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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive



Contributed by Al Grazevich

USS Mauna Kea (AE-22)

International Radio Call Sign:
November - Mike - Hotel - Uniform
NMHU
JANAP Tactical Voice Radio Call Sign - Citrus (F)oxtrot - Section 6A of JANAP 119(F) 1968
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons



Secretary of the Navy Letter of Commendation
Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation (2)
Second Row - Navy Battle "E" Ribbon (2) - National Defense Service Medal - Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (5-Taiwan Straits, 4-Quemoy-Matsu, 6-Vietnam, 1-Persian Gulf)
Third Row - Vietnam Service Medal (12) - Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross Unit Citation (12) - Vietnam Campaign Medal


Suribachi Class Ammunition Ship:
  • Laid down, 6 May 1955, at Bethlehem Steel Shipyard, Inc, Sparrows Point, MD.
  • Launched, 3 May 1956
  • Commissioned, USS Mauna Kea (AE-22), 30 March 1957, CAPT. Kenneth Loveland, in command
  • During the Vietnam War USS Mauna Kea participated in the following campaigns:

    Vietnam War Campaigns
    Campaign and Dates Campaign and Dates
    Vietnamese Counteroffensive - Phase II
    24 January to 8 February 1967
    18 February to 17 March 1967
    30 March to 13 April 1967
    29 April to 18 May 1967
    24 to 31 May1967
    Summer-Fall 1969
    14 June to 9 July 1969
    30 July to 18 August 1969
    29 August to 18 September 1969
    1 to 21 October 1969
    Vietnamese Counteroffensive - Phase III
    1 to 17 June 1967
    1 to 19 July 1967
    Sanctuary Counteroffensive
    24 to 30 June 1970
    Tet Counteroffensive
    15 March to 1 April 1968
    Vietnamese Counteroffensive - Phase VII
    1 7 July 1970
    18 July to 9 August 1970
    25 August to 3 September 1970
    27 September to 18 October 1970
    2 to 14 November 1970
    20 November to 2 December 1970
    15 to 31 December 1970
    9 to 13 January 1971
    Vietnamese Counteroffensive - Phase IV
    2 April 1968
    10 to 24 April 1968
    16 to 28 June 1968
    Consolidation I
    19 August to 3 September 1971
    12 to 21 September 1971
    13 to 18 October 1971
    29 October to 8 November 1971
    15 to 26 November 1971
    Vietnamese Counteroffensive - Phase V
    7 to 17 July 1968
    27 July to 6 August 1968
    17 to 28 August 1968
    7 to 15 and 25 to 26 September 1968
    Consolidation II
    15 to 23 December 1971
    2 to 13 January 1972
    Tet 69/Counteroffensive
    11 to 27 April 1969
    4 to 15 May 1969
    24 May to 5 June 1969
    Vietnam Ceasefire
    23 August to 4 September 1972
    11 to 24 September 1972
    8 to 22 October 1972
    10 to 14 November 1972
    1 to 22 December 1972
    27 December 1972
    1 to 25 January 1973

  • Decommissioned, 30 June 1995
  • Laid up in the Reserve Fleet
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 12 December 1996
  • USS Mauna Kea (AE-22) earned twelve campaign stars for Vietnam War service
  • Title transferred to MARAD, 18 December 1998 for lay up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, Suisun Bay, Benecia, CA.
  • Final Disposition, disposed as targets during RIMPAC 2006, sunk 12 July 2006
    Specifications:
    Displacement 9,286 t.(lt) 15,728 t.(fl)
    Length 511'
    Beam 72'
    Draft 28'
    Speed 20 kts.
    Complement
    Officers 23
    Enlisted 324
    Armament four twin 3"/50 gun mounts
    Propulsion
    one geared turbine
    two boilers, steam turbines
    single propeller, 16,000shp

