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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

Contributed by Mike Smolinski

USS Repose (AH-16)

/International Radio Call Sign:
November - Sierra - Tango - Charlie NSTC

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Navy Unit Commendation (2)
Second Row - China Service Medal (extended) - American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal
Third Row - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp) - National Defense Service Medal (2)
Third Row - Korean Service Medal (9) - Vietnam Service Medal (10) - Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross Unit Citation (20)
Fourth Row - United Nations Service Medal - Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal - Republic of Korea War Service Medal (retroactive)

Haven Class Hospital Ship:

Laid down, 22 October 1943, as SS Maine Beaver a Maritime Commission type (C4-S-B2) hull under Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 746) at Sun Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Chester, PA.

Launched, 8 August 1944

Acquired by the US Navy from the Maritime Commission, 14 September 1944

Fitted out as a Hospital Ship at Bethlehem Steel Co., Shipbuilding Division, 56th Street Yard, Brooklyn, N.Y.

Commissioned USS Repose (AH-16), 26 May 1945, CAPT. W. O. Britten in command

Decommissioned, 19 January 1950, at San Francisco, CA.

Laid up in the Pacific Reserve Fleet, San Francisco Group

Recommissioned, 28 October 1950, CAPT. C. H. Perdue in command

During the Korean War USS Repose participated in the following campaigns:

**Korean War Campaigns**
Campaign and Dates	Campaign and Dates
North Korean Aggression 20 September to 24 October 1950	Second Korean Winter 28 November 1951 to 16 January 1952
China Aggression 13 November 1950 to 24 January 1951	Korean Defense Summer-Fall 1952 24 June to 1 July 1952 20 August to 10 October 1952
First UN Counter Offensive 25 January to 21 April 1951	Third Korean Winter 1 to 13 December 1952 30 December 1952 to 9 February 1953
Communist China Spring Offensive 22 to 27 April 1951 8 to 14 May 1951 8 June to 8 July 1951	Korean Summer-Fall 1953 14 June 27 July 1953
UN Summer-Fall Offensive 9 July to 4 August 1951 22 August to 7 October 1951 22 October to 19 November 1951	.

Decommissioned, 21 December 1954, at Hunters Point Naval Shipyard, San Francisco, CA.

Laid up in the Pacific Reserve Fleet, San Francisco Group, Suisun Bay, Benecia, CA.

Recommissioned, 16 October 1965, CAPT. Eugene H. Maher in command

During the Vietnam War USS Repose participated in the following campaigns:

**Vietnam War Campaigns**
Campaign and Dates	Campaign and Dates
Vietnamese Counteroffensive 16 February to 10 March 1966 12 April to 18 May 1966 29 May to 7 June 1966	Vietnamese Counteroffensive - Phase V 9 July to 29 August 1968 8 October to 1 November 1968
Vietnamese Counteroffensive - Phase II 17 July to 27 August 1966 11 September to 8 November 1966 23 November to 25 December 1966 4 January to 8 February 1967 22 February to 11 April 1967 29 April to 31 May 1967	Vietnamese Counteroffensive - Phase VI 2 November to 28 December 1968 6 January to 22 February 1968
Vietnamese Counteroffensive - Phase III 1 June to 17 June 1967 11 July to 5 August 1967 15 August to 16 September 1967 6 to 30 October 1967 6 November to 9 December 1967 20 December 1967 to 29 January 1968	Tet 69/ Counteroffensive 23 February to 2 April 1969 12 April to 8 June 1969
Tet Counteroffensive 30 January to 3 February 1968 13 February to 1 April 1968	Vietnam Summer-Fall 1969 9 June to 1 July 1969 13 July to 2 October 1969 5 to 31 October 1969
Vietnamese Counteroffensive - Phase IV 2 to 11 April 1968 26 April to 29 June 1968	Vietnam Winter-Spring 1979 1 November to 30 December 1969 12 to 31January 1970

Decommissioned in May 1970

Laid up in the Pacific Reserve Fleet, San Francisco Group

Struck from the Naval Register, 15 March 1974

Transferred to the Maritime Administration (MARAD) for disposal

Final Disposition, sold by MARAD, 18 April 1975 for scrapping

USS Repose earned nine battle stars for Korean War service and ten campaign stars for Vietnam service

Specifications:
Displacement 11,141 t.
Length 520'
Beam 71' 6"
Draft 24'
Speed 18.5 kts.
Complement 564
Patient Capacity 800
Propulsion geared turbine, single screw

Size	Image Description	Source
59k	*USS Repose* (AH-16)** at anchor, circa 1950, location unknown.	Robert Hurst
109k	*USS Repose* (AH-16)** approaching San Diego as she returns to the US from her first Korean War deployment, 11 February 1952. Note her long "Homeward Bound" pennant, kept aloft by balloons. US National Archives photo # 80-G-439771, a US Navy photo now in the collections of the US National Archives	US Naval Historical Center
134k	*USS Repose* (AH-16)** approaching San Diego as she returns to the US from her first Korean War deployment, 11 February 1952. US National Archives photo # 80-G-439770, a US Navy photo now in the collections of the US National Archives	US Naval Historical Center
108k	*USS Repose* (AH-16) in San Diego Bay, as she returns to the US from her first Korean War deployment, 11 February 1952. The harbor tug Cusseta (YTB-405)** is standing by at the right. US National Archives photo # 80-G-439772, a US Navy photo now in the collections of the US National Archives	US Naval Historical Center
87k	*USS Repose* (AH-16) backing out of the slip at Naval Station Yokosuka, Japan, January 1952. In the background is USS Valley Forge (CV-45)**	.
102k	*USS Repose* (AH-16)** mooring at Naval Station Yokosuka, Japan, January 1952.	Don Garner
58k	*USS Repose* (AH-16)** underway, date and location unknown.	Hyperwar US Navy in WWII
80k	*USS Repose* (AH-16)** recommissioning day, 16 October 1965, Hunters Point Naval Shipyard, San Francisco, CA. US Navy photo from "All Hands" magazine, April 1966	Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret.
74k	*USS Repose* (AH-16)** underway off the coast of Vietnam, July 1966. US Navy photo from "All Hands" magazine, July 1966	Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret.
65k	*USS Repose* (AH-16)** leaving San Francisco Bay as she passes under the Golden Gate Bay Bridge, circa 1965-66. US Navy photo	Naval Hospital Corps School
440k	USS Repose underway near the DMZ, Vietnam in 1969 rendezvousing with *USS Niagara Falls* (AFS-3)** for an underway replenishment (UNREP).	Photo by William P. Jones, MD Medical Officer USS Niagara Falls
346k	USS Repose underway near the DMZ, Vietnam in 1969 preparing to come alongside *USS Niagara Falls* (AFS-3)** to commence an underway replenishment (UNREP).	Photo by William P. Jones, MD Medical Officer USS Niagara Falls
715k	USS Repose underway near the DMZ, Vietnam in 1969 alongside *USS Niagara Falls* (AFS-3)** preparing to commence an underway replenishment (UNREP).	Photo by William P. Jones, MD Medical Officer USS Niagara Falls
300k	*USS Niagara Falls* (AFS-3) breaks off from USS Repose (AH-16)** after completing an UNREP during operations in the area near the DMZ in 1969.	Photo by William P. Jones, MD Medical Officer USS Niagara Falls
91k	*USS Repose* (AH-16) and USS Sanctuary (AH-17)** at anchor off Da Nang, Vietnam, date unknown. US Navy photo from "All Hands" magazine, March 1969.	Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret.
110k	USS Repose underway, date and location unknown.	Richard Miller BMCS USNR Ret.