Please report any broken links or trouble you might come across to the Webmaster. Please take a moment to let us know so that we can correct any problems and make your visit as enjoyable and as informative as possible.

NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive
USS Nitro AE-2 AE-23 Association

USS Nitro (AE-23)


International Radio Call Sign:
November - Golf - Mike - November
 NGMN
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons



Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Navy Unit Commendation
Second Row - Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation - National Defense Service Medal - Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (1-Cuba. 6-Lebanon)
Third Row - Vietnam Service Medal (2) - Southwest Asia Service Medal - Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal
Nitro Class Ammunition Ship:
  • Laid down, 20 March 1957, at Bethlehem Steel Shipyard, Inc, Sparrow Point, MD.
  • Launched, 25 June 1958
  • Commissioned, USS Nitro (AE-23), 1 May 1959
  • Decommissioned, 28 April 1995
  • Laid up in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet, Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility, Portsmouth, VA.
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 14 August 1995
  • Turned over to the Maritime Administration, 31 March 2000, for lay up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, James River, Lee Hall, VA.
  • Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, 22 June 2008, to Esco Marine, Brownsville TX for $446,726, towed from the James River Reserve Fleet, 23 July 2008
    Specifications:
    Displacement 9,050 t.(lt) 15,688 t.(fl)
    Length 512'
    Beam 72'
    Draft 27'
    Speed 19 kts.
    Complement 28 officers, 331 enlisted
    Armament four twin 3"/50 gun mounts
    Propulsion steam turbine, single shaft, 16,000shp
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    Nitro 131k USS Nitro (AE-23) underway, date and location unknown. Stephen Essex
    Nitro 104k USS Nitro (AE-23) entering port at Curacao, August 1965. Barry Smith GMG3 USS Nitro
    Nitro 196k USS Nitro (AE-23) at right conducts an underway replenishment of ammunition with USS Forrestal (CV-59) while USS Altair (AKS-32) at left simultaneously conducts an underway replenishment of general stores.
    US Navy photo from "All Hands" magazine July 1965    		 Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret.
    Nitro 69k USS Nitro (AE-23) at Naples, Italy, June 1976 © Richard Leonhardt
    Nitro 116k USS Nitro (AE-23) replenishing USS Intrepid (CV-11), circa 1960-62, location unknown.
    US Navy photo    		 Joe Radigan, MACM USN Ret
    Nitro 66k USS Nitro (AE-23) during a westbound UNREP in the Atlantic in early 1979. Photo taken from USS Canesto (AO-99) by Stephen P. Swierczek CDR, USNR Ret. USS Nitro DCA 1977-80 Bill Toohey ETC USN Ret. USS Nitro
    View the USS Nitro (AE-23)
    DANFS history entry located at the US Naval Historical Center
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log
    Fleet Reserve Association
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    USS Nitro AE-2 AE-23 Association
    Nitro Class Ammunition Ships of the United States Navy
    "AE/AOE" 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
    Comments, Suggestions, E-mail Webmaster.
    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
    © 2005 Gary P. Priolo © 1996 - 2009 NavSource Naval History. All Rights Reserved.
    Last Updated 8 August 2008