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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

Contributed by Mike Smolinski

Contributed by Al Grazevich

USS Sanctuary (AH-17)

International Radio Call Sign:
November - Xray - Xray - Foxtrot
NXXF

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
Third Row - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp) - National Defense Service Medal
Fourth Row - Vietnam Service Medal (12) - Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross Unit Citation - Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal

Haven Class Hospital Ship:

Laid down, 28 June 1944 as Marine Owl a Maritime Commission type (C4-S-B2) hull under Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 748) at Sun Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Chester, PA

Launched, 15 August 1944

Acquired by the Navy from the Maritime Commission, 30 September 1944

Converted to a Hospital Ship at Todd Shipbuilding Co., Hoboken, N.J.

Commissioned USS Sanctuary (AH-17), 20 June 1945, CDR. John M. Paulsson in command

During World War II USS Sanctuary was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater

Following World War II USS Sanctuary was assigned to Occupation service in the Far East from 3 September to 3 October 1945

Decommissioned, 15 August 1946 at League Island, Philadelphia Navy Yard, Philadelphia, PA.

Laid up in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet, Philadelphia Group

Struck from the Naval Register, 1 September 1961

Transferred to the Maritime Administration for lay up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet

Reacquired and Reinstated on the Naval Register, 1 March 1966

Recommissioned, 15 November 1966, CAPT. John F. Collingwood in command

During the Vietnam War USS Sanctuary (AH-17) participated in the following campaigns:

Campaign and Dates	Campaign and Dates
Vietnam War Campaigns
Vietnamese Counteroffensive 9 April 1966	Vietnamese Counteroffensive-Phase VI 2 November to 8 November 1968 16 November 1968 to 22 February 1969
Vietnamese Counteroffensive-Phase II 9 April to 31 May 1967	Tet 69/Counteroffensive 23 February to 14 March 1969
Vietnamese Counteroffensive-Phase III 1 June to 3 June 1967 16 June to 18 July 1967 25 July to 27 August 1969 4 December 1967 to 6 January 1968 14 January to 29 January 1968	Vietnamese Summer-Fall 1969 12 June to 21 August 1969 2 September to 31 October 1969
Tet Counteroffensive 30 January to 2 March 1968	Vietnamese Winter-Spring 1970 1 November to 15 November 1969 28 November 1969 to 14 February 1970 27 February to 25 April 1970
Vietnamese Counteroffensive-Phase IV 2 April to 1 May 1968 9 May to 30 June 1968	Sanctuary Counteroffensive 8 May to 30 June 1970
Vietnamese Counteroffensive-Phase V 1 July to 8 August 1968 16 August to 1 November 1968	Vietnamese Counteroffensive-Phase VII 1 July 1970 7 August to 8 October 1970 10 October 1970 31 December 1970 to 8 February 1971 22 February to 2 May 1971

Decommissioned, 15 December 1971, at Hunters Point Naval Shipyard, San Francisco, CA.

Laid up at Hunters Point Naval Shipyard, San Francisco, CA.

Recommissioned, 18 November 1972

Decommissioned, 2 April 1975, at Philadelphia, PA.. and custody transferred to the Maritime Administration for lay up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, James River Group, Lee Hall, VA.

USS Sanctuary earned twelve campaign stars for service in the Vietnam War

Title passed to the Maritime Administration, 25 August 1978

Struck from the Naval Register 16 February 1989

Sold by the Maritime Administration, 18 September 1989 to the Life International Foundation, Baltimore, MD. IAW PL-360

Removed, 9 February 1990, from the National Defense Reserve Fleet, James River Group. Projected use as a hospital in Africa, project failed. Used as a drug rehab site in Baltimore

Laid up at Locust Point Marine Terminal, Baltimore, MD. awaiting disposition

Sold at public auction in Baltimore, MD., 21 August 2007, for $50,000, to Potomac Navigation Div., of Yacht Registry LTD Piraeus Greece, project failed

Final Disposition, for scrapping, 17 July 2011, to ESCO Marine, Brownsville TX., departed Port Baltimore, 19 August 2011, arrived, 1 September 2011, scrapping completed, 12 January 2012

Specifications:
Displacement 11,141.t(lt) 15,226 t.(fl)
Length 520'
Beam 71' 6"
Draft 30'
Speed 17.5 kts. (trial)
Armament none

Complement

Officers - 70

Enlisted - 498

Largest Boom Capacity 10 t.

