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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

USS Kochab (AKS-6)


International Radio Call Sign:
November - Bravo - November - Zulu
 NBNZ
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)
Acubens Class General Stores Issue Ship:
  • Laid down (date unknown) as a Maritime Commission type (EC2-S-C1) hull, under a Maritime Commission contract at Delta Shipbuilding Co., New Orleans, LA.
  • Launched, 8 March 1944
  • Converted to a General Stores Issue Ship at Alabama Dry Dock & Shipbuilding Co., Mobile AL.
  • Placed in reduced commission for transit to her fitting out yard, 2 to 5 May 1945
  • Re-commissioned USS Kochab (AKS-6), 4 November 1944, at Mobile, AL., LCDR. Rosewell E. King USNR in command
  • During World War II USS Kochab was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater and participated in the following campaign:

    Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns
    Campaign and Dates
    Okinawa Gunto operation
    Assault and capture of Okinawa Gunto, 8 to 30 June 1945

  • Following World War II USS Kochab was assigned to Occupation service in the Far East from 14 October to 8 November 1945
  • Decommissioned, 17 April 1946, at Peal Harbor, T.H.
  • Laid up in the Pacific Reserve Fleet, Pearl Harbor
  • All ships of the Acubens class were meant to be used as Bikini Assets, in 'C' test and were kept at Pearl Harbor until a decision was made in 1947 to transfer custody of these ships to the Maritime Commission
  • Transferred under tow to San Francisco, 28 September 1947
  • Struck from the Naval Register and turned over to the Maritime Commission, 22 October 1947, for lay up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, Suisun Bay, Benecia, CA.
  • Kochab earned one battle star for World War II service
  • Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, 14 January 1965, to Nicolas Joffe Corp., Beverly Hills, CA. for $61,538.32 (PD-X-682 dated 17 December 1964). Withdrawn from the Reserve Fleet, 2 March 1964
    Specifications:
    Displacement 4,023 t.(lt) 14,550 t.(fl)
    Length 441' 7"
    Beam 56' 11"
    Draft 27' 7"
    Speed 12.5 kts (trial)
    Complement
    17 officers
    176 enlisted
    Largest Boom Capacity 37 t.
    Armament
    one single 5"/38 dual purpose gun mount
    one single 3"/50 dual purpose gun mount
    eight single 20mm gun mounts
    Fuel Capacities
    NSFO 13,475 Bbls
    Diesel 695 Bbls
    Propulsion
    one Iron Fireman vertical triple expansion reciprocating steam engine
    two Babcock and Wilcox header-type boilers, 220psi 450°
    two turbo-drive 150Kw 120V. D.C. Ship's Service Generators
    single shaft, 2,500hp

    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		Size Image Description Source
    Kochab 38k USS Kochab (AKS-6) under way, date and location unknown.
    US Navy photo    		 Hyperwar US Navy in WWII
    Kochab 87k USS Kochab (AKS-6) at anchor, date and location unknown.
    US Navy photo from DANFS.    		 Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret.
    Crittenden 127k Operation Crossroads prospective target ships and support ships at Pearl Harbor in a photo released, 27 February 1946.
    Ships present from front to rear include USS Crittenden (APA-77), USS Catron (APA-71), USS Bracken (APA-64), USS Burleson (APA-67), USS Gilliam (APA-57), Fallon (APA-81), one unidentified ship, USS Fillmore (APA-83), USS Kochab (AKS-6), USS Luna (AKS-7) and an unidentified tanker and liberty ship. Identifiable on the right are USS LSM-203 and USS LSM-465. Further in the background are a floating drydock and a merchant ship hulk with unidentified fittings forward of the bridge.
    US National Archives photo # 80-G-702126 a US Navy photo now in the collections of the US National Archives.    		 US Naval History and Heritage Command
    USS Kochab (AKS-6)
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)    .
    Commanding Officers
    01LCDR. King, Rosewell Edward, USNR4 November 1944 - 18 September 1945
    02LT. Lamka, Raymond Walter, USNR18 September 1945 - 13 December 1945
    03LTjg. Thurman Jr., Emmett, C., USNR13 December 1945 - 7 January 1946
    04CDR. Gaither, Earl Paul, USNR7 January 1946 - 17 April 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
    MARAD Vessel History Database
    Back To The Navsource Photo Archives Main Page Back To The Service Force Ship Type Index Back To The General Stores Issue Ship (AKS) Photo Index
    Comments, Suggestions, E-mail Webmaster.
    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
    All pages copyright NavSource Naval History
    Last Updated 30 October 2015