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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive
Contributed by Mike Smolinski

Contributed by Al Grazevich

USS Denebola (AF-56)

International Radio Call Sign:
November - Bravo - Romeo - Foxtrot
 NBRF
JANAP Tactical Voice Radio Call Sign - Ellsworth (J)uliet - Section 6A of JANAP 119(F) 1968
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Precedence of awards is from left to right
Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation - National Defense Service Medal (2) - Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (1-Cuba, 1-Lebanon)
Denebola Class Stores Ship:
  • Laid down as SS Hibbing Victory, a Maritime Commission type (VC2-S-AP3) hull, under Maritime Commission contract (MCV 113), at Oregon Shipbuilding Co., Portland, OR.
  • Launched, 10 June 1944
  • Merchant Service
    Bare bottom charter to Pacific Atlantic SS. Co., Inc., 30 June 1944, at Portland, OR.
    Bare bottom charter by Seas Shipping Co., Inc., 3 July 1946, at New York, N.Y.
    Bare bottom charter by Black Diamond SS Corp., 20 February 1948
    Laid up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, Wilmington, N.C., 4 August 1948
    Leased under a General Agency Agreement to South Atlantic SS Lines, 6 August 1950
    Bare bottom charter by American Foreign SS Co., 23 August 1950, at Savannah, GA.
  • Acquired by the Navy from the Maritime Commission, 3 May 1952
  • Converted for Naval service as a Provisions Store Ship at New York Naval Shipyard
  • Commissioned USS Denebola (AF-56), 20 January 1954, CDR. S. E. Ramey in command
  • Title transferred to the US Navy from the Maritime Administration (MARAD), 31 May 1958
  • Decommissioned and struck from the Naval Register, 30 April 1976
  • Title transferred to the MARAD from the US Navy, 17 November 1976
  • Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, 17 November 1976, to Luria Brothers & Co., Inc. (PD-X-1011 dated 5 October 1976) for $60,4050.00 (two ship sale)
    Specifications:
    Displacement 4,960 t.(lt) 10,850 t.(fl)
    Length 455' 3"
    Beam 62'
    Draft 28' 6"
    Speed 16 kts.
    Complement 250
    Armament four twin 3'/50 dual purpose gun mounts
    Propulsion
    geared turbine engine
    single propeller, 8,500shp
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    Merchant Service Seas Shipping Co. (Robin Line) Black Diamond Line South Atlantic SS Co.
    Denebola 88k SS Hibbing Victory under way, date and location unknown. Richard Miller BMCS USNR Ret.
    USS Denebola (AF-56)
    Denebola 62k Overhead view of USS Denebola (AF-56) under way, date and location unknown. Richard Miller BMCS USNR Ret.
    Denebola 82k USS Denebola (AF-56) under way, circa 1958, location unknown.
    US Navy photo from "Jane's Fighting Ships 1958-59".    		 Robert Hurst
    Denebola 119k USS Denebola (AF-56) and USS Franklin D. Roosevelt (CVA-42) moored in the harbor at Naples, Italy in 1959. Richard Miller BMCS USNR Ret.
    Denebola 112k USS Denebola (AF-56) comes alongside USS Forrestal (CV-59) to transfer stores, during operations in the Mediterranean Sea, circa 1962.
    US Navy photo # NH 98382 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center.    		 US Naval Historical Center
    Denebola 268k USS Denebola (AF-56) under way, date and location unknown early in her career. Note she carries 3/50" gun mounts aft, which were later removed to make room for a helicopter deck.
    US Navy photo.    		 David Buell
    Denebola 128k USS Denebola (AF-56) moored at Naval Station Norfolk, VA., date unknown. Moored across from Denebola at the adjoining pier is an LST and the Rescue and Salvage Ship USS Preserver (ARS-8). Between the piers is an unidentified floating crane. Richard Miller, BMCS USNR Ret.
    Denebola 107k USS Denebola (AF-56) at anchor, date and location unknown. Richard Miller, BMCS USNR Ret.
    Denebola 108k USS Denebola (AF-56) highlines food and supplies to USS Shangri-La (CVA-38) during underway replenishment operations in February 1969. USS Manley (DD-940) is in the distance.

