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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive
Contributed by Mike Smolinski

USS Virgo (AE-30)
ex
 USS Virgo (AKA-20) (1943 - 1966)

AKA-20 International Radio Call Sign:
November - Xray - Sierra - Foxtrot
 NXSF
AE-30 International Radio Call Sign:
November - Oscar - India - Lima
 NOIL
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons




Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - American Campaign Medal
Second Row - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (7) - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp)
Third Row - National Defense Service Medal (2) - Korean Service Medal (9) - Vietnam Service Medal (10)
Fourth Row - United Nations Service Medal - Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal - Republic of Korea War Service Medal (retroactive)
Andromeda Class Attack Cargo Ship:
  • Laid down, 9 March 1943, as a Maritime Commission type (C2-S-B1) hull, under Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 204) at Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Kearny, N.J.
  • Launched, 4 June 1943
  • Commissioned USS Virgo (AKA-20), 10 July 1943 at New York Navy Yard, Brooklyn, N.Y., CDR. Clayton H. McLaughlin in command
  • During WWII USS Virgo (AKA-20) was assigned to Asiatic-Pacific Theater and participated in the following campaigns:
    Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns
    Campaign and Dates Campaign and Dates
    Gilbert Islands operation
    Tarawa - Betio Island, 20 to 28 November 1943     		Iwo Jima operation
    Assault and occupation of Iwo Jima, February 1945
    Marshall Islands operation
    Occupation of Kwajalein and Majuro Atolls, 31 January to 4 February 1944     		Okinawa Gunto operation
    March through June 1945
    Marianas operation
    Capture and occupation of Guam, 21 to 27 July 1944     		Third Fleet operations against Japan
    July and August 1945
    Western Caroline Islands operation
    Capture and occupation of southern Palau Islands, Peleliu, 15 September to 3 October 1944     		.

  • During the Korean War USS Virgo (AKA-20) participated in the following campaigns:
    Korean War Campaigns
    Campaign and Dates Campaign and Dates
    North Korean Aggression
    18 September to 8 October 1950     		Second Korean Winter
    30 November to 16 December 1951
    29 December 1951 to 10 January 1952
    22 January to 3 February 1952
    14 to 26 February 1952
    10 to 27 March 1952
    5 to 12 April 1952
    Inchon Landing
    15 to 17 September 1950     		Korean Defense Summer-Fall 1952
    24 May to 5 June 1952
    14 June to 17 July 1952
    30 to 31 July 1952
    First UN Counteroffensive
    15 to 18 March 1951
    31 March to 11 April 1951     		Third Korean Winter
    4 to 22 January 1953
    2 to 10 and 18to 24 February 1953
    2 to 7 March 1953
    22 March to 1 April 1953
    13 to 19 and 29 to 30 April 1953
    Communist China Spring Offensive
    24 April to 6 May 1951
    14 to 18 May 1951     		Korean Summer-Fall 1953
    1 to 5 and 14 to 17 May 1953
    UN Summer-Fall Offensive
    1 to 21 November 1951     		.

  • Decommissioned, 3 April 1958
  • Laid up in Columbia River Group, Pacific Reserve Fleet, Astoria, OR.
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 1 July 1961
  • Custody transferred to the Maritime Administration (MARAD) for lay up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, Astoria, OR..
  • Withdrawn from reserve in September 1965
  • Reinstated in the Naval Register, 1 November 1965 as an Ammunition Ship
  • Recommissioned USS Virgo (AE-30), 19 August 1966 at Seattle, WA., CAPT. Harold R. MacMillan in command
  • During the Vietnam War USS Virgo (AE-30) participated in the following campaigns:
    Vietnam War Campaigns
    Campaign and Dates Campaign and Dates
    Vietnamese Counteroffensive
    12 February to 2 March 1966
    9 March to 6 April 1966     		Vietnamese Summer-Fall 1969
    9 to 13 and 20 to 23 June 1969
    30 June to 15 July 1969
    24 July to 8 August 1969
    1 to 2 and 9 to 23 September 1969
    1 to 16 and 30 to 31 October 1969
    Vietnamese Counteroffensive - Phase II
    12 to 15 and 30 to 31 May 1967     		Winter-Spring 1970
    1 to 12 November 1969
    Vietnamese Counteroffensive - Phase III
    1 to 11 June 1967
    28 June to 13 July 1967
    24 July to 16 August 1967     		Sanctuary Counteroffensive
    7 to 26 June 1970
    Vietnamese Counteroffensive - Phase V
    7 to 17 April 1968
    26 April to 6 May 1968
    16 to 29 May 1968
    12 to 24 June 1968
    11 to 24 July 1968
    3 to 22 August 1968
    9 to 16 September 1968
    24 September to 8 October 1968     		Vietnamese Counteroffensive - Phase VII
    5 to 21 July 1970
    27 July to 4 August 1970
    14 to 18 August 1970
    17 September to 3 October 1970
    20 October to 4 November 1970
    Tet 69/Counteroffensive
    29 May to 8 June 1969     		.

