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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

AKA-81 Valencia

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 (1) - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp)
Tolland Class Attack Cargo Ship:
  • Laid down, 20 May 1944, as a Maritime Commission type (C2-SAJ3) hull, under Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 1389) at North Carolina Shipbuilding Corp, Wilmington, N.C.
  • Launched, 22 May 1944
  • Acquired by the Navy, 18 August 1944
  • Commissioned USS Valencia (AKA-81), 9 January 1945, at Key Highway Plant, Bethlehem Steel Corp. Baltimore, MD., LCDR. Rodney A. Blake, USNR, in command
  • During World War II Valencia was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater and participated in the following campaign:
  • Decommissioned, 8 May 1946, at Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, VA.
  • Returned to the Maritime Commission, 13 May 1946, for lay up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 21 May 1946
  • Sold for commercial service in 1947 to Lykes Lines, renamed Genevieve Lykes
  • Sold in 1947 to T. J. Stevenson and Co., Inc. New York N.Y,, renamed Garden State
  • Final Disposition, scrapped in May 1970 at Kaohsiung, Taiwan
  • Valencia earned one battle star for her World War II service
    Specifications:
    Displacement 8,635 t.(lt) 13,910 t.(fl)
    Length 459' 2"
    Beam 63'
    Draft 26' 4"
    Speed 16.5 kts.
    Complement Officers 62 Enlisted 333
    Armament
    one single 5"/38 dual purpose gun mount
    four twin 40mm AA gun mounts
    sixteen single 20mm AA gun mounts
    Boatsfourteen LCVP 8 LCM
    Cargo Capacity 380,000 cu ft, 5,275 t.
    Propulsion GE geared turbine drive, 1 propeller, 6,000 shp
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    USS Valencia (AKA-81)
    Valencia 51k Valencia (AKA-81) at anchor, date and place unknown. Bruce Coffyn for his father Clarence Frank Coffyn, PHm USS Tyrrell, Courtesy Fred Gast USS Tyrrell
    Commercial Service
    Valencia 78k Ex-Valencia (AKA-81) underway in commercial service as the Lykes Bros. Cargoliner SS Genevieve Lykes approaching Bremen, Germany, circa late 1950s. Gerhard Mueller-Debus
    Valencia 180k SS Genevieve Lykes working cargo at Hamburg, Germany in 1960 while in commercial service for the Lykes Bros. Gerhard Mueller-Debus
    Valencia 63k Ex-Valencia (AKA-81) underway in commercial service as the T. J. Stevenson and Co. SS Garden City working cargo at Bremerhaven, Germany in August 1968. Photo by Gerhard Mueller-Debus
    Valencia 67k SS Garden City working cargo at Bremerhaven, Germany in August 1968. Photo by Gerhard Mueller-Debus
    View the Valencia (AKA-81)
    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
    No Information Available
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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 4 May 2007