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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive
Lost to enemy action, 7 April 1943

USS Kanawha (AO-1)

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Combat Action Ribbon (retroactive - 7 April 1943 Tulagi Harbor) - World War I Victory Medal (with Transport clasp) - American Defense Service Medal (with Fleet clasp)
Bottom Row - American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (1) - World War II Victory Medal
Personal Awards

Purple Heart (19-KIA, 7 April 1943 Tulagi Harbor)
Kanawha Class Fleet Oiler:
  • Laid down, 8 December 1913, at Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, CA.
  • Launched, 11 July 1914
  • Commissioned USS Kanawha, 5 June 1915, LCDR. Richard Werner, USNRF, in command
  • Designated (AO-1), 17 July 1920
  • Decommissioned, 18 December 1929
  • Laid up in the Reserve Fleet
  • Recommissioned, 5 June 1934
  • Final Disposition, sunk by Japanese aircraft off Tulagi Harbor, British Solomon Islands, north east of Soghonangola Island at the entrance to Tulagi Harbor. She was sunk at 0400, 8 April 1943 with the loss of 19 men
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 19 May 1943
  • USS Kanawha received one battle star for World War II service
    Specifications:
    Displacement 5,723 t.(lt) 14,800 t.(fl)
    Length 475' 7"
    Beam 56' 3"
    Draft 26' 8"
    Speed 14 kts.
    Complement 317
    Armament
    two single 5"/38 dual purpose gun mounts
    two twin 40mm AA gun mounts
    two twin 20mm AA gun mounts
    Propulsion
    four boilers
    two Vertical 3-expansion engines with a 42" stroke
    twin propellers
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		Size Image Description Source
    Kanawha 65k USS Kanawha launching at Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, CA., 11 July 1914.
    US Navy photo    		 Darryl L. Baker
    Kanawha 144k USS Kanawha launching at Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, CA., 11 July 1914.
    US Navy photo    		 Forest Cotton surviving crew member 1943
    Kanawha 1972k One of USS Kanawha's two main engines being removed from building 87 at Mare Island, 11 August 1914. Note that about 12 feet of the doorway has been removed for clearance.
    US Navy photo MINSY 15538-8-1914    		 Darryl L. Baker
    Kanawha 2357k Hoisting one of USS Kanawha's two main engines aboard the ship for installation at Navy Yard Mare Island, Vallejo, CA., 14 August 1914.
    US Navy photo MINSY 15534-8-1914    		 Darryl L. Baker
    Kanawha 2342k Preparing to lower one of USS Kanawha's two main engines into place aboard the ship for installation at Navy Yard Mare Island, Vallejo, CA., 14 August 1914.
    US Navy photo MINSY 15539-8-1914    		 Darryl L. Baker
    Kanawha 75k Aft starboard quarter photo of USS Kanawha off Mare Island, 28 June 1915. Note that her bridge superstructure is forward of her forward mast. Some time between this photo and photos in 1919 the bridge was relocated aft of the forward mast.
    Navy Yard Mare Island photo # AO 1 1912-6-15, 6/28/15    		 Darryl Baker
    Kanawha 58k USS Kanawha underway, circa 1919, location unknown. Robert Hurst
    Kanawha 205k USS Kanawha in Drydock #2, Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, CA., 20 November 1919. Dave Wright
    Kanawha 74k USS Kanawha in drydock at the Philadelphia Navy Yard shortly before leaving NOTS to join the train. Throughout WWI USS Kanawha carried oil and seaplanes to Europe.
    US Navy Photo # NR& L (M) 1957 from DANFS.    		 Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret
    Kanawha 115k USS Kanawha in drydock at the Philadelphia Navy Yard shortly before leaving NOTS to join the train. Throughout WWI USS Kanawha carried oil and seaplanes to Europe.
    US Navy Photo from DANFS.    		 Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret
    Kanawha 41k USS Kanawha moored at San Diego, 23 February 1920. Dave Wright
    Kanawha 80k Some of USS Kanawha's crew (and mascot) while enroute to Coronado Island in the ship's launch, 11 September 1920. Dave Wright
    Kanawha 283k USS Kanawha (AO-1) entering the Panama Canal, circa late-1920. Dave Wright
    Kanawha 57k USS Kanawha at Banderas Bay, Mexico, 2 January 1921. Dave Wright
    Kanawha 182k USS Kanawha at La Union, Salvador, 10 January 1921. Note the seaplane moored to her stern. Dave Wright
