Please report any broken links or trouble you might come across to the Webmaster. Please take a moment to let us know so that we can correct any problems and make your visit as enjoyable and as informative as possible.

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 Expeditionary Medal - 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 (Kuwait)
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 European and Asiatic-Pacific Theaters and participated in the following campaign:
    Europe-Africa-Middle East
    Campaign and Dates
    North Africa occupation, June to July 1943
  • 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)
    Length 530'
    Beam 73' 4"
    Draft 26' (max)
    Speed 19.2 kts.
    Complement 1,297
    Armament
    four single 5"/38 dual purpose gun mounts
    four .50 cal machine guns
    1976 Armament update -, three 5"/38 gun mounts replaced with four single 20mm AA gun mounts
    Propulsion four boilers,two steam turbines, two propeller shafts, 11,000shp
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    Vulcan 30k USS Vulcan (AR-5) at anchor, circa 1942, location unknown.
    US Navy photo.    		 Robert Hurst
    Vulcan 59k USS Vulcan (AR-5) underway, 10 January 1945, location unknown. Robert Hurst
    Randall 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
    Vulcan 133k USS Vulcan (AR-5) underway, date and location unknown. Bill McMillian
    Vulcan 44k USS Vulcan (AR-5) underway, date and location unknown. Federation of American Scientists
    web site
    Vulcan 44k USS Vulcan (AR-5) underway, date and location unknown. Federation of American Scientists
    web site
    Vulcan 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 Peņa
    Vulcan 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 Peņa
    Vulcan 52k USS Vulcan (AR-5) at NOB Norfolk, VA., August 1985. Rick Rowan
    Vulcan 90k USS Vulcan (AR-5) underway, date and location unknown. Richard Miller BMCS USNR Ret.
    Vulcan 102k USS Vulcan (AR-5) underway, date and location unknown. Richard Miller BMCS USNR Ret.
    Vulcan 581k USS Vulcan (AR-5) moored pierside date and location unknown. Wendell Royce McLaughlin Jr
    Vulcan 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
    Vulcan 163k Ex-USS Vulcan (AR-5) at the ship breakers yard, Bay Bridge Enterprises LLC, Chesapeake, VA. for scrapping, circa February 2008. Jerry Crow
    Additional USS Vulcan (AR-5) Patches
    Vulcan
    Contributed by Mike Smolinski    		 Vulcan
    Contributed by Mike Smolinski
    View the USS Vulcan (AR-5)
    DANFS history entry located at the US Naval Historical Center
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S.Navy Memorial Foundation
    Fleet Reserve Association
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    No Information Available
    Back To The Navsource Photo Archives Main Page Back To The Service Ship Photo Index Back To The Repair Ship (AR) Photo Index
    Comments, Suggestions, E-mail Webmaster.
    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
    © 2005 Gary P. Priolo © 1996 - 2008 NavSource Naval History. All Rights Reserved.
    Last Updated 11 April 2008