History | |
---|---|
United States | |
Name | USS Savannah |
Namesake | Savannah, Georgia |
Builder | General Dynamics Corp., Quincy, Massachusetts |
Laid down | 22 January 1969 |
Launched | 23 April 1970 |
Commissioned | 5 December 1970 |
Decommissioned | 28 July 1995 |
Stricken | 29 October 1998 |
Identification | IMO number: 8644175 |
Motto | We Never Stop Pumping |
Nickname(s) | Savvy Sue |
Honors and awards | 1 battle star & Meritorious Unit Commendation (Vietnam) |
Fate | Scrapped, 2009 |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Wichita-class replenishment oiler |
Displacement | 40,100 long tons (40,743 t) full |
Length | 659 ft (201 m) |
Beam | 96 ft (29 m) |
Draft | 35 ft (11 m) |
Propulsion | 3 × boilers, steam turbines, 2 × shafts, 32,000 shp (23,862 kW) |
Speed | 25 knots (46 km/h; 29 mph) |
Complement | 22 officers, 398 enlisted |
Armament |
|
Aircraft carried | 2 × CH-46 Sea Knight helicopters |
USS Savannah (AOR-4), was a Wichita-class replenishment oiler of the United States Navy. The fifth Savannah was laid down on 22 January 1969 by the General Dynamics Quincy Shipbuilding Division at Quincy, Massachusetts, launched on 23 April 1970, sponsored by Mrs. Ralph L. Shifley, wife of Vice Admiral R. L. Shifley, Deputy Chief of Naval Operations, and commissioned on 5 December 1970.
After shakedown out of Guantanamo Bay, Savannah proceeded to her homeport at Norfolk, Virginia. Arriving on 12 May, she completed post-shakedown availability on 9 August, and prepared for deployment to the Mediterranean.
Savannah ( AOR-4) left Norfolk on 20 September. [1] En route to Rota, Spain, she refueled ships taking part in a Caribbean exercise. After reporting to the 6th Fleet on 8 October, Savannah operated in Task Group 60.1. By the end of the year, she had replenished 178 ships.
Savannah continued to operate with the 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean until early March 1972. On 9 March, she headed west for Norfolk and arrived there eight days later. Her stay in the United States, however, was cut short by the exigencies of the Vietnam War. On 25 April, she left the Chesapeake Bay and, four days later, transited the Panama Canal. Savannah arrived in Subic Bay, Philippines, on 20 May and began a five-month tour replenishing the fleet along the coast of Vietnam. She made six line swings to the Gulf of Tonkin during this time. Each swing was punctuated by a 4–6-day load out period in Subic Bay.
Savannah departed Subic Bay on 5 November, bound for Norfolk. She transited the Panama Canal on 4 December and arrived at Norfolk on the 8th. Savannah operated out of Norfolk, along the Atlantic seaboard and in the Caribbean, for almost all of 1973. On 3 December 1973, she again headed eastward to join the 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean. From 12 December until late May 1974, she supported units of the 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean. On 3 June 1974, she returned to Norfolk.
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (October 2011) |
Savannah was back in the Med in 1975 supporting the USS John F Kennedy (CV-67).
From December 1976 to August 1977 the ship was laid up at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, for restructuring of her aft section. The 3" 50 calibre dual mounts were replaced by hangars for a pair of CH46D SeaKnight helicopters. The ship visited the Brooklyn Navy Yard again in 1980–1981, which saw the installation of a Sea Sparrow missile system and Phalanx CIWS.
From 2 December 1991 to 6 June 1992 the ship deployed to the Mediterranean Sea and Indian Ocean with the USS America (CV-66) carrier group. [2]
From 11 August 1993 to 5 February 1994 the ship deployed to the Mediterranean Sea, including a trip with the USS America carrier group through the Suez Canal to the Indian Ocean on 1 November 1993 in support of U.N. efforts in Somalia. [3]
Savannah was decommissioned on 28 July 1995, at Norfolk, Virginia, moored at the former Naval Shipyard in Philadelphia for a few years and finally laid up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, James River, Fort Eustis, Virginia. The ship was struck from the Naval Register on 29 October 1998, and transferred to the Maritime Administration for disposal. On 27 January 2009, the Department of Transportation signed a fee for service contract worth $515,726 with ESCO Marine of Brownsville, Texas, to scrap ex-Savannah.
The scrapping of the Savannah was featured on the television show Break It Down which aired on 8 July 2010 on the National Geographic Channel. Extensive footage of the ship was featured, chronicling the struggles with removing toxic items like asbestos before salvaging and cut up.
Savannah earned several awards for service in the 1970s–1990s: [4] [5] [6]
Joint Meritorious Unit Award 1990 | |||||
Meritorious Unit Commendation (3) 1972, 1987, 1990 | Navy E Ribbon (4) 1985, 1986, 1989, 1994 | Navy Expeditionary Medal Lebanon (1983) | |||
National Defense Service Medal (2) | Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (2) Operation Restore Hope Somalia Operation Uphold Democracy Haiti | Vietnam Service Medal Cease-fire period (1972) | |||
Southwest Asia Service Medal 1992 | Kuwait Liberation Medal (Kuwait) 1990 | Vietnam Campaign Medal |
USS Shangri-La (CV/CVA/CVS-38) was one of 24 Essex-class aircraft carriers completed during or shortly after World War II for the United States Navy.
