By this time, the Atlantic Fleet was becoming more fully involved in the Battle of the Atlantic. In July 1941, at the request of the Icelandic government, the United States had occupied Iceland – the strategic island which, as the German geopolitician Karl Haushofer wrote, lay pointed "like a pistol ... at the United States" – and had established bases at the barren ports of Reykjavík and Hvalfjörður. Marine wags soon nicknamed these places "Rinky Dink" and "Valley Forge", respectively.[1]
Prompted by fears that the German battleshipTirpitz would break out into the Atlantic as her sister ship, Bismarck had done in the spring of 1941, the Navy dispatched a task force to Iceland to deter such a move. Accordingly, the unit – designated Task Force (TF) 4 and based around Wasp(CV-7) – sailed from Argentia on 23 September. Besides the valuable carrier, the force included Mississippi(BB-41), Wichita(CA-45), Vulcan, and a screen of four destroyers. A German U-boat, prowling to the southwest of Iceland, sighted the ships on the 26th, but could not keep up with or identify the Americans. Having outpaced their adversary, TF4 reached "Valley Forge" on 28 September.[1]
While Tirpitz did not sortie, the U-boats continued their deadly forays against Allied shipping. By the fall of 1941, American destroyers were engaged in convoy operations half-way across the Atlantic, turning their charges over to British units at the MOMP (mid-ocean meeting point). On 4 September, Greer(DD-145) narrowly avoided being torpedoed after attacking a German U-boat.[1]
During the midwatch on 17 October 1941, U-568 torpedoed Kearny(DD-432) while the latter was screening Convoy SC-48. With 11 bluejackets dead, Kearny limped into Reykjavík, a gaping hole and buckled plating disfiguring her starboard side below and aft of the bridge. Vulcan provided timely and effective assistance to the stricken warship. Since permanent repair facilities – such as a drydock – were nonexistent, Kearny pulled up alongside the repair vessel, and her port side was flooded to raise the torpedo hole above water level. Soon, Vulcan's repair force had cut away the damaged plating and had fixed a patch. By Christmas 1941, Kearny could sail for the east coast and permanent repairs at Boston.[1]
Operations in these inhospitable climes posed natural dangers as well – fog and storms frequently hampered operations and caused collisions. In November, Niblack(DD-424) was rammed by a Norwegian freighter. The destroyer had been scouring Iceland's coastal waters for a straying Icelandic merchant vessel when the accident occurred, costing Niblack an anchor and putting a hole in her side plating. Vulcan swiftly fixed the damage and patched the side, enabling the destroyer to resume her vital escort duties.[1]
Vulcan remained in Iceland's chill and barren area into the spring of 1942. Meanwhile, on 7 December 1941, a Japanese task force had struck Pearl Harbor and severely crippled the battleships of the Pacific Fleet, plunging the United States into war on both oceans. Vulcan – bound for home in company with Tarazed(AF-13), Livermore(DD-429), and the familiar Kearny – departed "Valley Forge" on 26 April 1942 and arrived at Boston on 2 May. There, the repair ship underwent a drydocking before she returned northward to support the Fleet's operations in the North Atlantic. Based at Argentia from 16 June to 14 November, Vulcan shifted to Hvalfjörður and relieved Melville(AD-2) there on 18 November. She remained at "Valley Forge" until she got underway on 6 April 1943, bound via Derry, Northern Ireland, for Hampton Roads.[1]
Mediterranean, 1943–1944
Leaving Norfolk, 22 June 1943
After repairs at Norfolk from 8 to 22 June, Vulcan headed for the Mediterranean and arrived at Oran, Algeria, on the 27th. Shifting to Algiers in late June, Vulcan sent a fire and rescue party to the burning British ammunition ship Arrow. Three Vulcan sailors brought a boat alongside the flaming vessel and cut through her side plating to rescue British sailors trapped below decks. For their bravery and resourcefulness, the trio from the repair ship received decorations from the British government and Navy and Marine Corps Medals from their own.[1]
Vulcan remained based on the North African coast into the summer of 1944. In August and September, the repair ship supported the invasion of southern France and received her sole battle star for providing repair services to the ships and craft involved in the operation.[1]
