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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

Patch at left contributed by Darrel Inskeep via Bill Freeman, at right by Don McGrogan BMCS, USN (Ret.) - Popular Patch

Contributed by Al Grazevich

USS Vesuvius (AE-15)

International Radio Call Sign:
November - Kilo - Delta - Echo NKDE
JANAP Tactical Voice Radio Call Sign - Barcardi (X)ray - Section 6A of JANAP 119(F) 1968

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Navy Unit Commendation
Second Row - Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation - American Campaign Medal Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (2)
Third Row - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp) - National Defense Service Medal (2)
Fourth Row - Korea Service Medal (2) - Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (6-Vietnam) - Vietnam Service Medal (13)
Fifth Row - United Nations Korea Service Medal - Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal - Republic of Korea War Service Medal (retroactive)

Mount Hood Class Ammunition Ship:

Laid down, date unknown, under Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 1381), at North Carolina Shipbuilding Co., Wilmington, N.C.

Launched, 26 May 1944

Commissioned USS Vesuvius (AE-15), 16 January 1945, CDR. Flavius J. George in command

During World War II USS Vesuvius was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater and participated in the following campaign:

Campaign and Dates	Campaign and Dates
Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns
Okinawa Gunto operation 5th and 3rd Fleet raids in support of the Okinawa Gunto operation, 11 April to 11 June 1945	3d Fleet operations against Japan, 10 July to 3 August 1945

Following World War II USS Vesuvius was assigned to Occupation service in the Far East from 2 September to 23 October 1945

Decommissioned, 20 August 1946, at Orange, TX.

Laid up in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet, Texas Group, Orange

Recommissioned, 15 November 1951

During the Korean War USS Vesuvius participated in the following campaigns:

Campaign and Dates	Campaign and Dates
Korean War Campaigns
Korean Defense Summer-Fall 1952 20 to 21 May 1952 5 to 17 June 1952 27 June to 1 July 1952 12 to 24 July 1952 5 to 20 August 1952 27 to 29 August 1952 14 to 26 September 1952 16 to 25 October 1952 6 to 21 November 1952	Korean Summer-Fall 1953 18 to 31 May 1953 10 to 19 June 1953 27 June to 7 July 1953 17 to 27 July 1953

During the Vietnam War USS Vesuvius participated in the following campaigns:

Campaign and Dates	Campaign and Dates
Vietnam War Campaigns
Vietnam Defense 25 August to 3 September 1965 14 to 23 September 1965 4 to 13 October 1965 24 October to 4 November 1965	Tet 69/Counteroffensive 23 February to 4 March 1969
Vietnamese Counteroffensive 14 to 28 June 1966	Vietnam Summer-Fall 1969 22 to 31 October 1969
Vietnamese Counteroffensive - Phase II 1 to 4 July 1966 17 July to 3 August 1966 14 to 31 August 1966 7 to 25 September 1966 6 to 25 October 1966 10 to 21 November 1966	Vietnam Winter-Spring 1970 1 to 4 November 1969 14 to 28 November 1969 1 to 5 January 1970 21 January to 9 February 1970 23 February to 12 March 1970 22 March to 7 April 1970 12 to 20 April 1970
Vietnamese Counteroffensive - Phase III 12 August to 2 September 1967 19 September to 8 October 1967 22 October to 4 November 1967 17 November to 8 December 1967 15 to 16 December 1967 23 December 1967 to 11 January 1968	Vietnamese Counteroffensive - Phase VII 3 to 19 February 1971 5 to 22 March 1971 17 April to 5 May 1971 14 to 25 May 1971 3 to 11 June 1971 25 June 1971 27 to 30 June 1971
Tet Counteroffensive 7 to 19 February 1968	Consolidation I 1 to 11 July 1971 23 to 27 July 1971
Vietnamese Counteroffensive - Phase V 26 August to 7 September 1968 10 to 20 October 1968 29 October to 1 November 1968	Consolidation II 14 to 31 March 1972
Vietnamese Counteroffensive - Phase VI 2 to 9 November 1968 11 to 27 December 1968 5 to 12 January 1969 20 January to 1 February 1969 10 to 22 February 1969

Decommissioned and struck from the Naval Register, 14 August 1973 at Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, CA.

