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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

AO-58 Manatee

Flag Hoist/International Radio Call Sign:
November - Zulu - Papa - Juliet

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 (8) - World War II Victory Medal
Third Row - Navy Occupation Medal (with Asia Clasp) - National Defense Service Medal (2) - Korea Service Medal (4)
Fourth Row - Vietnam Service Medal (9) - Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (2-Taiwan Straits, 1-Quemoy-Matsu, 5-Vietnam, 5-Korea) - Korean Presidential Unit Citation
Fifth Row - Philippine Liberation Medal (2) - United Nations Service Medal - Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal - Republic of Korea War Service Medal (retroactive)

Cimmeron Class Fleet Oiler:

Laid down (date unknown), as a Maritime Commission type (T3-S2-A3) tanker hull, under Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 724) at Bethlehem Steel Shipyard, Sparrows Point, MD.

Launched, 21 October 1943

Commissioned USS Manatee (AO-58), 12 February 1944, LCDR. Joseph B. Smyth in command

During WWII Manatee was assigned to Asiatic-Pacific Theater and participated in the following campaigns:

**Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns**
Campaign and Dates	Campaign and Dates
Marianas operation	Luzon operation
Tinian capture and occupation	Consolidation and capture of Southern Philippines
Western Caroline Islands operation	Manila Bay-Bicol operations
Leyte operations	Okinawa Gunto operation

During the Korean War Manatee participated in the following campaigns:

**Korean War Campaigns**
Campaign and Dates	Campaign and Dates
Communist China Spring Offensive 23 to 26 and 30 to 31 May 1951 5 to 12 and 24 to 26 June 1951 4 to 8 July 1951	Korean Defense Summer-Fall 1952 11 to 24 May 1952 4 to 14 June 1952 5 to 20 August 1952 27 August to 10 September 1952 17 to 29 September 1952 7 to 17 October 1952
UN Summer-Fall Offensive 9 to 10 and 22 to 26 July 1951	Third Korean Winter 14 to 21 February 1953 6 to 14 March 1953 28 March to 5 April 1953 21 to 30 April 1953
Second Korean Winter 26 March to 11 April 1952 15 to 29 April 1952	Korean Summer-Fall 1953 16 to 19 June 1953 27 June to 8 July 1953

During the Vietnam War Manatee participated in the following campaigns:

**Vietnam War Campaigns**
Campaign and Dates	Campaign and Dates
Vietnamese Counteroffensive - Phase II 13 to 30 July 1966 8 to 16 August 1966 21 to 29 September 1966 11 to 19 and 22 October 1966 13 to 27 November 1966	Vietnam Summer-Fall 1969 6 to 13 and 18 to 26 September 1969 7 to 15 and 30 to 31 October 1969
Vietnamese Counteroffensive - Phase III 6 to 13 and 18 to 28 July 1967 21 to 28 August 1967 10 to 17 September 1967 24 September to 1 October 1967 6 to 13 October 1967 1 to 11 November 1967	Vietnam Winter-Sprint 1970 1 to 9 November 1969 24 November to 1 December 1969 5 to 12, 16 to 23 and 26 to 28 December 1969 3 to 9 and 15 to 21 January 1970
Vietnamese Counteroffensive - Phase IV 19 to 23 and 27 to 30 June 1968	Vietnamese Counteroffensive - Phase VII 27 November to 6 December 1970 28 to 31 December 1970 5 to 13 January 1971 26 January to 3 February 1971 15 to 22 February 1971 28 February to 6 March 1971
Vietnamese Counteroffensive - Phase V 1 to 4, 9 to 16 and 21 to 29 July 1968 5 to12 and 18 to 24 August 1968 4 to 10 September 1968 21 to 27 October 1968	Vietnam Ceasefire 9 to 18 June 1972 5 to 12 July 1972 22 July to 6 August 1972 22 to 27 August 1972 20 to 25 September 1972 1 to 11 October 1972 19 October to 8 November 1972 29 November to 9 December 1972 16 to 28 December 1972 1 January 1973 29 January to 4 February 1973 14 to 18 February 1973
Vietnamese Counteroffensive - Phase VI 13 to 21 and 27 to 29 November 1968	.

Decommissioned in July 1973

Struck from the Naval Register, 14 August 1973

Transferred to the Maritime Administration for disposal

Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, 10 December 1973, to Zidell Exploration, Portland, OR.

Manatee received eight battle stars for World War II service, six battle stars for Korean War service and nine 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	Manatee (AO-58) at anchor, date and location unknown. Her camouflage is scheme 32/5AO in this photo, US Navy photo from "All Hands" magazine, July 1951	Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret.
56k	Manatee (AO-58) at San Diego, CA, circa 1949-1950	James C McCann EM1 USN USS Manatee 1949 to April 1950 Courtesy Patrick F McCann
60k	Manatee (AO-58) at San Diego, CA, circa 1949-1950	James C McCann EM1 USN crew member December 1949 to April 1950 Courtesy Patrick F McCann
82k	Manatee (AO-58) refueling HMAS Warramunga in Korean waters, 27 June 1951. US Navy photo NH 96261 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center.	Robert Hurst
99k	Manatee (AO-58) pierside, Sasebo, Japan, date unknown	Rick Davis USS Manatee (AO-58) web site
32k	Manatee (AO-58) refueling a destroyer, circa 1956 - 1957, probably off the Philippines.	Everett M. Ellestad USNR
62k	Manatee (AO-58) refueling Midway (CV-41) and Jarvis (DD-799) off Okinawa, 1960	Bob Herrick MR2, USS Manatee 1959-61
89k	Manatee (AO-58) at anchor at San Diego, September 1960	Lee Noland STGC USN Ret.
87k	Manatee (AO-58) refueling Ticonderoga (CVA-14), 15 July 1965 US Navy photo	Courtesy John Shriver Rick Davis USS Manatee (AO-58) web site
110k	Manatee (AO-58) and Bausell (DD-845) conducting an underway replenishment while in Gulf of Tonkin, July 1967.	Photo by Larry Backus USS Bausell
73k	Manatee (AO-58) and Bausell (DD-845) conducting an underway replenishment while in Gulf of Tonkin, July 1967.	Photo by Larry Backus USS Bausell
68k	View from Bausell (DD-845) of Manatee (AO-58) after the destroyer has broken away from the oiler following an underway replenishment while in Gulf of Tonkin, July 1967.	Photo by Larry Backus USS Bausell
119k	Manatee (AO-58) at Subic Bay, P.I., 1969	Rick Davis USS Manatee (AO-58) web site
58k	Manatee (AO-58) at Long Beach at the end of her final Wespac deployment, 26 March 1973	Rick Davis USS Manatee (AO-58) web site