Patient Accommodations 796

Fuel Capacities

NSFO - 13,170 Bbls

Diesel - 280 Bbls

Propulsion

one General Electric geared turbine

two Babcock and Wilcox header-type boilers, 450psi 745°

double Falk Main Reduction Gear

Ships Service Generators

three 500Kw 450V A.C.

three 300Kw 120V/240V D.C.

single propeller, 9,000shp

Click On Image For Full Size Image	Size	Image Description	Contributed By
USS Sanctuary (AH-17)
	590k	Exploded view of *USS Sanctuary* (Haven Class AH-12 to 17)** - Compartment & Access Diagram by J.M. Hobson, PHM/3c. (USS Tranquility. *Sanctuary* was one of six 15,0000 ton US Navy hospital ships to be converted from Maritime Commission C-4 hulls at shipyards in the New York Area. Known as the HAVEN class, these vessels are completely air conditioned and provide medical facilities equal to those of a modern shore hospital. BUMED 16-0020-004	Michael Rhode Archivist / Curator US Navy BUMED Communications Directorate (M09B7) Office of Medical History
	101k	*USS Sanctuary* (AH-17)** moored pierside, date and location unknown. US Navy photo	Tommy Trampp
	96k	*USS Wichita* (CA-45) in Nagasaki Harbor, Japan, in September 1945, a few weeks after the end of World War II. The hospital ships in the left background are USS Sanctuary (AH-17) and USS Haven (AH-12)*. US Navy photo # NH 65834* from the collections of the US Naval History and Heritage Command, collection of Admiral Harry W. Hill, USN, 1968.	Robert Hurst
	44k	*USS Sanctuary* (AH-17)** at anchor off Wakayama, 13-14 September 1945 while evacuating liberated POWs, primarily British, Australian, and Javanese, to Naha, Okinawa, which was their first leg home.	Ashley During for her grandfather Karoll Rulong USS Sanctuary, June to December 1945
	56k
	53k
	49k
	54k
	199k	*USS Sanctuary* (AH-17)** Navy Day, 27 October 1945.	Ashley Durig for her grandfather Karoll Rulong USS Sanctuary, June to December 1945
	39k	*USS Sanctuary* (AH-17)** bakers posing for a photo on the fantail, 25 November 1945. Photo includes Karoll Rulong, back row, center.	Ashley Durig for her grandfather Karoll Rulong USS Sanctuary, June to December 1945
	154k	Undated aerial views of *USS Sanctuary* (AH-17) and USS Tranquillity (AH-14)** moored together in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet at the Philadelphia Navy Yard. Note the unidentified CVLs and CVEs, also part of the Atlantic Reserve Fleet. Life Magazine Archives - Andreas Feininger Photographer, shared by Peter DeForest	Mike Green
	193k
	161k
	121k
	138k	Reserve Fleet Basin, Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, Pennsylvania. Photographed on 19 May 1955 with numerous cruisers, escort carriers, and auxiliaries in reserve. The nearest ship is the never-completed Hawaii (CB-3), which lacks her previously-installed three 12" gun turrets. The cruisers outboard of *Hawaii* are (in unknown order) Honolulu (CL-48), Columbia (CL-56), Denver (CL-58), Galveston (CL-93), and Portsmouth (CL-102). To their left are Tranquillity (AH-14), Sanctuary (AH-17), and Pocono (AGC-16). Behind *Hawaii* (from left to right) are Montpelier (CL-57), Houston (CL-81), Huntington (CL-107), Savannah (CL-42), Cleveland (CL-55), and Wilkes-Barre (CL-103). Beyond them (from left to right) are Wichita (CA-45), Oregon City (CA-122), Chester (CA-27), and New Orleans (CA-32). The cruisers on the left side of the basin (from front to rear) are Minneapolis (CA-36), Tuscaloosa (CA-37), San Francisco (CA-38), Augusta (CA-31), Louisville (CA-28), and Portland (CA-33). Among the other ships in reserve in the basin are Fomalhaut (AE-20), Webster (ARV-2), Albemarle (AV-5), Tangier (AV-8), Pocomoke (AV-9), Chandeleur (AV-10), Abatan (AW-4), Mission San Carlos (AO-120), Prince William (CVE-31), Anzio (CVE-57), Block Island (CVE-106), Palau (CVE-122), and San Carlos (AVP-51). Moored in the shipyard at the extreme left are Tennessee (BB-43), California (BB-44), and Cabot (CVL-28). US Navy Photo # 80-G-668655, now in the collections of the US National Archives.	Robert Hurst
	162k	Vice Admiral George Gregory Burkley (MC) USN takes a tour of *USS Sanctuary* (AH-17)** in September 1967. Burkley was personal physician to three American Presidents during his career in the Navy. US Navy photo courtesy of the US Navy�s Bureau of Medicine and Surgery Library and Archives.	Bill Gonyo
	40k	*USS Sanctuary* (AH-17)** at anchor off Da Nang or Chu Lai, Vietnam US Navy photo	Courtesy Jack Faessler Sanctuary Photo Album Web Site Photo by Chuck Davis