USS Vesuvius earned two battle stars for World War II service, two battle stars for Korean War service and thirteen campaign stars for Vietnam War service

Transferred to Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility (NISMF) Mare Island for further disposition

Struck from the Naval Register, 14 August 1973

Title transfer, 5 April 1974, to the Maritime Administration (MARAD)

Final Disposition, sold by MARAD for scrapping, 5 April 1974, along with Mount Katmai (AE-16) to Nicolai Joffe Corp. Beverly Hills, CA. (PD-X-974) for $243,310. Removed from the Reserve Fleet, May 1974 to NASSCO to Treasure Island, San Francisco, CA.

Specifications:
Displacement 13,910 t. 15,295 t.(lim)
Length 459' 2"
Beam 63'
Draft 28' 3"
Speed 16.4 kts (trial)

Complement

Officers 23

Enlisted 244

Largest Boom Capacity 36 t.

Cargo Capacity 400,000 Cu ft, 7,275DWT

Armament

one single 5"/38 cal dual purpose gun mount

four single 3"/50 cal dual purpose gun mounts

two twin 40mm AA Gun mounts

Fuel Capacity NSFO 10,925 Bbls

Propulsion

one General Electric geared turbine

two Babcock and Wilcox header-type boilers, 450psi 750°

double General Electric Main Reduction Gears

three turbo-drive 300Kw 120V/240V D.C. Ship's Service Generators

single propeller, 6,000shp

Click On Image For Full Size Image	Size	Image Description	Contributed By
09051520	157k	*Namesake* Vesuvius - Mount Vesuvius is a somma-stratovolcano located on the Gulf of Naples in Campania, Italy, about 5.6 miles east of Naples and a short distance from the shore. It is one of several volcanoes forming the Campanian volcanic arc. Vesuvius consists of a large cone partially encircled by the steep rim of a summit caldera, resulting from the collapse of an earlier, much higher volcano. (Wikipedia) Photo - Famous view of Vesuvius and the historic Pine of Naples overlooking the city of Naples in the 19th century, by Giorgio Sommer (Wikipedia) Map - A map showing the cities and towns affected by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. The general shape of the ash and cinder fall is shown by the dark area to the southeast of Mount Vesuvius.). MapMaster licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 DEED Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported	Tommy Trampp
	78k	*USS Vesuvius* (AE-15)** under way in San Francisco Bay, October 1957. Photo ©Allied Photographers, San Francisco.	Robert M. Cieri
	52k	*USS Vesuvius* (AE-15)** under way, date and location unknown. US Navy photo	Bill Freeman USS Rainier (AE-5) web site
	59k	*USS Vesuvius* (AE-15)** under way, date and location unknown. US Navy photo	Stanley C. Svec
	78k	*USS Vesuvius* (AE-15)** under way, date and location unknown. US Navy photo from "All Hands" magazine, March 1960	Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret.
09051516	202k	*USS Vesuvius* (AE-15)** underway in heavy weather, March 1961.	Hank Zaletel
09051514	205k	*USS Vesuvius* (AE-15)** breakout of ammunition in preparation for an underway replenishment, July 1961.	Hank Zaletel
09051515	215k	A crew berthing compartment aboard *USS Vesuvius* (AE-15)**, July 1961.	Hank Zaletel
	127k	*USS Vesuvius* (AE-15)** under way off the coast of Oahu, Hawaii, 8 July 1963. US Navy history and Heritage Command photo # KN-7517, courtesy Shipscribe.com.	Robert Hurst
	96k	*USS Vesuvius* (AE-15)** under way, date and location unknown. US Navy photo from "All Hands" magazine, February 1964	Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret.
	142k	Stern view of *USS Vesuvius* (AE-15)** under way in harbor, date and location unknown.	Richard Miller BMCS USNR Ret.
	93k	*USS Vesuvius* (AE-15)** under way in harbor in 1968, location unknown.	Robert Hurst
	175k	*USS Vesuvius* (AE-15)** under way in the Pacific Ocean in 1969. US Navy photo.	Mike Smolinski
09051519	423k	Aerial view of *USS Vesuvius* (AE-15)** at anchor, possibly in the Long Beach CA. area, circa 1970s. U.S. Navy photo	Darryl Baker
09051517	291k	*USS Vesuvius* (AE-15) conducting an underway replenishment (UNREP) with USS Ashtabula (AO-51), WESTPAC 1971-72. An unidentified destroyer is visible on the port side of Vesuvius and USS Oklahoma City (CLG-5)** is in the distance.	Photo by M. Jay Hatley
09051518	271k		Photo by M. Jay Hatley
	273k	Aerial view of *USS Vesuvius* (AE-15)** under way in the Philippines, February 1973 File name; AE 15 XAY-0075-2-73 TH, Fleet Air Photo Lab Cubi Point, February 1973, a US Navy photo from the files of the Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum.	Darryl Baker
	44k	Stern view of *USS Vesuvius* (AE-15)** under way, date and location unknown.US Navy photo.	Richard Miller BMCS USNR Ret.
	477k	View of the bridge area of *USS Vesuvius* (AE-15)** moored pierside, probably in February 1973 at Naval Station Subic Bay, Philippines. Note the banner proclaiming a year long deployment. File name: AE 15 Circa 1973 TH, a US Navy photo from the files of the Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum.	Darryl Baker

