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U.S.S. YELLOWSTONE

(AD-27)

OLD FAITHFUL

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USS YELLOWSTONE (AD-27) - a Shenandoah-class destroyer tender

In Commission 1946 to 1974

AD-27 Deployments - Major Events

Add a AD-27 Shellback Initiation Add a AD-27 Deployment - Major Event
Month Year to Month Year Deployment / Event
OCT1944-Keel Date: 16 OCT 1944
at Todd Pacific Shipyards Seattle WA
APR1945-Launch Date: 12 APR 1945
JAN1946-Commissioned: 16 JAN 1946
FEB1946-NOV1947North Atlantic-Med-Indian Ocean
FEB1946-NOV1947Mediterranean
JAN1947-JAN1950Panama Canal
OCT1951-FEB1952Mediterranean
OCT1951-FEB1952Mediterranean
MAY1953-Shellback Initiation - 27 MAY 1953 - Atlantic Ocean
MAY1953- Shellback Initiation - 27 MAY 1953 - Pacific Ocean
MAY1953-NOV1953Mediterranean
NOV1955-MAY1956Mediterranean
NOV1958-MAY1959Mediterranean
NOV1959-APR1960Mediterranean
NOV1960-APR1961Regular Overhaul
JAN1961-JAN1962Cuban Missle Blockade
APR1961-APR1961Guantanamo, Bay of Pigs Invasion
APR1962-OCT1962Mediterranean
AUG1962-SEP1962Caribbean Santo Domingo
APR1964-AUG1964Mediterranean
JUL1965-AUG1965Regular Overhaul
AUG1965-Shellback Initiation - 17 AUG 1965 - Atlantic Ocean
JAN1967-JAN1968West Pac-Viet Nam
MAR1967-MAY1967Operation Springboard San Juan P.R.
MAR1967-MAY1967Caribbean
JUN1967-DEC1967Mediterranean
JUL1967-DEC1967Mediterranean
JUL1967-DEC1967Mediterranean
JUL1967-DEC1967med cruise
JAN1968-JAN1970West Pac-Viet Nam
JAN1968-NOV1968Mediterranean
JAN1969-JAN1969San Juan
NOV1969-JUN1970Mediterranean
SEP1971-SEP1971Caribbean
SEP1974-Decommissioned: 11 SEP 1974

AD-27 General Specifications

Complement: 962 Officers and Enlisted

Displacement: 11755 tons

Length: 492 feet

Beam: 69 feet 6 inches

Draft: 28 feet

Flank Speed: 18 knots



USS YELLOWSTONE (AD-27)



The second Yellowstone (AD-27) was laid down on 16 October 1944 at Tacoma, Wash., by the Seattle Division of the Todd-Pacific Shipyards, Inc.; launched on 12 April 1945; sponsored by Mrs. F. A. Zeusler, the wife of Capt. F. A. Zeusler, USCG, the District Coast Guard Officer of the 13th Naval District; and commissioned on 16 January 1946, Capt. J. A. Ferrall, Jr., in command.

After shakedown training out of San Diego and repairs at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard to correct minor deficiencies which appeared during her initial cruise, Yellowstone operated in the Seattle area into March 1946. She departed Seattle on the last day of the month, transited the Panama Canal on 11 April, and arrived at Newport, R.I., on the 20th to take up her duties tending destroyers of the Atlantic Fleet.

Yellowstone performed faithful service to the Fleet for the next 28 years, providing repair, supply, and auxiliary services (power and fresh water, etc.) not only to destroyers (the purpose for which she was designed) but also to aircraft carriers and submarines. In time, this valuable adjunct to the fleet earned a reputation for reliability and dependability that caused some to nickname her "Old Faithful," after the famous geyser in Yellowstone National Park. The destroyer tender also earned the coveted battle efficiency "E" award 10 times.

Yellowstone was deployed to the Mediterranean 11 times between 1947 and 1968. Her ports of operation ranged from Izmir, Turkey, to Naples, Italy; from Venice to Taranto; from Suda Bay, Crete, to Gibraltar; and included cities in Spain, France, Italy, and Greece. In between her deployments with the 6th Fleet, the destroyer tender operated out of Boston, Newport, Norfolk, or Bermuda.

Her tasks were performed mostly unheralded and from from the public eye but were necessary to maintain the ships of the Fleet in operational trim. In October 1969, she performed a noteworthy repair job when she relaced 1,162 tubes in the number one propulsion boiler of Forrest Royal (DD-872) as that ship was preparing to deploy to the Mediterranean. Working against the destroyer's deadline, Yellowstone's skilled artisans accomplished the task in only 12 days and thus allowed her to get underway on time.

Soon thereafter, Yellowstone deployed to the Mediterranean for the 12th and last time. She arrived at Naples on 9 December 1969 and, before long, found herself with another difficult, major repair task ahead of her. She replaced the starboard propeller of Sampson (DDG-10)-a job that normally required a dry-docking. Repair, supply, and deck divisions of both ships participated in the evolution that earned Yellowstone a commendation.

A little more than a month later, the tender's talent was once again subjected to a rigorous test. On 10 February 1970 at Naples, the Greek registry freighter Mautric collided with Yellowstone and the tender's nest of destroyers. Semmes (DDG-18), Samuel B. Roberts (DD-823), and Charles F. Adams (DDG-2) all suffered extensive hull and structural damage, but Yellowstone worked nearly 24-hour shifts from 13 to 22 February and effected the necessary repairs. Capt. R. D. Wood, commanding Yellowstone, and Senior Chief Ship Fitter William S. Burman received Navy commendation medals for heading the exemplary repair work that soon had all ships back in operational condition.

After a brief in-port period at Piraeus, Greece, from 18 March to 5 April, Yellowstone returned to Naples, where she subsequently performed her second underwater propeller replacement of the deployment-on Carry (DD-817). The repair ship sailed for home in mid-May and arrived at Mayport, Fla., on 1 June. One month later, on 1 July, the ship's home port was changed from Mayport to Charleston, S.C.

The destroyer tender provided services to ships of Cruiser-Destroyer Flotilla (CruDesFlot) 6 into January of 1971. At the end of that month, she sailed for Puerto Rico and took part in "Springboard" exercises before returning to Charleston on 16 February. That spring, when the Commander, CruDesFlot 6, embarked in America (CVA-66) to deploy to the 6th Fleet, Yellowstone's commanding officer became the administrative deputy to the Charleston representative of Commander, CruDesFlot 6. In that role, he coordinated local pier assignments; arranged for tug and tow services; made military guardship and pier sentry assign - ments; scheduled ship tours; provided information and assistance to dependents; and represented the destroyer force at meetings of numerous naval station, base, and district advisory boards and committees.

Yellowstone remained in port at Charleston into 1973. Among the noteworthy events that occurred that year was the ship's nomination to receive the Ney award, recognizing the ship's outstanding food service mess, as the nominee of the Commander, Cruiser Destroyer Force, Atlantic Fleet.

After 28 years of continuous service to the Fleet- the last few years of which were spent along the eastern seaboard of the United States-Yellowstone was decommissioned on 11 September 1974. Struck from the Navy list the next day and subsequently transferred to the Maritime Administration for disposal, the veteran auxiliary was sold in September 1975

[Note: The above USS YELLOWSTONE (AD-27) history may, or may not, contain text provided by crew members of the USS YELLOWSTONE (AD-27), or by other non-crew members, and text from the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships]