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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

Contributed by Mike Smolinski

AO-53 Caliente

Flag Hoist/International Radio Call Sign:
November - Zulu - Foxtrot - Uniform

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation - China Service Medal (extended)
Second Row - American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (10) - World War II Victory Medal
Third Row - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp) - National Defense Service Medal - Korean Service Medal (4)
Fourth Row - Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (1-Vietnam) - Vietnam Service Medal (8) - Philippine Liberation Medal
Fifth Row - United Nations Service Medal - Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal - Republic of Korea War Service Medal (retroactive)

Cimmeron Class Fleet Oiler:

Laid down as a Maritime Commission type (T3-S2-A3) hull, under Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 719), at Bethlehem Steel Shipyard, Sparrows Point, MD.

Launched, 25 August 1943

Commissioned USS Caliente (AO-53), 12 October 1943

During the Korean War Caliente (AO-53) participated in the following campaigns:

**Korean War Campaigns**
Campaigns and Dates	Campaigns and Dates
Communist China Spring Offensive 25 June to 2 July 1951	Korean Defense Summer-Fall 1952 1 to 12 May 1952 19 May to 4 June 1952 16 June to 8 July 1952 19 to 30 July 1952 3 to 14 August 1952 16 to 23 October 1952 27 October to 4 November 1952
UN Summer-Fall Offensive 18 to 20 July 1951 30 to 31 August 1951 4 to 23 September 1951 14 to 23 October 1951 6 to 15 November 1951	Korea, Summer-Fall 1953 24 June to 1 July 1953 16 to 26 July 1953

During the Vietnam War Caliente (AO-53) participated in the following campaigns:

**Vietnam War Campaigns**
Campaigns and Dates	Campaigns and Dates
Vietnam Defense 17 July to 1 August 1965 8 to 19 August 1965 25 August to 3 September1965 12 to 23 September 1965 1 to 19 October 1965 1 to 10 November 1965 23 to 29 November 1965 11 to 21 December 1965	Tet/69 Counteroffensive 7 to 16 March 1969 22 to 30 March 1969 3 to 11 April 1969 17 to 24 April 1969 3 to 11 May 1969 15-to 23 May 1969 2 to 8 June 1969
Tet Counteroffensive 1 to 10 March 1968 16 March to 7 April 1968	Vietnam Summer-Fall 1969 9 to 11 June 1969 30 June to 9 July 1969
Vietnamese Counteroffensive - Phase IV 23 April to 1 May 1968 10 to 12 May 1968 19 May to 6 June 1968	Sanctuary Counteroffensive 3 to 12 June 1970 18 to 26 June 1970
Vietnamese Counteroffensive - Phase V 2 July 1968	Vietnamese Ceasefire 1 to 3 July 1972 13 to 22 July 1972 18 to 23 February 1973 2 to 10 March 1973

Decommissioned, (date unknown)

Struck from the Naval Register, 15 December 1973

Transferred to the Maritime Commission for lay up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet

Final Disposition, disposed of by the Maritime Administration (MARAD) sale, 5 April 1974, fate unknown

Caliente received ten battle stars for World War II service, four for Korean War service and eight campaign stars for Vietnam War service

Specifications:
Displacement 7,236 t.(lt) 25,440 t.(fl)
Length 553'
Beam 75'
Draft 32'
Speed 18 kts.
Complement 314
Armament

one single 5"/38 dual purpose gun mount

four single 3"/50 dual purpose gun mounts

four twin 40mm AA gun mounts

four twin 20mm AA gun mounts
Cargo Capacity 146,000 barrels
Propulsion geared turbines, twin screws, 30,400hp

Size	Image Description	contributed By
51k	Caliente (AO-53), date and place unknown	Hyperwar US Navy in WWII
58k	Russell (DD-414) coming alongside Caliente (AO-53), date and place unknown. Photo from the collection of LTjg Edwin H. Klump Jr. USS Russell, courtesy Mrs. Rebecca Klump Cottrell.	James Madson
112k	Caliente (AO-53) refueling Russell (DD-414) in the South Pacific, date and place unknown. Photo from the collection of LTjg Edwin H. Klump Jr. USS Russell, courtesy Mrs. Rebecca Klump Cottrell.	James Madson
105k	Caliente (AO-53) at anchor alongside Salisbury Sound (AV-13), date and place unknown. US Navy photo from "All Hands" magazine, November 1961	Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret.
67k	Caliente (AO-53) refueling Midway (CVA-41) 1961	USS Midway 1961 Cruise Book
78k	Caliente (AO-53) riding at anchor at Naval Base Subic Bay, Philippines Islands in 1967. Photo taken from Bausell (DD-845)	Photo by Lee Noland STGC, USN Ret. USS Bausell.
109k	Caliente (AO-53) receiving oil from Sacramento (AOE-1), 5 April 1968, mid-Pacific.	Photo by Rein Lindner USS Sacramento
108k	Caliente (AO-53), in the Gulf of Tonkin, circa 1969-70. Taken from Niagara Falls (AFS-3)	William P Jones MD USS Niagara Falls
66k	Caliente (AO-53), circa 1969, off the coast of Vietnam while refueling Boston (CAG-1). Taken from Boston (CAG-1)	Photo by John Jazdzewski
100k	Caliente (AO-53), circa 1969, off the coast of Vietnam while refueling Boston (CAG-1). Taken from Boston (CAG-1)	Photo by John Jazdzewski
137k	Caliente (AO-53) during refueling operations, circa 1970, place unknown. US Navy photo.	Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret.
21k	Caliente (AO-53), date and place unknown. US Navy photo	Edward H. Cleary
82k	Caliente (AO-53) pulling away from Blue Ridge (LCC-19) after completing an underway refueling, April 1973	Photo by Dr. Kenneth Hartman