_underway_at_sea%2c_in_the_1950s_(L45-193.05.01).jpg) | |
| History | |
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| Name | USSMuliphen |
| Namesake | The starMuliphen in the constellationCanis Major |
| Builder | Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company,Kearny, New Jersey |
| Laid down | 13 May 1944 |
| Launched | 26 August 1944 |
| Acquired | 21 October 1944 |
| Commissioned | 23 October 1944 |
| Decommissioned | 28 August 1970 |
| Reclassified | LKA-61, 1 January 1969 |
| Stricken | 1 January 1977 |
| Honors & awards | 2battle stars (World War II) |
| Fate | Sunk as anartificial reef offFort Pierce, Florida, 21 January 1989 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Andromeda-classattack cargo ship |
| Type | Type C2-S-B1 |
| Displacement | 7,360 long tons (7,478 t) |
| Length | 459 ft 2 in (139.95 m) |
| Beam | 63 ft (19 m) |
| Draft | 26 ft 4 in (8.03 m) |
| Speed | 16.5knots (30.6 km/h; 19.0 mph) |
| Complement | 246 |
| Armament |
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USSMuliphen (AKA-61/LKA-61) was anAndromeda-classattack cargo ship in service with theUnited States Navy from 1944 to 1970. She was sunk as anartificial reef in 1989.
Muliphen was named afterMuliphen, a star in theconstellationCanis Major. She was laid down underMaritime Commission contract on 13 May 1944 byFederal Shipbuilding and Drydock Co.,Kearny, N.J., launched on 26 August 1944, sponsored by Mrs. John Hascock, acquired by the Navy on 21 October 1944, andcommissioned on 23 October 1944.
Following shakedown inChesapeake Bay,Muliphen sailed on 1 December 1944 to operate with theFleet Sonar School,Key West, Florida. On 14 December, she steamed for thePacific where she joined Transport Division 43 offPearl Harbor, and sailed to prepare for theinvasion of Iwo Jima atEniwetok, arriving on 5 February 1945.Muliphen arrived offIwo Jima on 19 February, unloaded until 4 March, then retired toSaipan.
She departed on 27 March for theinvasion of Okinawa, took part in a feint landing on 1 April, and repeated the feint the following day. Held in reserve offOkinawa until 10 April, she sailed then for Saipan and cargo duty between theMarianas andSolomons. She arrived Manila on 18 September with a cargo of underwater demolition gear, and spent the next three months carryingoccupation troops toJapan from thePhilippines, until sailing forSeattle on 24 November.
Serving with theNaval Transportation Service, for the next four years she carried men and supplies to Asiatic and Pacific ports, and suppliedPoint Barrow, Alaska in 1946 and 1947.
In 1950Muliphen transferred to theAtlantic Fleet Amphibious Amphibious Force, based atNorfolk. The following decade she rotated in a steady schedule ofCaribbean andMediterranean deployments. In 1958 she participated in theamphibious landings at Beirut, Lebanon, when a prompt response by the6th Fleet preventedCommunist subversion ofLebanon's government. Continuing similar duty in the 1960s, she also took part inNATO exercises and the training ofNaval Academymidshipmen.
On 1 January 1969,Muliphen was redesignatedLKA-61.
Muliphen was decommissioned on 28 August 1970, and transferred to theMaritime Administration for lay up in theNational Defense Reserve Fleet. The ship was struck from theNaval Vessel Register on 1 January 1977,[1] and on 21 January 1989 was sunk as anartificial reef in a depth of 175 ft (53 m) of water offFort Pierce, Florida[2] at27°24.331′N80°00.337′W / 27.405517°N 80.005617°W /27.405517; -80.005617.[3] The wreck is used as arecreational dive site.[4]
Muliphen received two battle stars forWorld War II service.
This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be foundhere.
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