Pacific, 1945–1946
By late 1944, Vulcan was urgently required in the Pacific, and she accordingly departed the Mediterranean on 23 November 1944 in Convoy GUS-59. After voyage repairs at Norfolk which lasted into January 1945, the repair ship sailed for the South Pacific. Arriving at Guadalcanal on 9 February 1945, Vulcan operated successively out of Tulagi, Nouméa, and Ulithi for the remainder of the war. From Ulithi, Vulcan serviced the amphibious units which participated in the assault on the key island of Okinawa.[1]
After hostilities with Japan ceased, Vulcan shifted to Okinawa and entered Buckner Bay in the wake of a destructive typhoon which had forced some ships aground and had severely damaged others. Repair work was well in hand by late September, when another typhoon threatened the anchorage. Vulcan led 17 merchantmen to sea in a typhoon evasion sortie – a mission successfully accomplished without loss or damage by 28 September.[1]
Vulcan sailed for Japan immediately thereafter to support the occupation of the erstwhile enemy's home islands. Leading a group of service force ships and oilers through dangerous, still-mined waters, Vulcan arrived in Hiro Wan, near Kure, Japan, on 8 October. Here, the repair ship established an advance service unit to provide food, oil, and water to the ships of the occupation force based there. She also set up mail, medical, and recreational facilities ashore. In addition, she performed maintenance tasks on the diesel-powered vessels of the mine forces then clearing the waters around the Japanese home islands.[1]
Vulcan also operated out of Kobe and Yokosuka into the new year. Departing Yokosuka on 9 March 1946, the repair ship sailed for the east coast of the United States, calling at Pearl Harbor and transiting the Panama Canal en route. She arrived at Brooklyn, New York, on 15 April 1946.[1]
Atlantic Fleet, 1946–1991
Vulcan operated at Newport, Rhode Island, until February 1954, when she shifted to Norfolk, Virginia.[1] The ship, supporting the Atlantic Fleet with repair services, was homeported at Norfolk into the mid-1970s. During this time, she conducted repairs, alterations, and overhauls on a wide variety of vessels. She called at ports from the Caribbean to Canada, providing repair services to the Fleet at such ports as Guantanamo Bay, San Juan, New York, and Boston, as well as Mayport, Florida, and Charleston, South Carolina.[1]
When American intelligence pinpointed the presence of Russian missiles in Cuba in the fall of 1962, the United States and the Soviet Union stood "eyeball to eyeball" in the Caribbean. Vulcan sailed to San Juan, where she provided essential repair services to the ships operating on the "quarantine" line off Cuban shores to prevent the arrival of any further Russian military equipment. The ship also assumed an additional role as electronics and ordnance repair vessel as well. After supporting the Cuban blockade from 2 to 26 November, she returned to Norfolk to resume normal operations.[1]
Only once in the 1960s and 1970s did Vulcan venture beyond her normal deployment bounds of the east coast and the Caribbean. In the fall of 1964, the repair ship sailed for Europe to participate in NATO exercises. Departing Norfolk on 8 September, bound for Scotland, she arrived at Greenock on 21 September.[1]
After participating in NATO Exercise "Teamwork", Vulcan called at Antwerp, Belgium; Le Havre, France; and Rota, Spain, before participating in amphibious Exercise "Operation Steel Pike I" off Huelva, Spain. She returned to Norfolk soon thereafter to again take up her regular duties.[1]
Besides type and underway training exercises at sea, Vulcan made an occasional NROTC midshipman cruise and conducted individual ship exercises in between her regular long assignments as repair ship at Norfolk. Among the ships for which Vulcan provided availabilities was the intelligence ship Liberty(AGTR-5). Between 24 March and 21 April, Liberty lay alongside the repair ship before getting underway later that spring for the fateful overseas deployment in which she was attacked by Israeli planes and motor torpedo boats off El Arish on the morning of 8 June 1967.[1]
In late 1975, Vulcan paid a working visit to Cartagena, Colombia, where she tended three ex-U.S. Navy destroyers of that nation's navy.[2] Not only did Vulcan repair the vessels, but her crew also provided valuable training to their Colombian counterparts. During the ship's nine-month major overhaul in 1976, her long-time main battery – 4 × 5-inch (127mm) guns – was removed and replaced by four 20-millimeter guns.[1]
