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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

AF-43 Gordonia

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 (date unknown) as 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.
  • Decommissioned, 8 July 1946, at San Francisco, CA., and returned to the Maritime Commission the same day
  • Renamed 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) 6,240 t.(fl)
    Length 338'
    Beam 50'
    Draft 18'
    Speed 12 kts. (max)
    Complement 84
    Cargo Capacity 2,120 DWT
    Armament one single 3"/50 dual purpose gun mount, six single 20mm gun mounts
    Propulsion diesel engine, single screw, 1,700shp
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    For Full Size Image    		Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    Gordonia 78k 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 Gordonia (AF-43)
    DANFS history entry located at the US Naval Historical Center web site
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information Web Sites
    U.S.Navy Memorial Foundation
    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 - 2008 NavSource Naval History. All Rights Reserved.
    Last Updated 7 October 2005