	18k	*USS Sanctuary* (AH-17)** at anchor, date and location unknown.	Courtesy Jack Faessler Sanctuary Photo Album Web Site Photo by Chuck Davis
	46k	*USS Sanctuary* (AH-17)** under way, date and location unknown. US Navy photo	Naval Hospital Corps School Web Site
	156k	*USS Sanctuary* (AH-17)** helicopter deck showing sign "You Find 'Em, We Bind 'Em. "Smaller lettering on right reads "Open 24 Hours." The antenna atop the main mast is the new "Ham" radio antenna. US Navy BUMED photo # 09-5068-22	Robert Hurst
	431k	*USS Sanctuary* (AH-17)** helicopter deck showing sign "You Find 'Em, We Bind 'Em. "Smaller lettering on right reads "Open 24 Hours. LCDR LaVenuta standing just below the helicopter deck.	Yu Chu, courtesy LCDR LaVenuta
	163k	A helicopter from Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron (HMM-263) on the flight deck of *USS Sanctuary* (AH-17)**, circa 1960s.	Yu Chu
	171k	Navy nurse and patients aboard *USS Sanctuary* (AH-17)** off the coast of South Vietnam, circa 1960s US Navy photo	Yu Chu
09121753	92k	*USS Sanctuary* (AH-17)** underway in 1966, location unknown. US Navy photo.	Tommy Trampp
	158k	One of *USS Sanctuary* (AH-17)*s' operating rooms. Photographed at Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, CA. in February 1967. Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum file name AH 17 7655-2-67*. A US Navy photo now in the collections of the Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum.	Darryl Baker
	64k	The Commanding Officer of the Naval Hospital aboard *USS Sanctuary* (AH-17)*, CAPT. Gerald J. Duffner MC was awarded the Legion of Merit, presented by CAPT. Alfred F. Betzel, Commanding Officer USS Sanctuary* at Mare Island in February 1967. Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum file name AH 17 76547-2-67. A US Navy photo now in the collections of the Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum.	Darryl Baker
	244k	*USS Sanctuary* (AH-17)** moored pierside at Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, CA. in February 1967. Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum file name AH 17 76554-2-67 TH. A US Navy photo now in the collections of the Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum.	Darryl Baker
	1078k	*USS Sanctuary* (AH-17)** departing Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, CA. 3 March 1967. Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum file name AH 17 76655-3-67 TH. A US Navy photo now in the collections of the Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum.	Darryl Baker
	192k	*USS Sanctuary* (AH-17) departing Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, CA. 3 March 1967. Note other vessels at the yard in this photo; Left to right: YFN 995, an unidentified PBR, Sanctuary, the stern of USS Markab (AR-23) and the bow of USS Nereus (AS 17)*. Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum file name AH 17 76656-3-76 B TH*. A US Navy photo now in the collections of the Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum.	Darryl Baker
09121756	59k	A U.S. Marine Corps Sikorsky UH-34D Seahorse helicopter delivering patients to *USS Sanctuary* (AH-17)** off Vietnam, in 1967. U.S. Navy photo from the USS Sanctuary (AH-17) 1967 cruise book	Robert Hurst
	63k	*USS Sanctuary* (AH-17) moored pierside at Naval Base Subic Bay, Philippines Islands, circa 1967. Photo taken from USS Bausell (DD-845)**	Photo by Lee Noland STGC, USN Ret. USS Bausell
	46k	*USS Sanctuary* (AH-17) refueling from USS Kennebec (AO-36)** off the coast of Vietnam, circa 1966-1968.	Photo by LCDR George E. Pillow Jr., USN CO USS Kretchmer (DER-329)
	220k	*USS Sanctuary* (AH-17) steams alongside USS Caliente (AO-53)** after refueling while under way off the coast of Danang, South Vietnam, circa 1966-1969.	Photos by Bill Dougherty USS Caliente
	181k		Photos by Bill Dougherty USS Caliente
	71k	*USS Sanctuary* (AH-17)** at anchor off Da Nang, Vietnam, 1969	Photo by William P Jones, MD
	60k	*USS Sanctuary* (AH-17)** at anchor off Da Nang, Vietnam, 1969	Photo by William P Jones, MD
	179k	*USS Sanctuary* (AH-17)** at anchor off Da Nang, Vietnam, date unknown. US Navy photo from "All Hands" magazine, February 1968.	Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret.
	227k	The comedian Bob Hope talks with a patient aboard *USS Sanctuary* (AH-17)** while the ship was deployed in WestPac in December 1970. Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum file name AH 17 December 1970 02 TH. A US Navy photo now in the collections of the Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum.	Darryl Baker
