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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive
Contributed by Mike Smolinski

USNS Taluga (T-AO-62)
ex
 USS Taluga (AO-62) (1944 - 1972)

International Radio Call Sign:
November - Whiskey - Oscar - Sierra
 NWOS
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons





Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Combat Action Ribbon (retroactive, 16 April 1945, Kerama Retto) - China Service Medal (extended) - American Campaign Medal
Second Row - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (4) - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp)
Third Row - National Defense Service Medal (2) - Korean Service Medal (4) - Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (Vietnam)
Fourth Row - Vietnam Campaign Medal (6) - Philippines Presidential Unit Citation - Philippines Liberation Medal (1)
Fifth Row - United Nations Service Medal - Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal - Republic of Korea War Service Medal (retroactive)
Personnel Awards

Purple Heart (12-WIA, 16 April 1945)
Cimmeron Class Fleet Oiler:
  • Laid down, 23 December 1943, as a Maritime Commission type (T3-S2-A3) tanker hull, under Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 728), at Bethlehem Steel Shipyard, Sparrows Point, MD.
  • Launched, 10 July 1944
  • Commissioned USS Taluga (AO-62), 25 August 1944, CDR. Hans M. Mikkelsen in command
  • During WWII USSTaluga was assigned to Asiatic-Pacific Theater and participated in the following campaigns:
    Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns
    Campaign and Dates Campaign and Dates
    Luzon operation
    Formosa attacks, 3 to 4, 9 and 15 January 1945
    Luzon attacks, 6 to 7 January 1945
    China Coast attacks, 12, and 16 January 1945     		Okinawa Gunto operation
    5th and 3d Fleet raids in support of Okinawa Gunto, 16 March to 2 June 1945
    Iwo Jima operation
    Assault and occupation of Iwo Jima, 15 to 25 February 1945     		3rd Fleet operations against Japan 10 to 14 July 1945

  • USS Taluga was assigned to Occupation and China service in the Far East for the following periods:

    Navy Occupation Service Medal
    China Service Medal (extended)
    2 September 1945 to 1 February 19462 September 1945 to 1 February 1946
    10 July to 10 August 194610 July to 10 August 1946
    3 to 9 March 194716 January to 2 February 1953
    15 to 22 July 194814 December 1953 to 14 January 1954
    26 to 31 August 19482 to 3 February 1955

  • During the Korean War USS Taluga participated in the following campaigns:
    Korean War Campaigns
    Campaign and Dates Campaign and Dates
    UN Summer-Fall Offensive
    9 to 15 and 25 to 31 October 1951
    16 to 25 November 1951     		Korean Defense Summer-Fall 1952
    20 to 29 October 1952
    4 to 10 and 23 to 30 November 1952
    1 December 1952
    Second Korean Winter
    13 to 26 December 1951
    7 to 25 January 1952
    2 to 10 February 1952     		Third Korean Winter
    16 to 22 December 1952
    26 February to 5 March 1953
    18 to 27 March 1953
    9 to 17 April 1953

  • During the Vietnam War USS Taluga participated in the following campaigns:
    Vietnam War Campaigns
    Campaign and Dates Campaign and Dates
    Vietnam Defense
    4 to 7, 10 to 16 and 20 to 27 July 1965
    2 to 10 August 1965     		Sanctuary Counteroffensive
    3 to 23 May 1970
    25 May to 3 June 1970
    8 to 11 June 1970
    Vietnam Summer-Fall 1969
    15 to 22 June 1969
    1 July 1969     		Vietnamese Counteroffensive - Phase VII
    11 to 20 and 23 to 30 July 1970
    8 to 16 August 1970
    24 August to 2 September 1970
    Vietnam Winter-Spring 1970
    24 to 31 March 1970
    6 to 13 and 21 to 29 April 1970     		Consolidation I
    21 August to 19 September 1971