For more photos and information about USS Vesuvius, see;
Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
MARAD Vessel History Database
USS Vesuvius World War II History
AE/AOE Sailors Association

Commanding Officers
	LT. Guyon, Elmer Edward, USNR (Ferry Command Crew # 1)	3 July 1944 - 7 July 1944
	Decommissioned	7 July 1944 - 16 January 1945
01	CDR. George, Flavius Josephus	16 January 1945 - 21 March 1946
02	CDR. Fife, William Wallace, USN (Ret.)	21 March 1946 - 2 June 1946
03	LCDR. Dean, Howard George	2 June 1946 - 20 August 1946
	Decommissioned	20 August 1946 - 15 November 1951
04	CAPT. Caldwell, Rex Smith	15 November 1951 - 1953
05	LCDR. Jurewicz, Emil Leon (XO)	1953 - 1953
06	CAPT. Clementson, Merrill Kinsell :RADM	1953 - 1954
07	CAPT. Smith, Andrew Jackson	1954 - 1955
08	CDR. McLoughlin, Robert Bright, USN (USNA 1935)	1955 - 1956
09	CAPT. Ashley Jr., James Henry :RADM	1956 - 1957
10	CAPT. Klinker, Roy Craig	1957 - 1958
11	CAPT. Kircher Jr., John Joseph	1958 - 1959
12	CAPT. Johnson Jr., Charles Henry	1959 - 1 March 1960
13	CAPT. Barton, Harry Hayes, USN (USNA 1937)	1 March 1960 - 7 February 1961
14	CAPT. Braybrook, William McKenzie	7 February 1961 - 23 February 1962
15	CAPT. Harris, Leroy Eugene, USN (USNA 1939)	23 February 1962 - 21 December 1962
16	CAPT. Whitaker Jr., Malcolm Willis, USN (USNA 1939)	21 December 1962 - 10 December 1963
17	CAPT. Kennedy, John Eugene (Blackie), USN	10 December 1963 - 2 January 1965
18	CAPT. Pitcher, William Ambrose, USN	2 January 1965 - 17 December 1965
19	CAPT. Alexatos, Michael Stephen	17 December 1965 - 25 February 1967
20	CAPT. Bowen Jr., Charles Hugh	25 February 1967 - 26 July 1968
21	CAPT. Wieland, Dickie	26 July 1968 - 1 November 1969
22	CAPT. Jensen Jr., John Lawrence, USN (USNA 1948-B)	1 November 1969 - 24 May 1971
23	CAPT. Chapman, James Haselden, USN (USNA 1947)	24 May 1971 - 25 March 1972
24	CDR. Sympson Jr., William Goebel Anthony	25 March 1972 - March 1973
25	LCDR. Pidgeon Jr., Edward Timothy, USN	March 1973 - 14 August 1973
	CAPT. Haizlip Jr., John Wesley, USN (USNA 1947)	no dates
	CAPT. Johnson, James Maximillion, USN	no dates


Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves

Crew Contact And Reunion Information
U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log

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Last Updated 13 October 2023