	259k	*USS Sanctuary* (AH-17)** moored pierside, Naval Base Subic Bay, Republic of the Philippines in 1971 with a YO alongside.	Richard Albright
	91k	*USS Sanctuary* (AH-17) and USS Repose (AH-16)** at anchor off Da Nang, Vietnam, date unknown. US Navy photo from "All Hands" magazine, March 1969.	Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret.
	772k	*USS Sanctuary* (AH-17)** under way in the South China Sea in June 1971. Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum file name AH 17 June 1971 TH. A US Navy photo now in the collections of the Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum.	Darryl Baker
	101k	*USS Sanctuary* (AH-17)** under way, date and location unknown. Photo from "Hospital Ships of World War II: An Illustrated Reference" by Emory A. Massman, authors collection.	Robert Hurst
	60k	*USS Sanctuary* (AH-17)** under way, date and location unknown.	Jack Treutle
	91k	*USS Sanctuary* (AH-17)** under way, 15 April 1974, off Mayport, Florida, conduction training qualifications and trials. A SH-3D Sea King antisubmarine helicopter is flying over the ship. Used since her recommissioning in November, 1972 as a hospital for military dependents and for foreign civilians during good-will voyages, the ship no longer wears hospital ship markings. US Navy photo # KN-21814 courtesy Shipscribe.com.	Mike Green
	125k	*USS Sanctuary* (AH-17)** underway in San Francisco Bay outbound to sea from Hunters Point Naval Shipyard, San Francisco, CA. in March 1973. A female Sailor mans her duty station as a lookout on the ship. The Sailor was one of the fifty women in the Navy assigned to duty on the Navy hospital ship. US Navy photo	Yu Chu
	305k	*USS Sanctuary* (AH-17)** in bound from sea passing underneath the Golden Gate Bridge into San Francisco Bay, date unknown. US Naval History and Heritage Command, Catalog No. L45-253.02.01	Mike Green
	77k	*USS Sanctuary* (AH-17)** arriving, date and location unknown. US Navy photo from "All Hands" magazine, February 1987.	Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret.
	85k	*USS Sanctuary* (AH-17)** underway, date and location unknown. Cruise photo given to the crew at the completion of her 1973 Project Handclasp cruise.	Richard Miller BMCS USNR Ret. and Frank Kammerer USS Sanctuary 1972-74
	693k	*USS Sanctuary* (AH-17)** underway at San Diego, CA., circa 1973-74	Photo by Tom Brownrigg BTFN USS Dixon
09121755	2475k	*USS Sanctuary* (AH-17)** underway off San Diego, Ca., date unknown. ©George Barber	Nicholas Tiberio
09121754	275k	*USS Sanctuary* (AH-17)** underway outbound to sea from San Diego, Ca., date unknown. ©George Barber	Nicholas Tiberio
	45k	*USS Sanctuary* (AH-17) plaque mounted in the memorial ship USS Turner Joy (DD-951)** at Bremerton, WA.	Photo by Robert Hall
Ex-USS Sanctuary (AH-17)
	234k	Ex-*USS Blenny* (SS-324), ex-USS The Sullivans (DD-537) and ex-USS Sanctuary (AH-17)** laid up at Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, in August 1976.	Yu Chu
	166k	Ex-USS Sanctuary and Ex-*USS Coral Sea* (CV-43) moored at the old Maryland Shipbuilding and Drydock Co. site in the Fairfield area of Baltimore Harbor in March 1995. Coral Sea** is at Pier 1, and Sanctuary is moored at the Building Basin/Pier 5.	Photo ©Larry Backus Caption - Larry Derouin
	23k	Ex-*USS Sanctuary* (AH-17)** moored pierside, at Baltimore, MD., May 1996	Sanctuary Photo Album Web Site Courtesy Gilbert M Bohannon
	55k	Ex-*USS Sanctuary* (AH-17)** moored pierside at Baltimore, MD., June 2001	Photo by William P. Jones, MD
	14k	Ex-*USS Sanctuary* (AH-17)** moored pierside at Baltimore, MD., date unknown.	Courtesy Jack Faessler Sanctuary Photo Album Web Site Photo by Gilbert M Bohannon
	410k	Ex-*USS Sanctuary* (AH-17)** moored pierside at Baltimore, MD., date unknown. Uploaded by "Radio Rover" to the Flickr web site.	Bill Gonyo
	73k	Ex-*USS Sanctuary* (AH-17)** moored pierside at Baltimore, MD., date unknown. Photo from "Hospital Ships of World War II: An Illustrated Reference" by Emory A. Massman, authors collection.	Robert Hurst
	346k	Ex-*USS Sanctuary* (AH-17)** moored at Pier 5 near Ft. McHenry at Baltimore, MD., 3 June 2010.	Photo by Ramon Jackson
	93k	Ex-*USS Sanctuary* (AH-17)** departing Baltimore, 19 August 2011, for Esco Marine, Brownsville TX. ©Baltimore Sun	Ron Reeves
	124k	Ex-*USS Sanctuary* (AH-17)** being dismantled at Esco Marine, Brownsville, TX, August 2011. photo courtesy Captain United.	Ron Reeves

