USS Kalamazoo (AOR-6)

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USS Kalamazoo in underway replenishment with USS Saratoga.
Career (USA)
Name: USS Kalamazoo
Namesake: Kalamazoo, Michigan
Builder: General Dynamics Corporation, Quincy, Massachusetts
Laid down: 1 October 1970
Launched: 1 November 1972
Commissioned: 11 August 1973, as USS Kalamazoo (AOR-6)
Decommissioned: 16 August 1996
Struck: 29 October 1998
Honors and
awards:
Joint Meritorious Unit Award
Fate: Sold for scrap, 15 July 2008, for $1,465,726
General characteristics
Class and type: Wichita-class replenishment oiler
Displacement: 14,048 long tons (14,273 t) light
39,790 long tons (40,429 t) full
Length: 659 ft (201 m)
Beam: 96 ft (29 m)
Draft: 37 ft (11 m)
Propulsion: 3 × boilers, 2 × steam turbines, 2 × shafts, 32,000 shp (23,862 kW)
Speed: 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph)
Complement: 34 officers, 463 enlisted
Armament: • 2 × Phalanx CIWS
• 1 × Sea Sparrow missile system (NSSMS)
Aircraft carried: 2 × CH-46 Sea Knight helicopters
Aviation facilities: Helo Deck and berthing for 8 Airdet Personnel

USS Kalamazoo (AOR-6) was a Wichita-class replenishment oiler commissioned by the U.S. Navy in 1973. She continued to support Navy requirements until 1996 when she was placed in the reserve fleet and later struck.

Built in Quincy Massachusetts

Kalamazoo was laid down on 1 October 1970 and launched on 1 November 1972 at the shipyard of the General Dynamics Corporation, Quincy, Massachusetts. On 11 August 1973 she was commissioned USS Kalamazoo (AOR-6) and placed into service for the fleet.

Navy operational service

No data yet available.

Decommissioning

On 16 August 1996 Kalamazoo was decommissioned and placed in reserve at the National Defense Reserve Fleet, James River, Lee Hall, Virginia. She was struck from the Navy list on 29 October 1998 and, on 15 July 2008, she was sold by the U.S. Maritime Administration to Esco Marine, Brownsville, Texas, for $1,465,726. Kalamazoo was towed out of James River Reserve Fleet on Tuesday September 30, 2008 en route to ESCO Brownsville.[1]

Honors and awards

Qualified Kalamazoo personnel were authorized the following:

Joint Meritorious Unit Award
Navy Unit Commendation
Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation
Navy Battle "E" Ribbon (2)
Navy Expeditionary Medal (1-Iran/Indian Ocean, 5-Lebanon)
National Defense Service Medal
Southwest Asia Service Medal

Note

There is currently no journal entry on this vessel at DANFS.

See also

References