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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive
Contributed by Mike Smolinski

Contributed by Al Grazevich

USS Markab (AR-23)
ex
 USS Markab (AD-21) (1942 - 1960)
 USS Markab (AK-31) (1941 - 1942)

International Radio Call Sign:
November - Bravo - Tango - Xray
 NBTX
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons



Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - China Service Medal (extended) - American Defense Service Medal (with bronze "A") - American Campaign Medal
Second Row - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp)
Third Row - National Defense Service Medal (2)- Vietnam Service Medal (1) - Philippines Liberation Medal
Hamul Class Destroyer Tender:
  • Laid down as SS Mormacpenn a Maritime Commission (C3 Cargo) hull under Maritime Commission contact (MC hull 66) at Ingalls Shipbuilding Corp., Pascagoula, MS.
  • Launched, 21 December 1940
  • Acquired by the US Navy, 2 June 1941
  • Commissioned USS Markab (AK-31), 15 June 1941, CDR. Allen D. Brown in command
  • Reclassified Destroyer Tender (AD-21), 24 January 1942
  • Following World War II USS Markab was assigned to Occupation and China service in the Far East for the following periods:

    Navy Occupation Service Medal
    China Service Medal (extended)
    31 October 1945 to 20 January 194621 January to 3 April 1946

  • Decommissioned in January 1947, at Orange TX.
  • Laid up in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet, Texas Group, Orange, TX..
  • Recommissioned, 26 February 1952, CAPT. Melvyn H. McCoy in command
  • Decommissioned, 31 July 1955
  • Reclassified Repair Ship (AR-23), 15 April 1960
  • Recommissioned, 1 July 1960, CAPT. E. M. Westbrook, Jr. in command
  • During the Vietnam War USS Markab (AR-23) participated in the following campaign:

    Vietnam War Campaign
    Campaign and Dates
    Vietnamese Counteroffensive - Phase III, 3 to 22 November 1967