USS Sanctuary Additional Ship's Patches
Contributed by Mike Smolinski	Contributed by Tommy Trampp

For more photos and information about USS Sanctuary, see;
Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
USS Sanctuary Cruisebooks, contributed by Michael Rhodes
1967

1973

Decommissioning Ceremony booklet, 28 March 1975

Commanding Officers
01	CDR. Paulsson, John Marshall, USNR	20 June 1945 - 11 July 1945
02	LCDR. Dearth, Michael David, USNR	11 July 1945 - 26 July 1945
03	CDR. Brandt, William VanCourtland, USNR	26 July 1945 - 3 November 1945
04	CAPT. Jones, John George, USN (USNA 1921-A)	3 November 1945 - 26 May 1946
05	LCDR. Hahnenkratt, Douglas Campbell, USN	26 May 1946 - 15 August 1946
	Decommissioned	15 August 1946 - 15 November 1966
06	CAPT. Collingwood, John Foster, USN	15 November 1966 - 5 March 1968
07	CAPT. Neff, John Lawrence, USN (USNA 1942)	5 March 1968 - 18 June 1969
08	CAPT. Briggs Jr., Chester Eugene, USN	18 June 1969 - 17 June 1970
09	CAPT. Brown Jr., Bonner Bee USN (USNA 1950)	17 June 1970 - 15 December 1971
	Decommissioned	15 December 1971 - 18 November 1972
10	CDR. Marsh, Arnold David, CDR (O-in-C)	15 December 1971 - 18 November 1972
11	CAPT. Rodgers, Thomas Arthur, USN	18 November 1972 - 31 January 1975
12	CDR. Laskaris, Gus Constantine Alexander, USN	31 January 1975 - 28 March 1975


Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves

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

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Last Updated 1 March 2024