    Kanawha 111k USS Kanawha at La Union, Salvador, 11 January 1921. Dave Wright
    Kanawha 62k USS Kanawha at anchor, date and location unknown.
    Photo from "U.S.Warships of World War One" with permission from the author Paul H. Silverstone.    		 Robert Hurst
    Kanawha 72k Broadside view of USS Kanawha (AO-1) at anchor in Hawaiian waters, April 1925.
    Navy photo # AO 1 009-4-25.    		 Darryl Baker
    Kanawha 38k Photo of USS Kanawha (AO-1) from a mid 1920-5 scrapbook of a Hawaii cruise of the USS S-42. Ric Hedman
    Kanawha 198k USS Kanawha (AO-1) refueling USS Texas (BB-35), date and location unknown.
    US National Archives photo # 80-G-83099, a US Navy photo now in the collections of the US National Archives.    		 David Merrill
    USS Canisteo (AO-99) Web Site
    Kanawha 91k USS Kanawha (AO-1) with thirteen destroyers alongside, off San Diego, CA., during the early 1920s. Ships present are (from left to right):
    USS Meade (DD-274),
    USS Evans (DD-78),
    USS Kennedy (DD-306),
    USS Aaron Ward (DD-132),
    USS Woolsey (DD-77),
    USS Wickes (DD-75),
    USS Buchanan (DD-131),
    USS Kanawha (AO-1),
    USS Farquhar (DD-304),
    USS Paul Hamilton (DD-307),
    USS Thompson (DD-305),
    USS Reno (DD-303),
    USS Stoddert (DD-302)     and
    USS Philip (DD-76)
    Photographed by Bunnell, 414 E Street, San Diego.
    US Navy photo # NH 98029 A US Naval Historical Center photo for the collection of Chief Quartermaster John Harold, USN.    		 US Naval Historical Center
    Kanawha 63k Starboard quarter view of USS Kanawha (AO-1) shortly after her recommissioning in June 1934.
    Navy photo # AO 1 010-6-34.    		 Darryl Baker
    Kanawha 116k USS Kanawha (AO-1) underway, date and location unknown. Forest Cotton surviving crew member 1943
    Kanawha 78k USS Kanawha (AO-1), probably at Noumea, New Caledonia, as seen from USS Wasp (CV-7) on the eve of the Guadalcanal-Tulagi invasion. Photo is dated 4 August 1942. Other ships present include, at right, USS San Juan (CL-54), an old "flush-deck" destroyer in center, and in the distance a heavy cruiser (left) and a transport (right).
    US National Archives photo # 80-G-K-526, a US Navy photo now in the collections of the US National Archives.    		 US Naval Historical Center
    Kanawha 90k Broadside view of USS Kanawha (AO-1) off Mare Island, 2 January 1943, in her final configuration.
    Navy Yard Mare Island photo # AO 1 51-1-43, 1/2/43.    		 Darryl Baker
    Kanawha 57k USS Kanawha (AO-1) on fire at Tulagi Harbor, Solomon Islands, 7 April 1943 after being attacked by Japanese aircraft. Forest Cotton surviving crew member 1943
    Kanawha 48k USS Kanawha (AO-1) on fire at Tulagi Harbor, Solomon Islands, 7 April 1943 after being attacked by Japanese aircraft. Forest Cotton surviving crew member 1943
    Kanawha 106k USS Kanawha (AO-1) on fire at Tulagi Harbor, Solomon Islands, 7 April 1943 after being attacked by Japanese aircraft. Forest Cotton surviving crew member 1943
    Kanawha 59k USS Kanawha (AO-1) on fire at Tulagi Harbor, Solomon Islands, 7 April 1943 after being attacked by Japanese aircraft. Forest Cotton surviving crew member 1943
    Kanawha 103k In Memory of the 19 USS Kanawha (AO-1) crew members lost at Tulagi Harbor, Solomon Islands, 7 April 1943. Forest Cotton surviving crew member 1943
    View the USS Kanawha (AO-1)
    DANFS history entry located at the US Naval History and Heritage Command
    View the USS Kanawha Commanding Officer's
    Report of Action to Commander South Pacific Fleet.
    Commanding Officers
    LCDR. Werner, Richard5 June 1915 - ~
    CDR. Dowling, Otto Carl1923 - ?
    CDR. Alexander, George Andrew10 June 1926 - 1927
    CDR. Scubber, Randolph Perly1927 - 1928
    CDR. Keller, Charles Stanley26 June 1928 - 18 December 1929
    Decommissioned18 December 1929 - 5 June 1934
    CDR. Reuse, Harry J.
    Photo as Warrant Machinst WO-1    		1939 - 1940
    CDR. Townsend, Rockwell Justus1940 - 1941
    CDR. Reed, Kendall Sturtevant :RADM1941 - ?
    CDR. Cross John, G.WWII
    LCDR. Bock, Brainard Norton? - 7 April 1943
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log
    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
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    Last Updated 18 December 2009