  • Decommissioned, 19 December 1969, at Mare Island Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility, Vallejo, CA.
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 1 September 1976
  • USS Markab earned one campaign star for Vietnam War service
  • Custody transferred to the Maritime Administration, 12 March 1976
  • Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, 12 April 1977, to Zidell Explorations Inc., Portland, OR. for $301,688.88, withdrawn from the reserve fleet, 3 May 1977
    Specifications:
    Displacement 8,560 t., 14,000 t.(lim)
    Length 492' 5"
    Beam 69' 9"
    Draft 24' 9" (lim)updated specifications from Ships' Data U.S. Naval Vessels, April 1945,
    Speed 18.4 kts. (trial)
    Complement
    Officers 84
    Enlisted 830
    Largest Boom Capacity 30t.
    Armament
    one single 5"/38 dual purpose gun mount
    four single 3"/50 dual purpose gun mounts
    two twin 40mm AA gun mounts
    eight twin 20mm AA gun mounts
    Fuel Capacity
    NSFO 9,415 Bbls
    Propulsion
    one General Electric geared turbine
    two Foster and Wheeler D-type boilers, 465psi 765°
    double General Electric Main Reduction Gear Ship's Service Generators
     four Diesel-drive 250Kw 450V A.C.
     one turbo-drive 300Kw 120V/240V D.C.
     one turbo-drive 350Kw 120V/240V D.C.
    single propeller, 8,500shp
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    Merchant Service Moore-McMcCormack SS Corp.
    Markab
    09252330    		 367k SS Mormacpenn at the Ingalls fitting out berth, Pascagoula, MS., in the Spring of 1941. She will shortly be taken by the Navy as USS Markab (AK-31), and completed as destroyer tender (AD-21).
    Photo by George Strock, Life Magazine, used for educational and non-commercial purpose.    		 John Chiquoine
    USS Markab (AD-21)
    Markab
    09252328    		 36k
    Namesake
    Markab - is the third-brightest star in the constellation of Pegasus and one of the four stars in the asterism known as the Great Square of Pegasus. (Wikipedia)         		Tommy Trampp
    Markab
    19-N-35502    		 75k USS Markab (AD-21) moored pierside at Mobile, AL. 6 October 1942 upon completion of conversion to a Destroyer Tender.
    US National Archives, RG-19-LCM, photo #s 19-N-35502 & 19-N-35500, US Navy Bureau of Ships photos now in the collections of the US National Archives, courtesy Shipscribe.com.    		 Robert Hurst
    Markab
    19-N-35500    		 92k
    Markab 44k USS Markab (AD-21) underway, 7 October 1942, location unknown.
    US Navy photo         		Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret.
    Salt Lake City 328k USS Markab (AD-21) with USS Salt Lake City (CA-25) alongside at Dutch harbor Alaska, Territory of Alaska, 29 March 1943. The cruiser is being repaired after being damaged in the Battle of the Komandorski Islands three days earlier. At left is USS Coghlan (DD 606) and another unidentified destroyer.
    US National Archives, Photo # 80-G-299023    		 Mike Green
    Markab 16k USS Markab (AD-21) moored to a buoy, circa 1943, at either Pearl Harbor or in Alaska.
    US National Archives photo, RG-19-LCM, photo # unassigned, a US Navy photo, courtesy Shipscribe.com.    		 Robert Hurst
    Markab 165k USS Markab (AD-21) moored in Smugglers Cove near Skagway Alaska with destroyers alongside in 1943. Steve Franklin
    Markab 84k Stern view of USS Markab (AD-21) underway off San Francisco, 19 February 1944.
    Navy Yard Mare Island photo # 1166-44    		 Darryl Baker
    Markab 66k Broadside view of USS Markab (AD-21) underway off San Francisco, 19 February 1944.
    Navy Yard Mare Island photo # 1168-44    		 Darryl Baker
    Markab 82k Bow on view of USS Markab (AD-21) underway off San Francisco, 19 February 1944. The San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge in the background.
    Navy Yard Mare Island photo # 1170-44    		 Darryl Baker
    Markab 82k USS Markab (AD-21) underway in San Francisco Bay, 19 February 1944.
    US National Archives photo, RG-19-LCM, photo # 19-N-63608, a US Navy Bureau of Ships photo now in the collections of the US National Archives, courtesy Shipscribe.com.    		 Robert Hurst
    Markab 177k USS Markab (AD-21) in a Pacific anchorage, with five destroyers alongside, circa 1944 or early 1945. The destroyer closest to Markab is of the "round bridge" Fletcher class, otherwise unidentified. The others are, from center to right: USS Longshaw (DD-559); USS Preston (DD-795); USS Porterfield (DD-682) and USS Cassin Young (DD-793). Wartime censors have retouched the photograph to remove all radar antennas.
    US Navy photo # NH 99281 from the collections of the US Naval History and Heritage Command.    		 Robert Hurst
    Markab 133k USS Markab (AD-21) laid up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, Orange,TX., circa 1947-1952. Of note are the five self-propelled lighters (YF)s moored in the foreground, they include; from right to left: YF-881, YF-852 and YF-854.