The fifth USS Independence (CV/CVA-62) was an aircraft carrier of the United States Navy. She was the fourth and final member of the Forrestal class of conventionally powered supercarriers. She entered service in 1959, with much of her early years spent in the Mediterranean Fleet.
USS Barney (DD-956/DDG-6) was a Charles F. Adams-class guided missile destroyer in the United States Navy. She was the third Navy ship named for Commodore Joshua Barney USN (1759–1818).
The second USS Steinaker (DD-863/DDR-863/DD-863) was a Gearing-class destroyer of the United States Navy.
USS Wrangell (AE-12) was laid down under a Maritime Commission contract as SS Midnight during February 1944 at Wilmington, North Carolina, by the North Carolina Shipbuilding Company; launched on 14 April 1944; sponsored by Mrs. G. T. Cambell; delivered to the Navy, incomplete, on 28 May 1944; moved to Hampton Roads; converted to an ammunition ship by the Norfolk Shipbuilding and Drydock Co.; and commissioned on 10 October 1944 at the Norfolk Navy Yard.
USS Suribachi (AE-21) was a Suribachi-class ammunition ship of the United States Navy. The ship was laid down on 31 January 1955 at Sparrows Point, Maryland, by Bethlehem Sparrows Point Shipyard, Inc.; launched on 2 November 1955; sponsored by Mrs. Lemuel C. Shepherd; and commissioned on 17 November 1956. She was named for the volcano of Iwo Jima, Mount Suribachi, the hill where the photograph Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima was taken.
USS Santa Barbara (AE-28) was an Kilauea-class ammunition ship in the United States Navy. Santa Barbara is both the name of Santa Barbara, California and a historically active volcano on Terceira Island in the Azores. In addition, Saint Barbara is the patron saint of those who work with cannons and explosives.
The second USS Seattle (AOE-3), a Sacramento-class fast combat support ship, was laid down on 1 October 1965, at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Washington; launched on 2 March 1968; sponsored by Mrs. William M. Allen, chairman of the board of the Children's Orthopedic Hospital Association, Seattle; and commissioned on 5 April 1969.
USS Detroit (AOE-4) was the fourth and last Sacramento-class fast combat support ship built for the United States Navy. She was laid down on 29 November 1966 by Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Washington; launched 21 June 1969; and commissioned on 28 March 1970. She is the fifth United States Navy ship named after Detroit, Michigan, the largest city in the state of Michigan, and the river of the same name.
USS Nantahala (AO–60), the second ship of this name, was laid down under Maritime Commission contract by Bethlehem Sparrows Point Shipyard, Inc., Sparrows Point, Maryland, on 31 October 1943. Launched on 29 April 1944; sponsored by Miss Mary Louise Reed; delivered to the Navy 19 June 1944; and commissioned the same day.
USS Sylvania (AFS-2), a Mars-class combat stores ship, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named Sylvania.
USS Vreeland (FF-1068) was a Knox-class frigate of the United States Navy. The ship was named for Rear Admiral Charles E. Vreeland (1852–1916).
USS Tanager (AM-385) was an Auk-class minesweeper acquired by the United States Navy for the dangerous task of removing mines from minefields laid in the water to prevent ships from passing.
USS Pochard (AM-375) was an Auk-class minesweeper acquired by the United States Navy for the dangerous task of removing mines from minefields laid in the water to prevent ships from passing.
USS Waccamaw (AO-109) was a Cimarron-class replenishment oiler in the United States Navy. She was named after Waccamaw River. The original capacity was 146,000 barrels (23,200 m3).
USS Wabash (AOR-5) was a Wichita-class replenishment oiler in the United States Navy from 1970 to 1994.
USS Hyades (AF-28) was the lead ship of her class of stores ships acquired by the U.S. Navy for service in World War II. Her task was to carry stores, refrigerated items, and equipment to ships in the fleet and to remote stations and staging areas.
USS Alstede (AF-48) was an Alstede-class stores ship acquired by the U.S. Navy at the end of World War II. Her task was to carry stores, refrigerated items, and equipment to ships in the fleet, and to remote stations and staging areas.
USS San Diego (AFS-6) was a Mars-class combat stores ship acquired by the U.S. Navy in 1968. She served the U.S. Atlantic Fleet until decommissioned in 1993. She then was redesignated as a United States Naval Ship, assigned to the Military Sealift Command, and served in a non-commissioned status with a mostly civilian crew as USNS San Diego (T-AFS-6) until 1997.
The second USS Altair (AK-257) was a United States Navy Greenville Victory-class cargo ship in commission from 1952 to 1953. She was converted into a Antares-class general stores issue ship (AKS-32) in 1953 and was in commission as such from 1953 to 1969, seeing extensive service during the Cold War. Prior to her U.S. Navy career, she had operated as the merchant ship SS Aberdeen Victory during the latter stages of World War II.