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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

USS Gordonia (AF-43)

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - American Campaign Medal
Bottom Row - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp)
Adria Class Stores Ship:
  • Laid down in September 1944 as MV Whale Knot, a Maritime Commission type (R1-M-AV3) hull, under Maritime Commission contract (MC 2205) hull at Pennsylvania Shipyards, Inc, Beaumont, TX.
  • Launched, 30 November 1944
  • Commissioned USS Gordonia (AF-43), 14 May 1945, at Galveston, TX., Lt. Irv V. Chapman Jr. in command
  • Decommissioned, 8 July 1946, at San Francisco, CA., and returned to the Maritime Commission the same day
  • Renamed MV Whale Knot and laid up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, Suisun Bay, Benecia, CA.
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 8 January 1946
  • Operated commercially by the Matson Navigation Company during 1946-1948
  • Returned to the Maritime Administration
  • Transferred to the US Army Transportation Command
  • Returned to the Maritime Administration for lay up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, Suisun Bay, Benecia, CA., in early 1949
  • Final Disposition, sold for scrapping in November 1943, scrapped in 1974
    Specifications:
    Displacement 3,139 t.(lt) 7,435 t.(fl)
    Length 338' 6"
    Beam 50'
    Draft 18'
    Speed 11.5 kts. (trial)
    Complement
    Officers 10
    Enlisted 74
    Largest Boom Capacity 10 t.
    Cargo Capacity 3,170 DWT
    Non-refrigerated - 47,610 Cu ft
    Refrigerated - 114,580 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 Diesel TSM engine
    three 250Kw 120V/240V Ship's Service Generators
    single propeller, 1,700shp
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    Gordonia 78k USS Gordonia (AF-43) underway in San Francisco Bay, CA., circa 1945-1946.
    US Navy photo # NH 82185 Courtesy of Donald M. McPherson, 1975.    		 US Naval Historical Center
    View the USS Gordonia (AF-43)
    DANFS history entry located at the US Naval History and Heritage Command
    Commanding Officers
    01LT. Chapman Jr., Ira V.14 May 1945 - ?
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information Web Sites
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log
    Fleet Reserve Association
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    No Information Available
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
    © 2005 Gary P. Priolo © 1996 - 2009 NavSource Naval History. All Rights Reserved.
    Last Updated 19 February 2010