    US Navy photo from Naval Station Orange, TX.    		 Tommy Trampp
    Markab 94k USS Markab (AD-21) moored to a buoy in Narragansett Bay, off Naval Station Newport, circa 1954 with USS Fred T. Barry (DD-858) and USS Norris (DD-859) alongside William J Campbell
    Markab 84k USS Markab (AD-21) moored to a buoy, circa 1956.
    US Navy photo         		Robert Hurst
    Markab 192k USS Markab (AD-21) with destroyers
    USS Dashiell (DD-659)
    USS Isherwood (DD-520)
    USS Power (DD-839) and
    USS William C. Lawe (DD-763) alongside at Yokosuka, Japan, date unknown.    		 Mark Roberts, Destroyersonline.com
    USS Markab (AR-23)
    Markab 259k USS Markab (AR-23) "Repair Facilities Available for Forces Afloat" booklet provided to ships alongside for serves and repair, 1961 (cover only). Robert M. Cieri
    Markab 78k USS Markab (AR-23) underway in 1961, location unknown.
    US Navy photo from 1966/67 Edition of "Jane's Fighting Ships"     		Robert Hurst
    Markab 164k USS Markab (AR-23) with USS Leonard F. Mason (DD-852) and USS Henry W. Tucker (DD-875) alongside at Yokosuka, Japan, 21 June 1966 ©Richard Leonhardt
    Markab 133k USS Markab (AR-23) at Yokosuka, Japan, 14 July 1966, with destroyers alongside: to port,
    USS Everett F. Larson (DD-830) and to starboard, USS Radford (DD-446), with two sisters, and USS James E. Kyes (DD-787), far right.
    US Navy photo # USN 1118931, from the collections of the US Naval History and Heritage Command, courtesy Shipscribe.com.    		 Robert Hurst
    Markab 117k Passing under the Golden Gate Bridge at San Francisco USS Markab (AR-23) returns to her homeport at NAS Alameda after completing her 1966 WESTPAC deployment.
    US Navy photo.         		Richard Miller BMCS USN Ret.
    Markab 447k USS Markab (AR-23) at Yokosuka in October 1967 with USS Bronstein (DE-1037) alongside. Photo by Darryl Baker
    Markab 67k Stern view of USS Markab (AR-23) moored in Subic Bay, P.I., circa 1967 with ships alongside.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo, courtesy Shipscribe.com.    		 Robert Hurst
    Markab
    09252329    		 230k USS Markab (AR-23) inbound to NAS Alameda from sea passing under the Golden Gate Bridge at San Francisco, date unknown. Nicholas Tiberio
    CVAN-65, CVA-19, CVA-43 362k Aerial view of the piers at NAS Alameda, circa early July 1969. Ships present include from front to back:
    USS Enterprise (CVAN-65),
    USS Hancock (CVA-19),
    USS Markab (AR-23) with
    USS Pictor (AF-54) outboard, and
    USS Procyon (AF-61) forward of them, and
    USS Coral Sea (CVA-43)    		 Robert M. Cieri
    Markab 108k USS Markab (AR-23) Decommissioning Ceremony booklet, 19 December 1969 (cover only). Robert M. Cieri
    Markab 83k USS Markab (AR-23) moored at the Mare Island Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility, Markab serviced as headquarters ship, providing offices, maintenance ships, etc., 25 March 1972. Steve Newbauer
    Markab 58k
    APL-3 85k Ships moored at Mare Island Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility, 23 May 1972. include APL-3 in the foreground and ex-USS Markab (AR-23) and ex-USS Nereus (AS-17) in the background. Photo from "Warship Boneyards" by Kit and Carolyn Bonner, (Courtesy L. Cote). Robert Hurst
    For more photos and information about USS Markab, see:
  • Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
  • USS Markab (AK-31) War Diary and History, 1942-1943
  • USS Markab (AD-21) War Diary and History, 1943-1945
    • Commanding Officers
    01CAPT. Brown, Allen Dudley 15 June 1941 - 3 October 1943
    02CAPT. Farrell, Leo Bernard 3 October 1943 - 20 April 1945
    03CAPT. Prosser, Albert L. 20 April 1945 -18 July 1946
    03LT. Henderson, Paul Edwin, USN18 July 1946 - January 1947
     DecommissionedJanuary 1947 - 26 February 1952
    04CAPT. McCoy, Melvyn Harvey26 February 1952 - 15 August 1953
    05CAPT. Matthews, Mitchell Dudley :RADM15 August 1953 - 11 May 1954
    06CAPT. Heckey, Albert R. 11 May 1954 - 23 February 1955
    07CAPT. Lambert, David :RADM23 February 1955 - 3 December 1955
    08CAPT. Keating, Gordon Ripley 3 December 1955 - 31 July 1956
     Decommissioned31 July 1956 - 1 July 1960
    09CAPT. Westbrook Jr., Edwin Monroe 1 July 1960 - 22 December 1961
    10CAPT. McFarland, Farrell Burton 22 December 1961 - 18 March 1964
    11CAPT. Jones Jr., Bennie West 18 March 1964 - May 1965
    12CAPT. Hoeppner, Frederick RichardMay 1965 - 11 May 1966
    13CAPT. Gibson, Charles Cornelius11 May 1966 - 18 January 1968
    14CAPT. Cummings Jr., Edward Mark18 January 1968 - 31 October 1969
    15LCDR. Thurber, John Davis 31 October 1969 - 19 December 1969
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log
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    Last Updated 3 November 2023