  • Decommissioned, 3 April 1958, and laid up in the Columbia River Group, Pacific Reserve Fleet, Astoria, OR.
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 1 July 1961
  • Transferred to the Maritime Administration for lay up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, Astoria
  • Reacquired by the Navy in September 1965
  • Reinstated in the Naval Register, 1 November 1965,
  • Recommissioned USS Virgo (AE-30), 19 August 1966
  • Decommissioned, 18 February 1971, at Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, CA.
  • Transferred to the Maritime Administration for disposal
  • Final Disposition sold for scrapping, 19 November 1973 to Taipei Hsieh of Taiwan
  • USS Virgo earned seven battle stars for World War II service, nine battle stars for Korean War service, and nine campaign stars for Vietnam War service
    AKA Specifications:
    Displacement 6,556 t.(lt) 13,900 t.(fl)
    Length 459' 2"
    Beam 63'
    Draft 26' 4"
    Speed 16 kts.
    Complement 247
    Cargo Capacity 4,450 dwt
    Armament
    one 5"/38 dual purpose gun mount
    four twin 40mm AA gun mounts
    eighteen single 20mm AA gun mounts
    Boats 8 LCMs, 1 LCP(L), 15 LCVPs
    Propulsion steam turbine, single shaft, 6,000shp
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Source
    By
    USS Virgo (AKA-20)
    Virgo 82k Stern view of USS Virgo (AKA-20) in the Mare Island channel, 29 July 1946. Virgo was under repair at Mare Island from 28 May to 26 July 1946. Ships to the right of Virgo, are per the shipyard logs:
    USS Missoula (APA-211);
    USS Magoffin (APA-199);
    USS Meriwether (APA-203); and
    USS Lubbock (APA 197).
    Mare Island Naval Shipyard photo # AKA 20 2751-46 - 7/29/46    		 Darryl Baker
    Virgo 86k Broadside view of USS Virgo (AKA-20) underway in the Mare Island channel, 29 July 1946.
    Mare Island Naval Shipyard photo # AKA 20 2753-46 - 7/29/46    		 Darryl Baker
    Virgo 56k Bow on view of USS Virgo (AKA-20) underway with assistance of an unidentified tug off Mare Island Naval Shipyard, 29 July 1946. Ships in the background are part of the 19th Fleet (Reserve Fleet) moored at Mare Island.
    Mare Island Naval Shipyard photo # AKA 20 2756-46 - 7/29/46    		 Darryl Baker
    Virgo 113k USS Virgo (AKA-20) transferring cargo to USS Lake Champlain (CVA-39) while en route to Japan, 8 June 1953
    US Navy photo # NH 97301, from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center    		 US Naval Historical Center
    Virgo 87k Broadside view of USS Virgo (AKA-20) off Mare Island Naval Shipyard, 14 May 1957. Virgo was under repair at Mare Island from 5 March to 13 May 1957.
    Mare Island Naval Shipyard photo # AKA 20 34262-5-57, 5/14/57    		 Darryl Baker
    USS Virgo (AE-30)
    Virgo 86k USS Virgo (AE-30), Subic Bay PI, 26 August 1970
    US Navy Photo NH 97300, from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center.    		 US Naval Historical Center
    Virgo 42k USS Virgo (AE-30) in the South China Sea being replenished via VertRep by a CH-46 helicopter from USS Niagara Falls (AFS-3), circa 1969-70 Photo by Dr. W. P. Jones, Medical Officer, USS Niagara Falls
    Haleakala 30k USS Virgo (AE-30) and USS Haleakala (AE-25) steaming together in the late 1960s, place unknown. Bill Toohey
    View slide show of USS Virgo's 1957 Seventh Fleet Deployment, contributed by Marc Schenck for his father LTjg. Bernard Schenck USS Virgo
    View the USS Virgo (AKA-20/AE-30)
    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
    U.S.S. Virgo AE 30
    "AE" Sailors Association
    Back To The Navsource Photo Archives Main Page Back To The Amphibious Ship Type Index Back To The Service Force Ship Type Index Back To The Cargo Ship (AK) Photo Index Back To The Amphibious Cargo Ship (AKA) Photo Index Back To The Ammunition Ship (AE) Photo Index
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
    © 2005 Gary P. Priolo © 1996 - 2008 NavSource Naval History. All Rights Reserved.
    Last Updated 14 March 2008