    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image
    Size Image Description Source
    Mauna Kea 50k
    Namesake
    Mauna Kea is a dormant volcano on the island of Hawaii. Its peak is 13,803 ft above sea level, making it the highest point in the state of Hawaii. Most of the volcano is underwater, and when measured from its oceanic base, Mauna Kea is the tallest volcano in the world, measuring over 33,000 ft in height. Mauna Kea is about a million years old, and has thus passed the most active shield stage of life hundreds of thousands of years ago. In its current post-shield state, its lava is more viscous, resulting in a steeper profile. Late volcanism has also given it a much rougher appearance than its neighboring volcanoes due to construction of cinder cones, decentralization of its rift zones, glaciation on its peak, and weathering by the prevailing trade winds. Mauna Kea last erupted 6,000 to 4,000 years ago and is now considered dormant. The peak is about 25 ft higher than Mauna Loa, its more massive neighbor.
    Tommy Trampp
    Mauna Kea 75k Broadside view of USS Mauna Kea (AE-22) off Mare Island Naval Shipyard, 18 September 1957. Mauna Kea was undergoing repairs at Mare Island from 17 August to 11 October 1957.
    Mare Island Naval Shipyard photo # 36704-9-57, 9/18/57.
    Darryl Baker
    Mauna Kea 24k USS Mauna Kea (AE-22) under way, date and location unknown. USS Rainier (AE-5) web site
    Mauna Kea 68k USS Mauna Kea (AE-22) under way, date and location unknown.
    US Navy photo from "Jane's Fighting Ships" 1958-59 Edition.
    Robert Hurst
    Mauna Kea 180k USS Mauna Kea (AE-22) under way, date and location unknown.
    US Navy photo from "All Hands" magazine, August 1960.
    Robert Hurst
    Mauna Kea 925k USS Mauna Kea (AE-22) change of command, 27 July 1962 at NAD, Concord, CA. CAPT. Joseph E. Hoker (left) was relieved by CAPT. James S. Elkins (right).
    US navy photo from the Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum.
    Darryl Baker
    Mauna Kea 711k Stern view of USS Mauna Kea (AE-22) with USS Frank Knox (DD-742) alongside. Photo was taken from USS Ranger (CVA-61) sometime during Ranger's 1962-'63 WestPac cruise. John Slaughter, Webmaster, USS Ranger History & Memorial Site
    Mauna Kea 99k USS Mauna Kea (AE-22) under way, date and location unknown.
    US Navy photo from "All Hands" magazine, February 1964.
    Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret
    Mauna Kea 122k USS Mauna Kea (AE-22) under way, date and location unknown.
    US Navy photo from "All Hands" magazine, December 1964.
    Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret
    Mauna Kea 224k USS Mauna Kea (AE-22) at Puget Sound Bridge & Dry Dock Co., WA., 2 March 1965.
    US Navy Bureau of Ships photo now the the holdings of the National Archives, cataloged under National Archives Identifier (NAID) 6927661
    Robert Hurst
    Mauna Kea 62k USS Mauna Kea (AE-22) under way, date and location unknown.
    ©Marine Photos, San Diego, CA.
    Mike Smolinski and Richard Miller BMCS USNR Ret.
    Mauna Kea 78k USS Mauna Kea (AE-22) tied to a mooring buoy in 1965, location unknown.
    Photo from the 1968-69 Edition of "Jane's Fighting Ships", courtesy Hajime Fukaya.
    Robert Hurst
    Mauna Kea 99k USS Mauna Kea (AE-22) under way, date and location unknown.
    US Navy photo.
    Wendell Royce McLaughlin Jr.
    Mauna Kea
    09052232
    223k USS Mauna Kea (AE-22) underway off San Diego, CA., date unknown.
    © George Barber
    Nicholas Tiberio
    Mauna Kea 247k USS Mauna Kea (AE-22) under way, date and location unknown.
    US Navy photo.
    Mike Smolinski
    Mauna Kea 252k Overhead view of USS Mauna Kea (AE-22) at sea, 25 May 1966, speed 14 knots (26 kph).
    US National Archives and Records Administration, catalog Identifier (NAID) 6927725, a US Navy Bureau of Ships photo now in the collections of the US National Archives.
    Robert Hurst
    Mauna Kea 290k USS Mauna Kea (AE-22) highlines ammunition to the aircraft carrier USS Bennington (CVS-20) in the Gulf of Tonkin, 10 September 1968. Bennington, with assigned Carrier Anti-Submarine Air Group 59 (CVSG-59), was deployed to the Western Pacific and Vietnam from 30 April to 9 November 1968.
    US Navy photo # USN 1137061 by PH1 Garrison, U.S. Navy.
    Robert Hurst
    Mauna Kea 123k USS Mauna Kea (AE-22) under way in the Pacific Ocean in 1969 conducting a vertrep replenishment.
    US Navy photo.
    Mike Smolinski
    Mauna Kea 223k USS Mauna Kea (AE-22) conducting a replenishment at sea with USS Blandy (DD-943) in 1970, location unknown.
    US Navy photo.
    Richard Miller BMCS USNR Ret.
    Mauna Kea 155k USS Mauna Kea (AE-22) moored pierside, circa 1970, location unknown. Richard Miller BMCS USNR Ret.
    Mauna Kea
    09052231
    328k USS Mauna Kea (AE-22) preparing to come alongside HMAS Brisbane (D-41), in 1971 to conduct and underway replenishment.
    Photo by Bob Westthorp RAN 1964-1988.
    Bob Canchola
    Mauna Kea
    09052233
    198k USS Mauna Kea (AE-22) coming alongside USS Ranger (CVA-61) in the Tonkin Gulf in 1971 for an underway replenishment evolution. Photo by Al Kleier from USS Ranger
    Mauna Kea 294k USS Mauna Kea (AE-22) under way, date and location unknown. Wolfgang Hechler
    Mauna Kea 271k USS Mauna Kea (AE-22) moored pierside, Naval Station Pearl Harbor, HI., 25 March 1981.
    Photo by J.D. Martin Jr. during March 1981 Tiger Cruise aboard USS Niagara Falls (AFS-3).
    HS1 Steve Martin, USCG Ret.
    Mauna Kea 420k Aerial view of USS Mauna Kea (AE-22) underway, 15 October 1983, location unknown.
    Defenseimagery photo # DN-SC-85-07286, a US Navy photo by PH3 Tony Yebba, now in the collections of Defense Imagery.
    Robert Hurst
    Mauna Kea 257k USS Mauna Kea (AE-22) anchored off Yokosuka Naval Base, Japan, 2 June 1984.
    US National Archives and Records Administration catalog item NAID 6379735, a US Navy photo by PH2 Michael A. Dumas.
    Robert Hurst
    Mauna Kea 195k USS Mauna Kea (AE-22) preparing to drop anchor off Singapore, 28 August 1992.
    Photo by Simon Olsen.
    Chris Howell, Port of Bluff, N.Z.
    Mauna Kea 204k USS Mauna Kea (AE-22) under way, date and location unknown Richard Miller BMCS USNR Ret
    Mauna Kea 63k USS Mauna Kea (AE-22) conducting an underway replenishment, date and location unknown. Richard Miller BMCS USNR Ret
    Pyro 228k Decommissioned ex-USS Mauna Kea (AE-22) (left) and ex-USS Pyro (AE-24) (right) moored pierside at Mare Island, 22 November 2001. Ron Reeves


