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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

USS Kangaroo (IX-121)

International Radio Call Sign:
November - Juliet - Lima - Golf
 NJLG
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row American Campaign Medal
Bottom Row - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp)
Armadillo Class Mobile Station Tanker:
  • Laid down, 28 September 1943, as SS Paul Tulane, a Maritime Commission type (Z-ET1-S-C3) hull, under Maritime Commission contract (MCE 1929) at Delta Shipbuilding Co., New Orleans, LA.
  • Renamed SS Kangaroo 27 October 1943
  • Launched, 6 November 1943
  • Acquired by the Navy 17 December 1943, New Orleans, LA.
  • Commissioned USS Kangaroo (IX-121), 20 December 1943, LT. G. D. Lawson in command
  • During World War II Kangaroo was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater
  • Decommissioned, 13 May 1946, at Norfolk, VA.
  • Struck from the Naval Register and delivered to the War Shipping Administration (WSA), 14 May 1946, at the National Defense Reserve Fleet, James River Group, Lee Hall, VA. for disposal
  • Merchant Service
    Sold, 3 May 1948, to Federal Motorship Corp., renamed SS Mostank
    Sold in 1950 to a Norwegian owner, reflagged Norway
    Sold in December 1954 to Seaforth S.S. Corp, renamed SS Seabrave, reflagged Panamanian
    Converted to a dry cargo carrier in 1954 at Schiedam (Netherlands), renamed SS Niborio
    Sold in 1967 to Greece owners, renamed SS Andros Seafarer
    Sold in March 1963, renamed SS San Pablo
  • Final Disposition, scrapped, March 1969 at Kaohsiung, Taiwan
    Specifications:
    Displacement 3,665 t.(lt)
    Length 441' 6"
    Beam 56' 11"
    Draft 28' 4"
    Speed 11 kts.
    Complement 79
    Armament
    one single 5"/38 dual purpose gun mount
    one single 3"/50 dual purpose gun mount
    eight single 20mm AA gun mounts
    Propulsion
    two 220 PSI boilers
    one triple-expansion reciprocating engine
    single 4 blade, 18' 6" propeller, 2,500shp
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    United States Maritime Commission
    Gemsbok
    094611702    		 140k United States Maritime Commission Tanker Design Z-ET-1-S-C3.
    US National Archives photo thanks to Auke Visser's Famous T-Tanker Pages     		 
    USS Kangaroo (IX-121)
    Kangaroo
    094612106    		 111k
    Namesake
    Kangaroo - a marsupial indigenous to Australia and New Guinea.    		 Tommy Trampp
    Merchant Service
    Kangaroo 81k Ex-USS Kangaroo (IX-121) as the Greece-flagged, SS Andros Seafarer underway with the assistance of a tug, at Vancouver, B.C., Canada, 2 March 1958
    Photo from Auke Visser's Famous T - Tankers Pages.    		 Tommy Trampp
    Kangaroo 57k Ex-USS Kangaroo (IX-121) as the Panama-flagged SS San Pablo leaving Immingham, England, in the mid-1960s Gerhard Mueller-Debus
    Kangaroo 198k SS San Pablo leaving Vancouver, B.C., in the 1960s.
    Photo ©R. Sherlock.    		 Gerhard Mueller-Debus
    Kangaroo 90k SS San Pablo entering a U.S. port, circa 1965. Gerhard Mueller-Debus
    Kangaroo 140k SS San Pablo at anchor in the port of Vancouver, B.C., date unknown Gerhard Mueller-Debus
    USS Kangaroo (IX-121)
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log
    Additional Web Sites of Interest
    MARAD Vessel History Database
    Back To The Navsource Photo Archives Main Page Back To The Service Force Ship Type Index Back To The Miscellaneous Ship (IX) Photo Index
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
    All pages copyright NavSource Naval History
    Last Updated 9 July 2021