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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

USNS Grommet Reefer (T-AF-53)

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

National Defense Service Medal
Grommet Reefer Class Stores Ship:
  • Laid down, 1 January 1944, as MV Kenneth E. Gruennert a Maritime Commission type (C1-M-AV1) hull, under Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 2243) at Walter Butler Shipbuilders, Inc., Riverside Yard, Duluth, MN.
  • Launched, 29 July 1944
  • Delivered to the War Shipping Administration, 9 December 1944
  • Acquired by the Navy, 1 March 1950, and placed in service by MSTS as USNS Grommet Reefer (T-AF-53)
  • Ran aground, off Leghorn Italy, 15 December 1952, and broke in half, stern sunk, cargo and bow salvaged
  • Struck from the Naval Register, (date unknown)
  • Final Disposition, bow section transferred to MARAD, 23 July 1953 for disposition
    Specifications:
    Displacement 2,382 t.(lt) 6,240 t.(fl)
    Length 338' 8"
    Beam 50'
    Draft 21'
    Speed 10.5 kts
    Complement 40 civilian mariners
    Armament none
    Propulsion diesel, single propeller, 1,700shp
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    Grommet Reefer 50k Grommet Reefer (T-AF-53) pierside, date and place unknown.
    US Navy photo         		Stanley C. Svec
    Grommet Reefer 50k Grommet Reefer (T-AF-53) "spilt in two, rests on rocks 300 yards off Leghorn, Italy, with 37 cold and weary seamen still aboard the stern section (right) after three others were removed by breeches buoy. Rescue line parted after only three were taken off. Ship was driven on rocks by winds of gale force. Bow section, with no one aboard, is breaking up, but stern remains afloat and watertight. Cargo includes 17776 tons of perishable food including Christmas turkeys for GIs in Italy and Austria."
    Quoted from Associated Press Wirephoto caption.    		 Stanley C. Svec
    Grommet Reefer
    09065303    		 172k Wreck of USNS Grommet Reefer (T-AF-53) at Livorno, Italy, in December 1952. A gale forced her aground on 15 December and the ship broke apart on 16 December. U.S. Navy ships were ordered to assist and Piasecki HUP Retriever helicopters from the aircraft carriers USS Leyte (CVA-32), USS Midway (CVA-41) and the heavy cruiser USS Pittsburgh (CA-72) rescued the remaining 15 crew (of 39) from the ship. Here a HUP Retriever from Utility Squadron 2 (HU-2) "Fleet Angels" rescues a crewman. The bow section was salvaged.
    U.S. Navy Naval Aviation News/(Archive) February 1953, p. 23.    		 Robert Hurst
    View the Grommet Reefer (T-AF-53)
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log
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    Last Updated 5 April 2024