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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive
Contributed by Mike Smolinski

Contributed by Al Grazevich

USS Alamogordo (ARDM-2)
ex
 USS ARD-26 (1944 - 1965)

International Radio Call Sign:
November - Foxtrot - Zulu - Zulu
 NFZZ
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Precedence of awards is from left to right
American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal - World War II Victory Medal

USS Alamogordo (ARDM-2) was transferred to Ecuador
ARD-12 Class Auxiliary Repair Dock / ARDM-1 Class Medium Auxiliary Repair Dock:
  • Built by Pacific Bridge Co., Alameda, CA
  • Laid down, date unknown
  • Launched, date unknown
  • Commissioned USS ARD-26, 15 June 1944, LCDR Irving B. Smith, USN (Ret.), commanding
  • During and after World War II USS ARD-26 served almost continually at Guam except for a short period operating in the Ryukyus Islands in 1945
  • Decommissioned in 1962
  • Laid up in the Pacific Reserve Fleet, San Diego Group
  • Converted to a Medium Auxiliary Repair Dry Dock at Bethlehem Steel Corp, Baltimore, MD.
  • Reclassified ARDM-2, 22 March 1965
  • Commissioned USS Alamogordo (ARDM-2), 03 August 1965
  • Decommissioned, date unknown
  • Laid up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, James River, Lee Hall, VA
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 23 November 1993
  • Transferred to Ecuador under the Security Assistance Program, renamed BAE Rio Orellana (DF-83), 18 December 2000
  • Final Disposition, active with Astinave (Astilleros Navales Ecuatorianos) at Guayaquil, Ecuador, 2021
    Specifications:
    Displacement 5,200 tons
    Length
    ARD-26 491' 8"
    ARDM-2 536'
    Draft 5' 8"(lt)
    Beam 81'
    Complement 120
    Armament
    ARD-26
    two 40mm gun mounts
    two 20mm gun mounts
    ARDM-2 none
    Machinery unknown
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    USS ARD-26
    ARD-26
    09670201    		 29k USS ARD-26 is in front of USS ABSD-6 in this photo with barges alongside at Apra Harbor, Guam, circa 1944-45. Note ARD-26 has her bow painted black while the rest of her hull is painted traditional gray. Unfortunately, this image of the two dry docks tends to blend them together. Fred Basye USS ARD-26
    ARD-26
    09670204    		 107k USS ARD-26 with USS Sigsbee (DD-502) dry docked at Guam while repairing battle-damage, circa 6-13 May 1945.
    US National Archives photo from 80G, by Robert Meek.    		 John Chiquoine
    Mullany
    0552815    		 200k USS ARD-26 at San Diego with USS Mullany (DD-528) in her dock, September 1962. Lee Noland STGC USN Ret. USS Bausell
    USS Alamogordo (ARDM-2)
    USS ARD-26
    09670202    		 92k USS Alamogordo (ARDM-2) at anchor on the Cooper River, Charleston, S.C., date unknown.
    US Navy photo from "All Hands" magazine, October 1981.    		 Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret.
    USS ARD-26
    09670205    		 139k USS Alamogordo (ARDM-2) sinking in the harbor at Charleston, S.C., after an accident on 10 November 1965.
    US National Archives photo USN 1115182-B    		 Mike Green
    USS ARD-26
    09670206    		 110k Ex-USS Alamogordo (ARDM-2) in service as Rio Orellana (DF-83) at Guayaquil, Ecuador, May 2021. Dave Shirlaw
    USS ARD-26
    09670203    		 160k USS Alamogordo (ARDM-2) bronze ships' plaque. Juan C. Sanchez M.D.
    USS ARD-26 / USS Alamogordo (ARDM-2)
    DANFS entry at the Naval History & Heritage Command website
    Commanding Officers
    01LCDR Irving Barclay Smith USN (Ret)5 June 1944 - ?ARD-26
     Decommissioned1962 - 3 August 1965ARDM-2
    02LT John Gregory Grienenberger USN 3 August 1965 - July 1967ARDM-2
    03LT James Vivian Williamson, Jr. USN July 1967 - March 1969ARDM-2
    04LT Louis Ralph Capone, Jr. USNMarch 1969 - February 1971ARDM-2
    05LCDR Bernard Raphael Downs USN1989 - 1991ARDM-2
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log
    Back To The Navsource Photo Archives Main Page Back To The Yard and District Craft Photo Index Back To The Auxiliary Repair Dock (ARD) Photo Index Back To The Medium Auxiliary Repair Dock (ARDM) Photo Index
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    This page was created by Gary P. Priolo and is maintained by David L. Wright
    All pages copyright NavSource Naval History
    Last Updated 21 May 2021