    For more photos and information about USS Mauna Kea, see;
  • Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)

  • Commanding Officers
    01CAPT. Loveland, Kenneth :RADM30 March 1957 - 2 November 1957
    02CAPT. Waliszewski, Henry Ludwig2 November 1957 - 20 January 1959
    03CAPT. Cochran, Dale Eugene20 January 1959 - 26 January 1960
    04CAPT. Hilton, Hart Dale26 January 1960 - 19 May 1961
    05CAPT. Hoker, Joseph Emil, USN (USNA 1941)19 May 1961 - 27 July 1962
    06CAPT. Elkins Jr., James Samuel27 July 1962 - 14 August 1963
    07CAPT. McCormick Jr., Thomas Edward14 August 1963 - 17 October 1964
    08CAPT. Howe Jr., George Benjamin17 October 1964 - 27 February 1965
    09LCDR. Leedom Jr., Clair Edward27 February 1965 - 15 November 1965
    10CAPT. Timmes, Francis Xavier, USN15 November 1965 - 29 October 1966
    11CAPT. Lindsay, John Ross, USN (USNA 1946)29 October 1966 - 14 February 1968
    12CAPT. Sells, Warren Hanson14 February 1968 - 17 July 1969
    13CAPT. Polk, Thomas Harding, USN (USNA 1945)17 July 1969 - 4 October 1970
    14CAPT. Monger, Albert Jackson (Jack) :RADM4 October 1970 - 10 August 1971
    15CAPT. Grafius, Guy A. B.10 August 1971 - 6 December 1972
    16LCDR. Dirvianskis, Jonathan Arunas6 December 1972 - 18 May 1974
    17CDR. Kilpatrick, Thomas Eugene18 May 1974 - 14 August 1976
    18CDR. Riedel Jr., Bernard14 August 1976 - July 1978
    19CDR. Davis, Alden AdamsJuly 1978 - 12 July 1980
    20CAPT. Breece, James Philip12 July 1980 - 10 July 1982
    21CAPT. Amos, Robert E., USN10 July 1982 - 17 August 1984
    22CDR. Kelly, John Thomas17 August 1984 - 17 December 1986
    23CDR. Charuhas, Richard B.17 December 1986 - 9 January 1989
    24CDR. Gorski, Thomas Henry, USN (USNA 1971)9 January 1989 - 24 April 1991
    25CDR. Strott, John B.24 April 1991 - 24 January 1993
    26CDR. Nathanson, Richard F. 24 January 1993 - 30 June 1995
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves

    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foy Log

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    Last Updated 17 February 2023