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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

USS Merapi (AF-38)

International Radio Call Sign:
November - Xray - Hotel - Oscar
NXHO
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons




Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - China Service Medal (extended)
Second Row - American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (1) - World War II Victory Medal
Third Row - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp) - National Defense Service Medal - Korean Service Medal (5)
Fourth Row - Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation (2) - United Nations Service Medal - Republic of Korea War Service Medal (retroactive)


Adria Class Stores Ship:
  • Laid down, 14 August 1944, as a Maritime Commission type (R1-M-AV3) hull, under Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 2202) at Pennsylvania Shipyards, Inc, Beaumont, TX.
  • Launched, 4 October 1944
  • Acquired by the Navy, 5 March 1945
  • Converted for Naval service at Todd Dry Dock Co., Galveston, TX.
  • Commissioned USS Merapi (AF-38), 21 March 1945, LT. William W. Wood in command
  • During World War II USS Merapi was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater and participated in the following campaign:

    Asiatic-Pacific Campaign
    Campaign and Dates
    Okinawa Gunto operation
    Assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto, 14 to 19 June 1945

  • During the Korean War USS Merapi participated in the following campaigns:

    Korean War Campaigns
    Campaign and Dates Campaign and Dates
    Communist China Aggression
    13 to 21 December 1950
    UN Summer-Fall Offensive
    12 July 1951
    First UN Counter Offensive
    25 to 27 March 1951
    21 April 1951
    Third Korean Winter
    23 to 24 March 1953
    Communist China Spring Offensive
    22 to 23 April 1951
    15 to 16 May 1951
    6 to 7 June 1951
    28 June to 1 July 1951
     

  • Following World War II and during the Korean War USS Merapi was assigned to Occupation and China service in the Far East for the following periods:

    Navy Occupation Service Medal

    China Service Medal (extended)
    12 January to 24 April 194612 January to 24 April 1946
    16 October to 5 November 194624 March to 9 April 1948
     24 June to 24 July 1948
     26 July to 20 September 1948
     8 to 14 December 1949
     11 to 13 March 1951
     26 April to 2 May 1951
     28 May to 2 June 1951
     4 to 7 July 1951

  • Decommissioned, 18 January 1959, at Astoria, OR.
  • Laid up in the Pacific Reserve Fleet
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 1 July 1960
  • USS Merapi earned one battle star for World War II service, five for the Korean conflict, and was twice awarded the Korean Presidential Unit Citation
  • Laid up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, at Astoria, OR., 11 December 1959
  • Sold by the Maritime Administration, 22 April 1966, for non-transportation use, to Marine View Inc. for conversion to fish processing plant, named Sonya, delivered 23 May 1966
  • Sold in 1969 to Roy C. Furfiord, Seattle, WA. as fish factory barge, name retained
  • Sold in 1977 to Northwest Venture, Inc. as a fish factory barge, renamed Northwest Venture
  • Out of documentation by 1989.
  • Final Disposition, fate unknown.
    Specifications:
    Displacement 3,139 t.(lt) 6,240 t.(fl)
    Length 338'
    Beam 50'
    Draft 21' 1" (lim)
    Speed 11.5 kts. (trial)
    Complement
    Officers 10
    Enlisted 76
    Largest Boom Capacity 10 t.
    Cargo Capacity 3,170 DWT
    Refrigerated 114,580 Cu ft.
    Non-refrigerated 47.610 Cu ft.
    Armament
    one single 3"/50 cal dual purpose gun mount
    six single 20mm AA gun mounts
    Fuel Capacity
    Diesel 6,300 Bbls
    Propulsion
    one Nordberg, TSM Diesel engine
    three Diesel-drive 250Kw 120V/240V D.C. Ship's Service Generators
    single propeller, 1,700shp

    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image
    Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    Merapi
    09063810
    124k USS Merapi (AF-38) underway off the Texas coast, probably just after her commissioning on 21 March 1945. She is painted in Camouflage Measure 32, Design 6AO.
    U.S. Navy Bureau of Ships photo BS 80353
    Robert Hurst
    Merapi 61k USS Merapi (AF-38) at anchor, date and location unknown Tommy Trampp
    Merapi
    09063808
    127k USS Merapi (AF-38) anchored at Roi, Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Islands in 1946 while replenishing the aircraft carrier USS Shangri-La (CV-38).
    U.S. Navy photo from the USS Shangri-La (CV-38) 1944-1946 cruise book
    Robert Hurst
    Merapi 61k USS Merapi (AF-38) underway (Stern view from Aft of Center Line) in Sinclair Inlet off Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, WA., 24 July 1947.
    US Naval Shipyard Puget Sound photo # NY8-823 now in the collections of the US National Archives, Seattle Branch.
    Tracy White
    Merapi 58k USS Merapi (AF-38) underway (Bow view, approximately 45° off Center Line) in Sinclair Inlet off Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, WA., 24 July 1947.
    US Naval Shipyard Puget Sound photo # NY8-822 now in the collections of the US National Archives, Seattle Branch.
    Tracy White
    Merapi 64k USS Merapi (AF-38) underway (Broadside view, Starboard Side) in Sinclair Inlet off Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, WA., 24 July 1947.
    US Naval Shipyard Puget Sound photo # NY8-821 now in the collections of the US National Archives, Seattle Branch.
    Tracy White
    Merapi
    09063809
    467k Overhead view of USS Merapi (AF-38) likely taken from the Golden Gate Bridge circa 1947-51 as she entered San Francisco Bay.
    Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum
    Darryl Baker
    Merapi 78k USS Merapi (AF-38) leaving Pearl Harbor for Kwajalein and Eniwetok in the summer of 1957. The deck cargo was for Kwajalein. Ron Berwick DK3 USS Merapi
    Merapi 243k USS Merapi (AF-38) underway, possibly in the entrance channel to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, circa early-1958 near the end of her active naval career. The gun visible aft is a 3"/50 weapon.
    US National Archives photo # USN 1033595, a US Navy photo now in the collections of the US national Archives.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command

    USS Merapi (AF-38)
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
    01LCDR. Wood Jr., William Wilson, USNR21 March 1945 - 9 December 1945
    02LCDR. Marker, Eugene Frederick, USN9 December 1945
    03LCDR. Nichols, Robert Greene, USN5 July 1948 - 27 September 1949
    04LCDR. Livingston, Carlton Stanley, USN1950 - September 1951
    05LCDR. Chance, Ray Edward, USNSeptember 1951 - September 1952
    06LCDR. Van Over, Roswell, USNSeptember 1952 - ?
    07LCDR. Davis Luna Alonzo, USN? - 23 May 1958
    08LCDR. Waller Jr., William, USN23 May 1958 - 18 January 1959
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves

    Crew Contact And Reunion Information Web Sites
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log

    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    MARAD Vessel History Database
    Back To The Main Photo Index Back To The Service Force Ship Type Index Back To The Stores Ship (AF) Photo Index
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 22 December 2023