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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive


Contributed by Mike Smolinski

Contributed by Al Grazevich

USS Regulus (AF-57)


International Radio Call Sign:
November - Lima - Uniform - Juliet
NLUJ
JANAP Tactical Voice Radio Call Sign - Debutante (V)ictor - Section 6A of JANAP 119(F) 1968


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
National Defense Service Medal (2) - Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (6-Vietnam) - Vietnam Service Medal (11) - Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal


Denebola Class Provisions Store Ship:
  • Laid down, 29 April 1944, as SS Escanaba Victory, a Maritime Commission type (VC-2-S-AP3) hull, under Maritime Commission contract (MCV hull 112), at Oregon Shipbuilding Corp., Portland, OR.
  • Launched, 7 June 1944
  • Delivered to the Maritime Commission, 29 June 1944
  • Acquired under a General Agency Agreement by American South African Lines, 29 June 1944
  • Acquired under a Bare Bottom Charter by American Export Lines Inc., 13 June 1946
  • Returned to the Maritime Commission, 18 August 1948, for lay up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, Wilmington, N.C.
  • Acquired under GAA agreement by American Export Lines Inc., 6 August 1950
  • Bare Bottom Charter, 25 August 1950, by American Shipping & Trading Co.
  • Acquired by the Navy Department from the Maritime Administration (MARAD), 5 May 1952
  • Converted for Naval service as a Provisions Store Ship at Todd Shipyard, Brooklyn, N.Y.
  • Commissioned USS Regulus (AF-57), 3 February 1954, CDR. John D. Lautaret in command
  • Title transferred to the Navy "as is where is", 5 May 1952
  • During the Vietnam War USS Regulus (AF-57) participated on the following campaigns:

    Vietnam War Campaigns
    Campaigns and Dates Campaigns and Dates
    Vietnamese Counteroffensive
    20 to 27 March 1966
    7 to 11 April 1966
    26 to 30 April 1966
    Vietnam Summer-Fall 1969
    22 to 28 October 1969
    Vietnamese Counteroffensive - Phase II
    30 September to 13 October 1966
    22 October to 1 November 1966
    14 to 25 May 1967
    Vietnam Winter-Spring 1970
    7 to 13 November 1969
    11 to 17 December 1969
    Vietnamese Counteroffensive - Phase III
    22 June to 10 July 1967
    Sanctuary Counteroffensive
    15 to 29 June 1970
    Tet Counteroffensive
    9 to 15 February 1968
    7 to 15 March 1968
    25 March to 1 April 1968
    Vietnamese Counteroffensive - Phase VII
    16 July to 3 August 1970
    14 August to 5 September 1970
    8 to 21 September 1970
    6 to 17 April 1971
    24 to 25 April 1971
    3 to 7 May 1971
    19 to 28 May 1971
    6 to 23 June 1971
    Vietnamese Counteroffensive - Phase IV
    2 April 1968
    Consolidation I
    10 to 16 July 1971
    29 to 31 July 1971
    Vietnamese Counteroffensive - Phase VI
    24 November to 7 December 1968
    13 to 23 December 1968
     

