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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

Contributed by Mike Smolinski

USS Vulcan (AR-5)

International Radio Call Sign:
November - Echo - Quebec - Bravo NEQB

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Secretary of the Navy Letter of Commendation
Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Navy Unit Commendation
Second Row - Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation - Navy Battle "E" Ribbon - American Defense Service Medal (with Fleet clasp)
Third Row - American Campaign Medal - Europe-Africa-Middle East Campaign Medal (1) - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal
Fourth Row - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp) - National Defense Service Medal (2)
Fifth Row - Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (1-Cuba, 1-Dominican Republic) - Southwest Asia Service Medal - Kuwait Liberation Medal (Saudi Arabia)

Vulcan Class Repair Ship:

Laid down, 16 December 1939, at New York Shipbuilding Co., Camden, N.J.

Launched, 14 December 1940

Commissioned USS Vulcan (AR-5), 14 June 1941, at Philadelphia Navy Yard, Philadelphia, PA., CDR. Leon S. Fiske USN in command

During World War II USS Vulcan was assigned to both the Europe-Africa-Middle East and Asiatic-Pacific Theaters and participated in the following campaign:

**Europe-Africa-Middle East**
Campaign and Dates
Invasion of Southern France 15 August to 25 September 1944

In the Asiatic-Pacific Theater USS Vulcan was assigned to Occupation duty at the conclusion of World War II from 2 September 1945 to 10 March 1946

Decommissioned, 30 September 1991

Laid up in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet

Struck from the Naval Register, 28 July 1992

Transferred to the Maritime Administration, 1 February 1999, for lay up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, James River, Fort Eustis, VA.

Final Disposition, contract awarded, 9 November 2006, to Bay Bridge Enterprises LLC, Chesapeake, VA. for scrapping

Removed from the National Defense Reserve Fleet, James River , 19 December 2006, under tow to Bay Bridge Enterprises, Chesapeake, VA. for scrapping.

USS Vulcan earned one battle star for World War II service

Specifications:
Displacement 9,430 t.(lt), 17,000 t.(fl), 16,200 (lim)
Length 529' 4"
Beam 73' 4"
Draft 26' (max)
Speed 19.2 kts.
Complement

officers 53

enlisted 1,244
Largest boom capacity 20 t.
Armament

four single 5"/38 dual purpose gun mounts

four .50 cal machine guns

four twin 40mm AA gun mounts

1976 Armament update -, three 5"/38 gun mounts replaced with four single 20mm AA gun mounts
Ship's Service Generators five turbo-driven 750Kw 450V A.C.
Fuel Capacity 25,420 Bbls NFSO
Propulsion

two New York Shipbuilding turbines

four Babcock & Wilcox 3-drum boilers 400psi 720°

double De Laval Main Reduction Gear

two propellers, 11,000shp

Size	Image Description	Contributed By
97k	*USS Vulcan* (AR-5)** underway near Philadelphia Navy Yard, 21 August 1941, two months after completion. Note the splinter protection (gun tubs) around the 5"/38 gun mounts. US National Archives, RG-19-LCM. photo # 19-N-25376, a US Navy Bureau of Ships photo now in the collections of the US National Archives.	Robert Hurst
98k	*USS Vulcan* (AR-5)** underway near Norfolk Navy Yard, 10 June 1942, wearing pattern camouflage. The splinter protection around the 5"/38 gun mounts has been removed. US National Archives, RG-19-LCM. photo # 19-N-30314, a US Navy Bureau of Ships photo now in the collections of the US National Archives.	Robert Hurst
799k	*USS Vulcan* (AR-5)** at anchor in the Mare Island Channel, circa 1942 US Navy photo.	Darryl Baker
87k	*USS Vulcan* (AR-5)** underway near Norfolk Navy Yard, 10 January 1945. US National Archives, RG-19-LCM. photo # 19-N-97729, a US Navy Bureau of Ships photo now in the collections of the US National Archives.	Robert Hurst
59k	*USS Vulcan* (AR-5)** underway, near Norfolk Navy Yard, 10 January 1945	Robert Hurst
126k	*USS Vulcan* (AR-5) moored pierside, NOB Norfolk, VA., with two destroyers alongside to port, circa early 1950s. Also visible in this photo are USS Randall (APA-224)** moored at Pier 4, a heavy cruiser astern of USS Vulcan and in the far distance USS Hornet CVA-12.	Tom Langford
144k	*USS Vulcan* (AR-5)** moored at the Hampton Roads Army Terminal, Norfolk, VA., circa Mid-1950s with ships alongside.	Joe Thornton USS Vulcan
120k	*USS Vulcan* (AR-5)** underway in 1957, location unknown.	Joe Thornton USS Vulcan
133k	*USS Vulcan* (AR-5)** underway, date and location unknown.	Bill McMillian
44k	*USS Vulcan* (AR-5)** underway, date and location unknown.	Federation of American Scientists web site
90k	*USS Vulcan* (AR-5)** underway, date and location unknown.	Richard Miller BMCS USNR Ret.
411k	*USS Vulcan* (AR-5)** underway, date and location unknown. US Navy photo.	Ed Zajkowski
44k	*USS Vulcan* (AR-5)** underway, date and location unknown.	Federation of American Scientists web site
59k	*USS Vulcan* (AR-5)** was the first US warship in which women were deployed. She left Norfolk Virginia in September 1979 for the Navy's first Med deployment with a mixed crew, and is seen here at Barcelona, Spain, 23 December 1979; at the time, the presence of women aboard a warship was odd enough to attract the attention of the news media.	Photo by Fabio Peña
842k	*USS Vulcan* (AR-5) moored pierside astern of USS Austin (LPD-4)** at Marseille, France, date unknown.	Photo by Philippe Gonzales
71k	*USS Vulcan* (AR-5)** along with the rest of the Vulcan-class repair ships and their contemporaries, the Dixie-class destroyer tenders and Fulton-class submarine tenders, had their original battery of 5" guns removed in the 1970s and replaced by a minimal 20-mm armament.	Photo by Fabio Peña
52k	*USS Vulcan* (AR-5)** at NOB Norfolk, VA., August 1985.	Rick Rowan
102k	*USS Vulcan* (AR-5)** underway, date and location unknown.	Richard Miller BMCS USNR Ret.
1083k	*USS Vulcan* (AR-5)** underway, circa 1990 or earlier, location unknown.	Wolfgang Hechler (gift from CO, CAPT. Cleal)
182k	*USS Vulcan* (AR-5) moored at pier 9, Naval Station, Norfolk, 29 June 1992. Vulcan had returned to Norfolk following deployment in the Persian Gulf area during "Operation Desert Storm". Astern of Vulcan lies the amphibious transport dock USS Nashville (LPD-13) while on the opposite side of the pier across from Vulcan** is an Iwo Jima-class (LPH) Amphibious Assault Ship (Helicopter. US Defenseimagery.mil photo VIRIN: DN-SC-92-01221 by Don . Montgomery.	Robert Hurst
581k	*USS Vulcan* (AR-5)** moored pierside date and location unknown.	Wendell Royce McLaughlin Jr
53k	Ex-*USS Vulcan* (AR-5)** under tow in Hampton Roads (Norfolk, VA. is in the background), 19 December 2006, while being moved from the James River National Defense Reserve Fleet to the breakers yard, Bay Bridge Enterprises LLC, Chesapeake, VA. for scrapping.	Mabel Clark
163k	Ex-*USS Vulcan* (AR-5)** at the ship breakers yard, Bay Bridge Enterprises LLC, Chesapeake, VA. for scrapping, circa February 2008.	Jerry Crow