speed 16 kts.
    Complement 267
    Cargo Capacity 7,700 DWT
    Armament
    one single 5"/38 dual purpose gun mount
    four 3"/50 dual purpose gun mounts
    two twin 40mm AA gun mounts
    ten single 20mm AA gun mounts
    Propulsion geared turbine, single propeller, 6,000shp
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		Size Image Description Source
    Diamond Head 112k Diamond Head (AE-19) underway off the Virginia Capes, August 1964 © Richard Leonhardt
    Diamond Head 123k Diamond Head (AE-19) underway off the Virginia Capes during an underway replenishment exercise, August 1964 © Richard Leonhardt
    Diamond Head 84k Diamond Head (AE-19) moored pierside at NOB Norfolk, VA, August 1964 © Richard Leonhardt
    Diamond Head 185k Diamond Head (AE-19) underway, date and place unknown.
    US Navy photo    		 Mike Smolinski
    Diamond Head 91k Diamond Head (AE-19) at anchor, date and place unknown.
    US Navy photo from "All Hands" magazine December 1964.    		 Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret.
    Diamond Head 181k Diamond Head (AE-19) underway at Hampton Roads, June 1968.
    Photo courtesy of Atlantic Fleet Sales, Norfolk, VA., ©Nobe Smith.    		 Bill Gonyo
    View the Diamond Head (AE-19)
    DANFS history entry located at the US Naval Historical Center
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S.Navy Memorial Foundation
    Fleet Reserve Association
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    "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 9 November 2007