  • Final Disposition, grounded on a reef at Kau Yi Chau Island during Typhoon Rose, 16-17 August 1971, damaged beyond economical repair
  • Decommissioned, and struck from the Naval Register, 10 September 1971
  • USS Regulus earned 11 campaign stars for Vietnam War service
    Specifications:
    Displacement 4,960 t.(lt) 11,900 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 American South African Lines (Farrell) American Export Lines
    Regulus 57k SS Escanaba Victory under way with tugs, circa 1944-48, location unknown. Richard Miller BMCS USNR Ret.
    USS Regulus (AF-57)
    Regulus
    0913001404
    49k
    Namesake
    Regulus is the brightest object in the constellation Leo and one of the brightest stars in the night sky.
    Tommy Trampp
    Regulus8 125k USS Regulus (AF 57) pierside at the Brooklyn Navy Yard with, USS PC-1208 in the foreground. circa 1954. Courtesy Bob Daly USS PC-1181
    Regulus/PC-1208 74k USS Regulus (AF 57) replenishing the destroyer USS O'Bannon (DD-450) and the aircraft carrier USS Shangri-La (CVA-38). Shangri-La, with assigned Air Task Group 3 (ATG-3), was deployed to the Western Pacific from 5 January to 23 June 1956.
    US Navy photo from the USS Shangri-La (CVA-38) 1956 cruise book.
    Robert Hurst
    Regulus 80k USS Regulus (AF 57) under way at San Francisco Bay in September 1957.
    Photo by ©Allied Photographers of San Francisco.
    Robert M. Cieri
    Regulus 39k USS Regulus (AF 57) at anchor in Japan, circa 1950s. Richard Miller BMCS USNR Ret.
    Regulus 1235k USS Regulus (AF 57) under way, date and location unknown. David Buell
    Regulus 162k USS Regulus (AF 57) pierside at Sasebo, Japan in 1959, Richard Miller BMCS USNR Ret, Courtesy Swenson
    Regulus 110k USS Regulus (AF 57) under way while alongside USS Platte (AO-24) in the Tonkin Gulf, circa 1960s Richard Miller BMCS USNR Ret.
    Regulus
    09065717
    299k USS Regulus (AF 57) under way in Subic Bay, Republic of the Philippines in 1962.
    US Navy photo
    Don Ellis USS Regulus 1962-63
    Regulus 42k USS Regulus (AF 57) alongside USS Ticonderoga (CVA-14) while conducting an underway replenishment in WestPac, circa 3 January to 15 July 1963 Sal Vacca, AE2, VAW-11 Detachment Bravo, USS Ticonderoga (CVA-14)
    Regulus 286k USS Regulus (AF 57) center, during an underway replenishment with the guided missile destroyer USS Cochrane (DDG-21) and the antisubmarine warfare aircraft carrier USS Kearsarge (CVS-33) while operating on "Yankee Station" in the Gulf of Tonkin in November 1966, Robert M. Cieri
    Regulus 103k USS Regulus (AF 57) under way in the South China Sea in 1967.
    Photo taken from USS Bausell (DD-845)
    Photo by Lee Noland STGC, USN Ret. USS Bausell.
    Regulus 64k USS Regulus (AF 57) under way outbound to sea from San Diego, date unknown. Richard Miller BMCS USNR Ret.
    Regulus 321k USS Regulus (AF 57) arriving at Vancouver, B. C. and being assisted by a tug, 18 July 1968.
    City of Vancouver Archives, Photo No. AM1506-S3-3-: CVA 447-7741, by Walter E. Frost
    Mike Green
    Chara 34k USS Chara (AE-31) and USS Regulus (AF-57) moored pierside at NAS Alameda, October 1968. Richard Miller BMCS USNR Ret.
    Regulus 98k USS Regulus (AF 57) steams alongside USS America (CVA-66) in the Pacific Ocean during an underway replenishment in 1970.
    US Navy photo.
    Richard Miller BMCS USNR Ret.
    Regulus 118k USS Regulus (AF 57) aground on a reef at Kau Yi Chau Island off the coast of Hong Kong following the passing of Typhoon Rose on 16-17 August 1971. Richard Miller BMCS USNR Ret USS Vega
    Grasp 1237k USS Safeguard (ARS-25) (inboard) and USS Grasp (ARS-24) (outboard) conducting salvage operations of USS Regulus (AF-57) after she ran aground on a reef at Kau Yi Chau Island off the coast of Hong Kong following the passing of Typhoon Rose on 16-17 August 1971.
    US Navy photo
    Joseph Colombara USS Abnaki
    Regulus
    09065718
    153k USS Regulus (AF 57) lying aground on the hard rock and sand of Kau Yi Chau Island in Hong Kong harbor, showing the break in her hull caused by Typhoon Rose. Cut apart, her bow and stern were floated to a junkyard and sold.
    >i>"Mud, Muscle, and Miracles: Marine Salvage in the United States Navy."" 2nd Edition. Captain Charles A. Bartholomew, USN, and Commander William I. Milwee, Jr., USN, (Ret.). Naval History and Heritage Command, Naval Sea Systems Command, Department of the Navy, Washington, D.C., 2009.
    Robert Hurst
    Regulus 550k USS Regulus (AF 57) plaque presented to departing Commanding Officer (Feb. 1962 - Feb 1963), CAPT. Walter C. Klein USN. Kurt Klein for his father CAPT. Walter C. Klein USN

    USS Regulus (AF-57)
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
    01CDR. Lautaret, John Daniel3 February 1954 - February 1955
    02CDR. Klippel, RandolphFebruary 1955 - 1957
    06CAPT. Klein, Walter Charles 16 February 1962 - 16 February 1963
    07CAPT. Dahllof, Robert Lawrence16 February 1963 - 30 April 1964
    08CAPT. Cain, James Bernice, USN30 April 1964 - January 1965
    09CAPT. Gendron, Edward Wilson1966 - 1967
    11CAPT. Finlay Jr., Robert Wilson, USN (USNA 1946)1968 - 1969
    12CAPT. Fuller, Jack Darling1969 - 1970
    13CAPT. Austin, Kenneth Burdette, USN1970 - 1971
    14CAPT. Nelson, Frederick Louis1971 - 10 September 1971
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves

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

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    Last Updated 16 September 2022