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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

Contributed by Tommy Trampp

USS Dionysus (AR-21)

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal
Bottom Row - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp) - National Defense Service Medal
Xanthus Class Repair Ship:
  • Laid down, 4 October 1944 as SS Faithful a Maritime Commission type (EC2-S-C1) hull under Maritime Commission contract (MCE hull 2681) at Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyard Inc., Baltimore, MD.
  • Launched, 10 October1944
  • Intended for the Royal Navy as HMS Faithful (F-177)
  • Acquired by the Navy, 25 October 1944
  • Commissioned USS Dionysus (AR-21), 28 April 1945, CDR. Samuel D. Simpson USN in command
  • Decommissioned, 31 January 1947, at San Pedro, CA.
  • Laid up in the Pacific Reserve Fleet, San Pedro, CA.
  • Recommissioned, 13 February 1952, at Long Beach, CA.
  • Decommissioned, 1 July 1955, at Orange, TX.
  • Laid up in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet, Orange, TX.
  • Struck from the Naval Register, date unknown
  • Custody transferred to the Maritime Administration, 28 December 1960, for lay up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, Beaumont, TX.
  • Permanent transfer to the Maritime Administration, 1 September 1962
  • Temporary custody to the US Navy from 25 April 1976 to 24 September 1976 and returned to the Maritime Commission at the National Defense Reserve Fleet, James River Group, Lee Hall, VA.
  • Final Disposition, transferred to the state of North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries for that states Artificial Reefs Program, 31 May 1978 and sunk on AR-160 off Oregon Inlet, N.C., 11 November, 1978
    Specifications:
    Displacement 5,801 t.(lt) 14,350 t.(trial)
    Length 441' 6"
    Beam 56' 11"
    Draft 22'
    Speed 12.5 kts.
    Complement
    Officers 27
    Enlisted 497
    Largest Boom Capacity 12 t.
    Armament
    one single 5"/38 cal dual purpose gun mount
    three single 3"/50 cal dual purpose gun mounts
    two twin 40mm AA gun mounts
    twelve single 20mm AA gun mounts
    Fuel Capacities
    NSFO 8,000 Bbls
    Diesel 2,200 Bbls
    Propulsion
    one Hoover, Owens, Rentschler Co. triple expansion steam engine
    two Babcock and Wilcox header-type boilers, 2230psi 450° Ship's Service Generators
     three Diesel-drive 500Kw 450V A.C.
     two turbo-drive 60Kw 120V/240V D.C.
    single propeller, 2,500shp
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Source
    SS Faithful (MCE hull 2681)
    Dionysus 111k SS Faithful (MCE hull 2681) being moved from her builder's yard to her conversion yard at Baltimore, MD., 25 October 1944. Officially 79.9 per cent complete, she lacks nearly all her smaller fittings, including her rigging.
    US National Archives photo # 80-G-121493, RG-80-G, a US Navy photo now in the collections of the US National Archives.    		 Robert Hurst
    USS Dionysus (AR-21)
    Dionysus
    09252105    		 106k
    Namesake
    Dionysus - The god of the grape-harvest, winemaking and wine, of fertility, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, festivity and theatre in ancient Greek religion and myth
    Marble head of Dionysus (second century AD), Capitoline Museums, Rome
    Author Raffaele Pagani
    Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
    Wikipedia    		 Tommy Trampp
    Dionysus 78k USS Dionysus (AR-21) at anchor, date and location unknown.
    Photo is from Dionysus Cruise book.    		 Russ Padden, courtesy Gene Stanton
    Dionysus 72k USS Dionysus (AR-21), from left to right; LCDR C. F. Sanders, Executive Officer, Capt. S. D. Simpson, Commanding Officer, and LCDR H. W. Packard, Repair Officer, circa-1945-1947.
    Photo is from Dionysus Cruise book.    		 Russ Padden, courtesy Gene Stanton
    Dionysus 91k USS Dionysus (AR-21) under way, circa 1952 to 1955.
    US Navy photo # # USN 1045360 from the collections of the US Naval History and Heritage Command.    		 Robert Hurst
    USS Dionysus (AR-21)
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
    01CDR. Simpson Samuel Douglas, USN (USNA 1925) 28 April 1945 - ~
    . Decommissioned31 January 1947 - 13 February 1952
    .CAPT. Francis, Dennis Larkin, USN (USNA 1924)13 February 1952 - ?
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves
    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 24 April 2020