In the 1970s, Vulcan's itinerary included recreational and port visits to such places as Fort Lauderdale, Florida; Halifax, Nova Scotia; and the more regular ports such as Charleston and Guantanamo Bay. In 1977, while returning from underway training, Vulcan was called upon to assist a Portuguese destroyer named Coutinho. Alongside, Vulcan provided emergency boiler feedwater to the Coutinho.[citation needed]
By a matter of hours, Vulcan became the first non-hospital ship in the Navy to receive women officers on 1 November 1978. The first contingents of enlisted women arrived in December 1978 and January 1979. Vulcan's first point-to-point cruise with women took place in February 1979, with a trip to Earle, New Jersey. In September 1979, Vulcan left Norfolk for the Navy's first Mediterranean cruise with a mixed crew. A pioneer in the Women in Navy Ships (WINS) program, USS Vulcan had reserved positions for 66 women (including six officers) in its 730-member crew female sailors.[3]
In September 1980, Vulcan deployed to the North Atlantic to participate in NATO exercise " Teamwork 80 " which included ships from the United States, United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and West Germany. Vulcan completed an extensive overhaul of thirteen months in mid-February 1983. Captain J. E. McConville, the ship's thirty-fourth commanding officer, guided Vulcan to a successful completion of the difficult overhaul and subsequent refresher training. In May 1983, while en route to Florida from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Vulcan assisted a Haitian refugee boat, the " Rose Carida, " adrift without power for three days.[citation needed]
Port visits to St. John's New Brunswick and Earle, N.J., were made in the first half of 1984. On 1 October, Vulcan left for Málaga, Spain, before arriving on station off Al Masirah, Oman where she was scheduled to relieve USSYosemite(AD-19), another Second World War era vessel. Vulcan resumed her Norfolk duties in mid-1985.[citation needed]
Decommissioning and sale
Vulcan was decommissioned on 30 September 1991, struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 28 July 1992 and laid up in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet.[1] She was transferred to the Maritime Administration on 1 February 1999, for lay up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet on the James River, Fort Eustis, Virginia. On 9 November 2006 the contract was awarded to Bay Bridge Enterprises LLC, Chesapeake, Virginia, for her scrapping, and she was towed to the shipbreakers on 19 December 2006.
USS Ellyson (DD-454/DMS-19), a Gleaves-class destroyer, is the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for Theodore Gordon Ellyson, a submariner who became the first officer of the U.S. Navy to be designated a naval aviator.
USS Wasp (CV-7) was a United States Navy aircraft carrier commissioned in 1940 and lost in action in 1942. She was the eighth ship named USS Wasp, and the sole ship of a class built to use up the remaining tonnage allowed to the U.S. for aircraft carriers under the treaties of the time. As a reduced-size version of the Yorktown-class aircraft carrier hull, Wasp was more vulnerable than other United States aircraft carriers available at the opening of hostilities. Wasp was initially employed in the Atlantic campaign, where Axis naval forces were perceived as less capable of inflicting decisive damage. After supporting the occupation of Iceland in 1941, Wasp joined the British Home Fleet in April 1942 and twice ferried British fighter aircraft to Malta.
USS Jacob Jones (DD-130), named for Commodore Jacob Jones USN (1768–1850), was a Wickes-class destroyer. Jacob Jones was laid down by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation at Camden, New Jersey on 21 February 1918, launched on 20 November 1918 by Mrs. Cazenove Doughton, great-granddaughter of Commodore Jones and commissioned on 20 October 1919, Lieutenant Commander Paul H. Bastedo in command. She was sunk by a German submarine in 1942 during World War II.
USS Upshur (DD–144) was a Wickes-class destroyer in the United States Navy before and during World War II. She was the first ship named for Rear Admiral John Henry Upshur.