    US Navy photo # USN 1140684 by PH3 J. Giardina, from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center.    		 US Naval Historical Center
    Denebola 94k USS Cascade (AD-16), USS Denebola (AF-56) and the Destroyer Escorts USS Lester (DE-1022), USS Hammerberg (DE-1015) and USS Courtney (DE-1021) moored at Naples, Italy, 13 March 1971
    US Navy photo # K 88830 by PHC B.M. Anderson, from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center.    		 US Naval Historical Center
    Denebola 105k USS Denebola (AF-56) steaming in Hampton Roads, Virginia, March 1971.
    US Navy photo # K 88516 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center.    		 US Naval Historical Center
    Denebola 75k USS Denebola (AF-56) during an underway replenishment, date and location unknown.
    US Navy photo from "All Hands" magazine, August 1971.    		 Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret.
    Denebola 88k USS Denebola (AF-56) under way, date and location unknown.
    US Navy photo    		 Robert Hurst
    Denebola 70k USS Denebola (AF-56) and USS Boulder (LST-1190) maintain formation station enroute to Norfolk. The Second Fleet ships participated in National and NATO exercises in northern Europe and returned home 10 December. The year of the photograph is not given, but was probably 1975.
    US Navy photo # NH 98412 by PH1 M.J. Browne, USN, from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center.    		 US Naval Historical Center
    Denebola 74k USS Denebola (AF-56) under way, off Hampton Roads, date unknown. Richard Miller, BMCS USNR Ret.
    Denebola 49k USS Denebola (AF-56) under way, date and location unknown. Richard Miller, BMCS USNR Ret.
    Denebola 323k USS Denebola (AF-56) plaque Tommy Trampp
    USS Denebola (AF-566)
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships
    Commanding Officers
    01CDR. Ramey, Simon Everett, USN (USNA 1937)20 January 1954 - January 1955
    02CAPT. Sherry, Harmon Bradford, USN (USNA 1937)January 1955 - May 1956
    03CDR. Zimmerman, Milton Abraham, USNMay 1956 - February 1958
    04CDR. Buckley, Russell Henry, USN (USNA 1939)February 1958 - June 1958
    05CDR. Peterson, Charles John, USNJune 1958 - 28 May 1959
    06CDR. Muller, Robert Everett, USN (USNA 1942)28 May 1959 - 2 November 1960
    07CDR. Wilson, Walter Kenneth, USN (USNA 1943)2 November 1960 - October 1961
    08CAPT. Williamson, Thomas Carter, USN (USNA 1939)October 1961 - August 1962
    09CAPT. Matton Jr., William George, USN (USNA 1941)August 1962 -10 August 1963
    10CAPT. Refo, John Francis, USN (USNA 1940)10 August 1963 - 27 july 1964
    11CAPT. Eggeman Jr., Benjamin Rudolph, USN27 July 1964 - July 1965
    12CAPT. Cornell, Leland Baucom, USNjuly 1965 - 7 September 1966
    13CAPT. Bach, Sverre Odd, USN7 September 1966 - 8 November 1967
    14CAPT. Schulz, Quinley Robert (Dutch), USN (USNA 1945)8 November 1967 - July 1969
    15CAPT. Rogers Jr., Harry Gordon, USN (USNA 1946)July 1969 - October 1970
    16CAPT. Herrick, Carl Howard, USNOctober 1970 - March 1972
    17CDR. Todd, James Forrest, USN (USNA 1955)March 1972 - 21 January 1974
    18CAPT. Dewey, Richard Frank, USN21 January 1974 - January 1976
    19CDR. Doolittle, John Beecher, USNJanuary 1976 - 30 April 1976
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    MARAD Vessel History Database
    USS Denebola AF56
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 17 September 2021