  • Decommissioned, 4 May 1972, at Long Beach, CA.
  • Turned over to the Military Sealift Command (MSC) and placed in service as USNS Taluga (T-AO-62)
  • Placed out of service, date unknown
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 21 February 1992
  • Transferred to the Maritime Administration (MARAD) for lay up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, Suisun Bay, Benecia, CA.
  • Title transfer to MARAD, 1 May 1999
  • Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, withdrawn from the Reserve Fleet, 1 July 2010
  • USS Taluga earned four battle stars for World War II service, four battle stars for Korean War service and six campaign stars for Vietnam War service
    Specifications:
    Displacement 7,236 t.(lt) 25,440 t.(fl)
    Length 553'
    Beam 75'
    Draft 32'
    Speed 18.3 kts. (trial)
    Complement
    Officers - 22
    Enlisted - 291
    Largest Boom Capacity 10 t.
    Armament
    one single 5"/38 cal dual purpose gun mount
    four single 3"/50 cal dual purpose gun mounts
    four twin 40mm AA gun mounts
    four twin 20mm AA gun mounts
    Cargo Capacity
    NSFO - 123,700 Bbls
    Gasoline - 788,000 Gals
    Fuel Capacity 15,000 Bbls
    Propulsion
    two Bethlehem Steel geared turbines
    four Foster and Wheeler K-type boilers, 450psi 750°
    double Falk Main Reduction Gear
    Ship's Service Generators
    two turbo-drive 400Kw 230V A.C.
    one Diesel-drive 150Kw 230V A.C
    twin propellers, 13,500shp
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    USS Taluga (AO-62)
    Taluga
    091906212    		 145k Kamikaze Suicide Plane Attack on USS Taluga (AO-62), 16 April 1945.
    091906212 - 091906213 - 091906214 Clearing away the wreckage of the suicide plane and pilots remains.
    091906215 - Suicide planes propeller imbedded in catwalk
    091906216 - part of the planes wing stuck in the ship's mast     		Tommy R. Trampp SK3 USS Taluga
    Taluga
    091906213    		 172k
    Taluga
    091906214    		 92k
    Taluga
    091906215    		 211k
    Taluga
    091906216    		 94k
    Taluga 122k USS Taluga (AO-62) refueling USS Iwo Jima (LPH-2).
    US Navy photo    		 .
    Taluga 142k USS Taluga (AO-62) refueling USS Oriskany (CVA-34) and USS Charles P. Cecil (DD-835).
    US Navy photo    		  
    Taluga 265k USS Taluga (AO-62) at anchor, circa 1951, location unknown. Submitted by Derick S. Hartshorn, courtesy LTjg. Jerome Bolick USN Ret.
    Taluga 124k Overhead view of USS Taluga (AO-62) refueling an unidentified Essex class aircraft carrier and destroyer.
    US Navy photo    		 Edward H. Cleary
    Taluga 85k USS Taluga (AO-62) refueling Seventh Fleet ships during the second Taiwan Strait Crisis in 1958. Taluga worked out of Kaohsiung, Taiwan during this period.. Tommy R. Trampp SK3USS Taluga
    Taluga 121k USS Taluga (AO-62) underway, circa 1957 to 1961, location unknown. Tommy R. Trampp SK3 USS Taluga
    Taluga 219k USS Taluga (AO-62) underway alongside an unidentified aircraft carrier in rough seas, circa 1962 to 1973, probably off the coast of North or South Vietnam. Tommy R. Trampp SK3 USS Taluga
    Taluga 304k USS Taluga (AO-62) refueling USS Hancock (CVA-19) and an unidentified destroyer off the coast of Japan in February 1967. Note the Soviet trawler (spy ship) in the distance. Photo by Charles "Bud" Dehnert USS Hancock
    Taluga 273k
    Taluga 62k USS Taluga (AO-62) moored outboard of another AO at Naval Base Subic Bay, Philippines Islands in 1967.
    Photo taken from USS Bausell (DD-845)    		 Photo by Lee Noland STGC, USN Ret. USS Bausell.
