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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

USS Theenim (AKA-63)



International Radio Call Sign:
November - Hotel - Golf - Golf
NHGG
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)



USS Theenim was manned by the US Coast Guard during World War II
Andromeda Class Attack Cargo Ship:
  • Laid down, 18 July 1944, as a Maritime Commission type (C2-S-B1) hull, under Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 215), at Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Kearny, N.J.
  • Launched, 31 October 1944
  • Accepted from Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock, 22 December 1944, by the War Shipping Administration and transferred to US Navy custody the same day
  • Commissioned USS Theenim (AKA-63), 22 December 1944, CDR. Gordon A. Littlefield, USCG, in command
  • During World War II USS Theenim was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater:
    TransRon Twenty-One, COMO. J. R. Palmer USN (13);
    TransDiv Sixty-One and participated in the following campaign:

    Asiatic-Pacific Campaign
    Campaigns and Dates
    Okinawa Gunto operation
    Assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto, 1 to 15 April 1945

  • Following World War II USS Theenim was assigned to Occupation service in the Far East for the following periods:

    Navy Occupation Service Medal
    20 September to 6 October 1945
    29 October to 6 November 1945

  • Decommissioned, 10 May 1946, at Norfolk VA.
  • Returned to the War Shipping Administration, 10 May 1946, for lay up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet
  • Struck from the Naval Register 21 May 1946
  • Merchant Service
    Sold by the Maritime Commission in 1948 to the United States Lines, renamed SS American Inventor
    Renamed, 26 November 1958, SS Pioneer Surf and re-directed to serve on the Australia Run of United States Lines
    Sold in July 1965, to Farrell Lines, Inc., renamed SS Australian Surf
    Sold 27 November 1968, to Rancocas Steamship Co., renamed SS Surfer
  • USS Theenim earned one battle star for World War II service
  • Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, 17 April 1970, to Victory Steel and Machinery Corp. for scrapping at Kaohsiung, Taiwan
    Specifications:
    Displacement 6,556 t.(lt) 14,200 t.(fl)
    Length 459' 2"
    Beam 63'
    Draft 26' 4"
    Speed 16.5 kts.
    Complement
    Officers 48
    Enlisted 351
    Largest Boom Capacity 30 t.
    Cargo Capacity 4,900 dwt
    non-refrigerated 440,000 Cu. ft.,
    Armament
    one single 5"/38 cal dual purpose gun mount
    four twin 40mm AA gun mounts
    eighteen single 20mm AA gun mounts
    Boats
    eight LCMs
    one LCP(L)
    fifteen LCVPs
    Fuel Capacity NSFO 10,990 Bbls
    Propulsion
    one General Electric steam turbine
    two Foster and Wheeler D-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
    USS Theenim (AKA-63)
    Theenim 70k Theenim (AKA-63) launching, 31 October 1944, at Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Kearny, N.J. Gerhard Mueller-Debus
    Theenim
    100206310
    NARA BS 78219
    394k USS Sheliak (AKA-62) at anchor in New York harbor, circa 22 December 1944. She is painted in Camouflage measure 32/8T.
    U.S. National Archives and Records Administration Identifiers BS 78219 and BS 78218
    Nicholas Tiberio
    Theenim
    100206311
    NARA BS 78218
    92k
    Theenim 78k USS Theenim (AKA-63) under way off Boston, MA., 22 January 1945. The ship is wearing Measure 32/8t camouflage scheme. Photos taken by an airship from blimp squadron ZP-11 from NAS South Weymouth, MA.
    US National Archives, Photo's # 80-G-301374 and 80-G-301376, US Navy photos courtesy of C. Lee Johnson, undazzle.com.
    Mike Green
    Theenim
    80-G-301374
    533k
    Theenim
    80-G-301376
    662k
    Theenim
    100206309
    NA 205584864
    304k On 28 June 1945 two Japanese soldier-laborers were taken prisoner by USS Theenim (AKA-63), after having sailed their tiny craft 260 miles from Nauru Island, where they worked in a labor battalion. Mindful of Japanese trickery, the Coast guard "boarding party" keeps the sun to its back as it approaches the skiff. Once on the ship they were stripped, deloused and had their heads shaved before they were questioned by ENS. James R. Kennedy, USCG.
    US National Archives Identifier 205584864 and 205584861, Local Identifier 26-G-4708, US Coast Guard Photo # 4708. USS Theenim War Diary
    David Upton
    Theenim
    100206308
    NA 205584861
    251k
    Theenim
    100206307
    NA 205584864
    251k
    Merchant Service United States Line
    Theenim 487k Ex- USS Theenim (AKA-63), in service as the United States Line freighter SS American Inventor working cargo in the port of Bremen, Germany in 1953.
    ©Weser-Kurier
    Gerhard Mueller-Debus
    Theenim 78k United States Line freighter SS American Inventor, departing New York City, mid-1950s. Gerhard Mueller-Debus

    USS Theenim (AKA-63)
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
    01CDR. Littlefield, Gordon Athorn, :RADM USCG22 December 1944 - 18 October 1945
    02CAPT. Rhodes. Earl King, USCG18 October 1945 - ?
    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 Amphibious Ship Type Index Back To The Amphibious Cargo Ship (AKA) Photo Index
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
    All pages copyright NavSource Naval History
    Last Updated 16 June 2023