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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive
Contributed by Mike Smolinski

Contributed by Al Grazevich

USS Kiowa (ATF-72)
ex
 USS Kiowa (AT-72) (1943 - 1944)

International Radio Call Sign:
November - Uniform - Lima - Tango
 NULT
Tactical Voice Radio Call Sign - Glitter (G)olf
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons



Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Navy Unit Commendation
Second Row - Navy Expeditionary Medal (1-Cuba) - American Campaign Medal - Europe-Africa-Middle East Campaign Medal (1)
Third Row - World War II Victory Medal - National Defense Service Medal (2) - Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (1-Cuba, 2-Dominican Republic)

USS Kiowa (ATF-72) was loaned to the Dominican Republic and renamed Macorix (RM-21)
Navajo Class Fleet Tug:
  • Laid down, 22 June 1942, at Charleston Shipbuilding and Drydock Co., Charleston, S.C.
  • Launched, 5 November 1942
  • Commissioned USS Kiowa (AT-72), 7 June 1943, LT. William O. Kuykendall USN in command
  • Redesignated Fleet Ocean Tug (ATF-72), 15 May 1944
  • During World War II USS Kiowa was assigned to the Europe-Africa-Middle East Theater and participated in the following campaign:

    Europe-Africa-Middle East Campaign
    Campaign and Dates
    Invasion of Normandy, 6 to 25 June 1944
    Task Group 122.3 - Salvage and Fire Fighting Group (Wreck Dispersal Vessel)

  • Decommissioned, 16 October 1972
  • Transferred (loaned) to the Dominican Republic under terms of the Security Assistance Act in 1972, renamed Macorix (RM-21)
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 15 September 1979
  • USS Kiowa earned one battle star for World War II service
  • Decommissioned by the Dominican Republic in 1986 and returned to US custody
  • Final Disposition, sold for scrapping by Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service, 12 December 1994
    Specifications:
    Displacement 1,164 t.(lt)
    Length 205'
    Beam 38' 6"
    Draft 15' 4" (lim)
    Speed 16.5 kts.
    Complement
    Officers 5
    Enlisted 80
    Largest Boom Capacity 20 t.
    Armament
    one single 3"/50 cal. dual purpose gun mount
    two single 40mm AA gun mounts
    four .50 cal. mgs
    Fuel Capacity
    Diesel 2,260 Bbls
    Propulsion
    Diesel-electric, four General Motors 12-278A diesel main engines driving four General Electric generators and three General Motors 3-268A auxiliary services engines
    single Fairbanks Morse Main Reduction Gears
    single propeller, 3,000shp
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Source
    Kiowa
    093907208    		 161k
    Namesake

    Kiowa - Native American tribe and an indigenous people of the Great Plains of the United States. They migrated southward from western Montana into the Rocky Mountains in Colorado in the 17th and 18th centuries, and eventually into the Southern Plains by the early 19th century. In 1867, the Kiowa were moved to a reservation in southwestern Oklahoma. Today, they are federally recognized as Kiowa Indian Tribe of Oklahoma with headquarters in Carnegie, Oklahoma. As of 2011, there were 12,000 members. The Kiowa language (Cáuijògà), part of the Tanoan language family, is in danger of extinction, with only 20 speakers as of 2012.
    File name: 09_06_000112 Cab no.: Cab 23.41.1 Title: In Summer, Kiowa Creator/Contributor: Rinehart, F. A. (Frank A.) (photographer) Copyright date: 1898 Physical description: 1 photographic print : platinum, hand-colored Summary: Genre: Platinum prints; Portrait photographs Subjects: Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition (1898 : Omaha, Neb.); Indians of North America; Kiowa Indians Notes: Rinehart No. 1042 Location: Boston Public Library, Print Department Rights: No known restrictions CC BY 2.0 Creative Commons CC 2,0, via Wikimedia Commons     		Tommy Trampp
    Kiowa 35k USS Kiowa (ATF-72) underway, date and location unknown. National Association of Fleet Tug Sailors
    Kiowa 78k USS Kiowa (ATF-72) underway in 1953, location unknown. Alan Owen
    Kiowa
    093907206    		 45k USS Kiowa (ATF-72) towing a target sled into Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, 27 February 1963.
    US Navy photo taken from USS Intrepid (CVS-11).    		 Robert Hurst
    Kiowa 601k USS Kiowa (ATF-72) moored pierside at Genoa,Italy in 1966. Carlo Martinelli
    Kiowa 477k
    Kiowa 197k USS Kiowa (ATF-72) underway in Valletta harbor, Malta in 1966.
    Photo by A & J Pavia from 1966/67 edition of "Jane's Fighting Ships".    		 Robert Hurst
    Kiowa
    093907207    		 324k USS Kiowa (ATF-72) ship's plaque. Tommy Trampp
    USS Kiowa (AT-72 / ATF-72)
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
    01LT. Kuykendall, William Oliver, USN7 June 1943 - 31 May 1945
    02LT. Sherwood, Charles Grady, USN31 May 1945 - 1947
    03LT. Hall, William Clayton, USN1947 - ?
    06LT. Byrnes Jr., Thomas Frank, USN1955 - 1957
    07LT. Jennings, Gerald Warren, USN 1957 - 1959
    09LCDR. Guion, Joseph Edward, USN1959 - 1961
    10LCDR. McNulty, James Francis, USN :RADM1961 - 1963
    11LCDR. Sabin, James Franklin, USN1963 - 1965
    12LT. Sylvester, Vincent, USN1965 - 1967
    13LT. Moore, Thomas Joseph, USN1967 - 1969
    14LT. Gastar, Stanley Douglas, USNFebruary 1971 - 16 October 1972
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    National Association of Fleet Tug Sailors
    Back To The Navsource Photo Archives Main Page Back To The Service Ship Photo Index Back To The Fleet Tug (AF) Photo Index Back To The Fleet Ocean Tug (ATF) Photo Index
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 29 July 2022