    Taluga 316k Photo of the bridge area of USS Taluga (AO-62) while alongside USS Evans (DE-1023) during a refueling evolution during a WESTPAC deployment in April 1967. Photo by Darryl Baker
    Taluga 350k USS Taluga (AO-62)drops away after refueling USS Evans (DE-1023) during a WESTPAC deployment in April 1967. Photo taken from USS Evans. Photo by Darryl Baker
    Taluga 68k USCGC Minnetonka (WHEC-62) going alongside USS Taluga (AO-62) for refueling off the coast of South Vietnam, 1968. Tommy R. Trampp SK3 USS Taluga
    Taluga 110k
    Taluga 150k
    Taluga 117k USS Taluga (AO-62) coming alongside USS Iwo Jima (LPH-2) off the coast of Vietnam, circa 1965 to 1971. Tommy R. Trampp SK3 USS Taluga
    Taluga 111k USS Taluga (AO-62) at anchor, date and location unknown. Tommy Trampp SK3 USS Taluga
    USNS Taluga (T-AO-62)
    Taluga 38k USNS Taluga (T-AO-62) underway, date and location unknown. Tommy Trampp SK3 USS Taluga
    Taluga 49k USNS Taluga (T-AO-62) underway at San Diego, CA. with the assistance of tugs. Photo by Richard Miller BMCS USNR Ret.
    Vancouver 536k USNS Taluga (T-AO-62) refueling USS Vancouver (LPD-2) in the Gulf of Siam during Operation Eagle Pull in March 1975. Photo by Richard Spring, CMDCM (SW/AW) USN Ret.
    Taluga 381k Stern view of USNS Taluga (T-AO-62) moored pierside, at Naval Station Pearl Harbor, HI., November 1981. Photo by Gerhard Mueller-Debus
    Taluga 250k USNS Taluga (T-AO-62) moored pierside, at Naval Station Pearl Harbor, HI., November 1981. Photo by Chris Howell
    Taluga 218k Stern view of ex-USNS Taluga (T-AO-62) moored in row F, National Defense Reserve Fleet, Suisun Bay, Benecia, CA. in June 2010
    Photo by Mike Holmes.    		 Tommy Trampp SK3 USS Taluga
    Taluga 224k Bow view of ex-USNS Taluga (T-AO-62) moored in row F, National Defense Reserve Fleet, Suisun Bay, Benecia, CA.
    MARAD photo    		 Ron Reeves
    Taluga 123k ex-USNS Taluga (T-AO-62) drydocked at Pier 70, BAE Systems’ San Francisco Ship Repair facility in June 2010.
    Photo by Mike Holmes    		 Tommy Trampp SK3 USS Taluga
    Taluga 184k Ex-USNS Taluga (T-AO-62) leaving BAE Systems’ San Francisco Ship Repair under tow by the tug Scorpius enroute to the breakers yard, ESCO Marine at Brownsville, TX., 26 July 2010.
    Photo by Mark VanDenBerg.    		 Tommy Trampp SK3 USS Taluga
    Taluga 330k Ex-USNS Taluga (T-AO-62) in the Miraflores Locks, Panama Canal, 21 August 2010 while enroute to Brownsville, TX. from San Francisco, CA.
    Photo by Bud Rothgeb.    		 Tommy Trampp SK3 USS Taluga
    Taluga 117k Ex-USNS Taluga (T-AO-62) off of South Padre Island, TX., 31 August 2010, while under tow by the tug Eileen McAllister.
    Photo by Bud Rothgeb and Bob Huggins.    		 Tommy Trampp SK3 USS Taluga
    Taluga 1965k Ex-USNS Taluga (T-AO-62) at the end of her last journey, moored at ESCO Marine, Brownsville, Tx. awaiting dismantling, 2 September 2010.
    Photo by Bob Huggins, Wally Guterraz and Bud Rothgeb.    		 Tommy Trampp SK3 USS Taluga
    Additional Ships Patches and Memorabilia
    Taluga
    Contributed by Tommy Trampp SK3
    USS Taluga 1957-61    		 Taluga
    Contributed by Mike Smolinski    		 Taluga
    Contributed by Mike Smolinski    		 Taluga
    Shoulder patch and ashtray
    presented to refueled ships 1957-61
    Contributed by Tommy Trampp SK3
    USS Taluga

    For more photos and information about USS Taluga, see;
  • Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships
  • U.S. Navy Oilers
  • Photo collection of Ltjg Lloyd LaVack USS Taluga
  • Commanding Officers
    • Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 11 May 2012