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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

USS Stokes (AKA-68)


International Radio Call Sign:
November - Hotel - India - Foxtrot
 NHIF
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 (2) - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp)
Tolland Class Attack Cargo Ship:
  • Laid down, 26 June 1944, as a Maritime Commission type (C2-S-AJ3) hull under Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 1394) at North Carolina Shipbuilding Corp, Wilmington, N.C.
  • Launched, 31 August 1944
  • Commissioned USS Stokes (AKA-68), 4 November 1944, at Charleston Navy Yard, Charleston, S.C., LCDR. George W. Graber USNR in command
  • During World War II USS Stokes was assigned to Asiatic-Pacific Theater:
    TransRon Seventeen, COMO. T.B. Brittan USN (20);
    TransDiv Fifty-One, CAPT. J. L. Allen USNR and participated in the following campaigns:

    Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns
    Campaign and Dates Campaign and Dates
    Iwo Jima operation
    Assault and occupation of Iwo Jima, 19 February to 2 March 1945     		Okinawa Gunto operation
    Assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto, 9 to 19 April 1945

  • Following World War II USS Stokes was assigned to Occupation service in the Far East for the following periods:

    Navy Occupation Service Medal
    9 to 25 September 1945
    28 October to 14 November 1945

  • Decommissioned, 9 July 1946, at Norfolk, VA.
  • Returned to the Maritime Commission, 9 July 1946, for lay up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, James River Group, Lee Hall, VA.
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 19 July 1946
  • USS Stokes earned two battle stars for World War II service
  • Merchant Service
    Sold to Oceanic SS Co., 9 May 1947, converted to a Maritime Commission hull type (C2-S-AJ1), renamed SS Sierra
    Sold by Oceanic SS Co., 3 March 1961, to Matson Navigation Co., renamed SS Hawaiian Banker
    renamed SS Fanwood, 8 September 1961
    Sold by Matson Navigation Co., to Sea-Land Services Inc., 15 September 1961.
    Sold to Georgelis Mid-America Lines, Inc., 20 April 1964, renamed SS A & J Doctor Max
    Re-possessed by Sea-Land Services Inc., 10 July 1964, renamed SS Fanwood
    Title transferred to the Maritime Administration under the MARAD Exchange Program, 13 May 1965
    Leased by MARAD to Sea-Land Services Inc., 13 May 1965
    Returned to the Maritime Administration, 22 April 1966, at Hoboken, N.J.
    Sold to Waterman Industries Corp., 22 April 1966
    Sold by Waterman Industries Corp., to Gatx/Boothe Corp. 15 May 1969
  • Final Disposition, sold for scrapping in Taiwan by Gatx/Boothe Corp. to Kenematsu-Gosho, Ltd., Japan, 4 September 1971
    Specifications:
    Displacement 8,635 t.(lt) 13,910 t.(fl), 14,160 (lim)
    Length 459' 2"
    Beam 63'
    Draft 26' 4"
    Speed 16.5 kts.
    Complement
    Officers 62
    Enlisted 333
    Largest Boom Capacity 35 t.
    Armament
    one single 5"/38 cal dual purpose gun mount
    four twin 40mm AA gun mounts
    sixteen single 20mm AA gun mounts
    Boats
    fourteen LCVPs
    eight LCMs
    Cargo Capacity 5,275DWT
    non-refrigerated 380,000 Cu ft.
    Fuel Capacities
    NSFO 10,425 Bbls
    Diesel 805 Bbls
    Propulsion
    one General Electric geared turbine
    two Foster and Wheeler header-type boilers, 450psi 750°
    double General Electric Main Reduction Gear
    three Ship's Service Generators 300Kw, 120V/240V D.C.
    single propeller, 6,000shp
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    USS Stokes (AKA-68)
    Stokes 35k USS Stokes (AKA-68) underway, date and location unknown. Mary (Miracle) Palmer for her father Warren Howard Miracle USS Stokes
    Stokes 53k USS Stokes (AKA-68) LCVP-3, on the beach at Iwo Jima, unloading supplies and material, date unknown. LBS Products
    Merchant Service Sea-Land Services Inc.
    Stokes 58k Ex-USS Stokes (AKA-68) in merchant service as the Sea-Land Services Inc. cargo ship SS Fanwood under way on the River Weser, Germany on a foggy day in February 1963. Photo by Gerhard Mueller-Debus
    USS Stokes (AKA-68)
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
    01LCDR. Graber, George W., USNR4 November 1944 - 12 November 1945
    02LT. McClelland, R.T., USNR12 November 1945 - 24 December 1945
    03CDR. Cairen, Hugo Igor, USNR24 December 1945 - June 1946
    04LTjg. Hughes, Arthur W. P.June 1946 - 9 July 1946
    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
    USS Stokes (AKA-68) War Diary / History and Action Reports October 1944 to November 1945
    MARAD Vessel History Database
    Back To The Navsource Photo Archives Main Page Back To The Amphibious Ship Type Index Back To The Amphibious Cargo Ship (AKA) Photo Index
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
    All pages copyright NavSource Naval History
    Last Updated 1 March 2019