_underway%2c_circa_in_the_1950s_(NH_107734).jpg) Vermilion, circa in the 1950s | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | USSVermilion |
| Namesake | |
| Builder | North Carolina Shipbuilding Company,Wilmington, North Carolina |
| Laid down | 17 October 1944 |
| Launched | 12 December 1944 |
| Commissioned | 23 June 1945 |
| Decommissioned | 26 August 1949 |
| Recommissioned | 16 October 1950 |
| Decommissioned | 13 April 1971 |
| Stricken | 1 January 1977 |
| Motto |
|
| Fate | Sunk asartificial reef 24 August 1988 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Tolland-classattack cargo ship |
| Displacement | 13,910 long tons (14,133 t) full |
| Length | 489 ft 2 in (149.10 m) |
| Beam | 63 ft (19 m) |
| Draft | 26 ft 4 in (8.03 m) |
| Propulsion | GE geared turbine drive, 1 propeller, 6,000 shp (4,474 kW) |
| Speed | 16.5knots (30.6 km/h; 19.0 mph) |
| Complement | 425 |
| Armament |
|
USSVermilion (AKA-107/LKA-107), was aTolland-classattack cargo ship of theUnited States Navy, named after a parish insouthern Louisiana and a county ineastern Illinois. She served as a commissioned ship for 25 years and 9 months.
Tolland was laid down as aType C2-S-AJ3 ship under aUnited States Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 1700) on 17 October 1944 by theNorth Carolina Shipbuilding Company inWilmington, North Carolina andlaunched on 12 December 1944, sponsored by Mrs. Rex Freeman. She was delivered to theNavy on 23 December 1944 to be completed as a Navy attack cargo ship at theTodd Shipyard inBrooklyn, New York. She wascommissioned at Brooklyn on 23 June 1945 with thehull code AKA-107, Captain F. B. Eggers commanding.
Based atthe Amphibious Naval Base, Little Creek, Virginia, theVermilion was assigned to theAtlantic Fleet and spent over a year inshakedown and refresher training. In November 1946, she cruised toSouth American waters before assuming duty upon her return to Norfolk. For the next three years she took on standard Atlantic fleet operations, includingmidshipman training cruises, amphibious exercises, type training and reserve training cruises. She was then decommissioned on 26 August 1949 and berthed with theReserve Fleet Group atOrange, Texas.
The outbreak of theKorean War in the summer of 1950 meant theVermilion was recommissioned at Orange on 16 October 1950. However, though the war had prompted her return to active duty, she never saw service in theFar East. Instead, she was used to replace other Atlantic Fleet ships released for duty.
In the summer of 1951 theVermilion took part inOperation Blue Jay, the first large-scale seaborne supply lift to the new airbase under construction atThule,Greenland. She returned to Little Creek on 29 August 1951 and resumed operations with the Atlantic Fleet, before visiting Thule on a second supply mission during the summer of 1952. By 25 August she had once again returned to Little Creek and resumed Atlantic Fleet duty. During the winter she operated in theWest Indies out of the base atGuantanamo Bay, Cuba before returning to Little Creek and Atlantic Fleet duty on 2 February 1953.
For the next five years,Vermilion participated in Atlantic Fleet amphibious exercises atOnslow Beach, North Carolina and in theCaribbean. She also conducted independent ship's exercises and made cruises the length of theAtlantic seaboard. She spent the second half of 1958 deployed in theMediterranean Sea, returning to Little Creek and Atlantic Fleet duties in December.
Her routine of amphibious exercises and independent ship's exercises continued until the fall of 1962 when she was deployed to the West Indies to support the American quarantine of Cuba during theCuban Missile Crisis. She then returned to Little Creek and her routine operations before deployment with the6th Fleet in the Mediterranean beginning May 1963.
Vermilion returned to Little Creek on 17 October and began another four-year stint of operations along the Atlantic seaboard and in the Caribbean. In January 1968 she departedMorehead City, North Carolina, accompanied byMarine Air Control Squadron 6, bound for theRyukyus via thePanama Canal andPearl Harbor. She arrived inBuckner Bay, Okinawa on 22 February 1968 and departed three days later withMarine Air Control Squadron 8 embarked. The air squadron disembarked at Morehead City on 30 March before theVermilion reached Norfolk the following day. Following a six-month overhaul at theNorfolk Naval Shipyard – during which she was redesignatedLKA-107 –Vermilion resumed Atlantic Fleet operations in November, continuing to operate out of Norfolk for over three years.
She was once again decommissioned on 13 April 1971 and then transferred to theMaritime Administration on 27 July 1971 to be laid up in theNational Defense Reserve Fleet atJames River, Virginia. Her name was struck from theNavy List on 1 January 1977.
On 19 February 1988Vermilion was transferred to theSouth Carolina Department of Natural Resources, and on 24 August 1988 she was sunk in theAtlantic Ocean 40nautical miles (46 mi; 74 km) offGeorgetown,South Carolina, to form anartificial reef andrecreational dive site.[1] Bottom depth is 130 to 140 feet (40 to 43 m).[2]
This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be foundhere.
Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in 1988 | |
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| Other incidents |
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