USS Greer (DD–145) was a Wickes-class destroyer in the United States Navy, the first ship named for Rear Admiral James A. Greer (1833–1904). In what became known as the "Greer incident," she became the first US Navy ship to fire on a German ship, three months before the United States officially entered World War II. The incident led President Franklin D. Roosevelt to issue what became known as his "shoot-on-sight" order. Roosevelt publicly confirmed the "shoot on sight" order on 11 September 1941, effectively declaring naval war against Germany and Italy in the Battle of the Atlantic.
USS Du Pont (DD–152) was a Wickes-class destroyer in the United States Navy during World War II, later reclassified as AG-80. She was the second ship named for Rear Admiral Samuel Francis Du Pont.
USS Goldsborough (DD-188/AVP-18/AVD-5/APD-32) was a Clemson-class destroyer in the United States Navy during World War II. She was the second Navy ship named for Rear Admiral Louis M. Goldsborough (1805–1877). Entering service in 1920, the ship had a brief active life before being placed in reserve in 1922. Goldsborough was reactivated for World War II and was used as an aircraft tender, destroyer and high speed transport in both Atlantic and Pacific theaters. Following the war, the ship was sold for scrapping in 1946.
USS Albemarle (AV-5) was one of only two Curtiss-class seaplane tenders built for the United States Navy just prior to the United States' entry into World War II. Named for Albemarle Sound on the North Carolina coast, she was the third U.S. Naval vessel to bear the name. Albemarle was laid down on 12 June 1939 at Camden, New Jersey, by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation, and launched on 13 July 1940, sponsored by Mrs. Beatrice C. Compton, the wife of the Honorable Lewis Compton, Assistant Secretary of the Navy. She was commissioned at the Philadelphia Navy Yard on 20 December 1940, with Commander Henry M. Mullinnix in command. She was transferred to the Maritime Administration (MARAD) James River Fleet at Fort Eustis, Virginia. Placed in the custodial care of MARAD, Albemarle was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 September 1962.
USS Sigsbee (DD-502), a Fletcher-class destroyer, was a ship of the United States Navy named for Rear Admiral Charles D. Sigsbee (1845–1923).
USS Kearny (DD-432), a Gleaves-class destroyer, was a United States Navy warship during World War II. She was noted for being torpedoed by a German U-boat in October 1941, before the U.S. had entered the war. She survived that attack, and later served in North Africa and the Mediterranean.
The third USS Decatur (DD-341) was a Clemson-class destroyer in the United States Navy following World War I. She was named for Stephen Decatur.
USS Stormes (DD-780) was an Allen M. Sumner-class destroyer that served in the United States Navy.
USS Jeffers (DD-621/DMS-27), a Gleaves-class destroyer, was the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for Commodore William N. Jeffers.
USS Benson (DD-421) was the lead ship of her class of destroyers in the United States Navy during World War II. She was named for Admiral William S. Benson (1855–1932).
USS Alexander J. Luke (DE/DER-577), a Buckley-class destroyer escort of the United States Navy, was named in honor of Sergeant Alexander J. Luke (1916–1942), who was killed in action during the attack on Tulagi on 6 August 1942. He was posthumously awarded the Silver Star.
USS Stewart (DE–238) is an Edsall-class destroyer escort, the third United States Navy ship so named. This ship was named for Rear Admiral Charles Stewart, who commanded USS Constitution during the War of 1812. Stewart is one of only two preserved destroyer escorts in the U.S. and is the only Edsall-class vessel to be preserved. She is on display in Galveston, Texas as a museum ship and is open to the public.
USS Alcor (AD-34) was a destroyer tender, the lone ship in her class, named for a star in the constellation Ursa Major.
USS Snowden (DE-246) was an Edsall-class destroyer escort built for the U.S. Navy during World War II. She served in the Atlantic Ocean the Pacific Ocean and provided destroyer escort protection against submarine and air attack for Navy vessels and convoys.
USS Alcona (AK-157) was an Alamosa-class cargo ship commissioned by the U.S. Navy for service in World War II. She was responsible for delivering troops, goods and equipment to locations in the war zone.
USS Nespelen (AOG-55) was a Patapsco-class gasoline tanker in the service of the United States Navy.
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