- USS Virgo (AKA-20)
:"For other uses of Virgo, see
Virgo "USS "Virgo" (AKA-20) was an "Andromeda" class
attack cargo ship named after theconstellation "Virgo." She was later converted to anammunition ship and redesignated as (AE-30). She served as a commissioned ship for 22 years and 4 months."Virgo" (AKA-20) was laid down on
9 March 1943 atKearny, N.J. , by theFederal Shipbuilding and Drydock Co. under aMaritime Commission contract (MC hull 204); launched on4 June 1943 ; sponsored by Miss Sharman Douglas; delivered to the Navy on15 July 1943 ; and commissioned at theNew York Navy Yard on16 July 1943 , Comdr. Clayton H. McLaughlin in command."Virgo" conducted her shakedown training in the
Chesapeake Bay and off theVirginia Capes in July and August and then departed Norfolk on24 August , bound for thePacific . She transited thePanama Canal on31 August and arrived inSan Diego , Calif., on9 September . On the 15th, she continued her voyage west. The attack cargo ship enteredPearl Harbor on21 September and began cargo operations—unloading some and taking on more. "Virgo" stood out of Pearl Harbor on24 September and set a course forNew Zealand . She arrived inWellington on6 October and began a series of landing craft exercises. The ship remained at Wellington until1 November at which time she got underway for theNew Hebrides Islands. She arrived in Hayannah Harbor at the island ofEfate to conduct training and make preparations for the forthcoming Gilberts and Marshalls invasions."Virgo" departed the New Hebrides on
13 November in company with a convoy bound for the Gilbert Islands. She arrived offTarawa Atoll early on the morning of the 20th. While preparing to land marines onBetio Island, "Virgo" was straddled by four shells from a Japanese shore battery. However, air strikes and counter battery fire quickly silenced the offender, and "Virgo" resumed landing operations. She remained offshore while the Marines carried out their bloody struggle—the bloodiest battle in American military history—to wrest control of the atoll from a well-fortified enemy. During that struggle and while the other islands of the atoll were cleared, "Virgo" remained in the vicinity of Tarawa. On28 November , she cleared the Gilberts on her way to Hawaii. The attack cargo ship arrived in Pearl Harbor on7 December . During the following six weeks, she practiced amphibious operations in the Hawaiian Islands in preparation for Operation "Flintlock," the assault and occupation of atolls in the Marshall Islands. On22 January 1944 , Virgo departedOahu in company with Task Force (TF) 52, bound for the Marshalls. She arrived offKwajalein Atoll early on the morning of31 January and began launching boats and discharging troops. No untoward events occurred during her five-day stay at Kwajalein, and she departed the atoll on4 February . The attack cargo ship arrived atFunafuti in theEllice Islands on8 February and remained there until the 19th when she got underway forGuadalcanal . The ship anchored inPort Purvis ,Florida Island , on24 February and began a series of amphibious training exercises in the southernSolomons .That employment lasted until
27 March , on which day she got underway for Bougainville in the northern Solomons with elements of the Army's 25th Regimental Combat Team (RCT). She discharged those troops and their attending equipment at Bougainville on28 March and departed that same day forNew Guinea . "Virgo" enteredMilne Bay , New Guinea, on31 March and remained there until4 April when she headed forCape Sudest . The ship stopped at Cape Sudest from5 April to14 April and then headed for theBeli Beli Islands . She reached that destination on the 15th and began loading elements of the Army's 24th RCT. Underway again on the 16th, "Virgo" set a course forTanamerah Bay , New Guinea, where she arrived on23 April . She unloaded the troops and their equipment and departed Tanamerah Bay on the 24th. She stopped at Cape Sudest on the 27th and arrived atSaidor on the 29th. There, she loaded men and equipment of the Army's 36th Infantry Division. On1 May , the ship put to sea once again, bound forAitape , New Guinea, where she arrived on the 3d and unloaded troops and equipment. Departing Aitape that same day, Virgo set a course via Cape Sudest for Guadalcanal where she arrived on10 May . At Guadalcanal, the attack cargo ship loaded troops of the 1st Marine Provisional Brigade and began amphibious training exercises which lasted until31 May .On
4 June , she departed Guadalcanal with troops embarked for the invasion of theMariana Islands . She stopped at Kwajalein from9 June to11 June and then put to sea once again on the 12th. "Virgo's" troops were not committed to15 June landings onSaipan . Instead, they made up a part of the floating reserve and were scheduled to land onGuam later in the month. However, Saipan proved to be a tougher nut to crack than expected; and, as a consequence, the Guam assault was delayed. After steaming around to the east of Saipan for several days—during which the 5th Fleet carriers destroyed the remnants of Japanese naval air power in theBattle of the Philippine Sea —she then put in atEniwetok Atoll on30 June to await reinforcements for the delayed invasion of Guam. The ship rode at anchor in Eniwetok until17 July when she returned to sea and set a course back to the Marianas. On the 21st, she arrived off Guam, and her troops landed near Orote Peninsula. The attack cargo ship remained offAgate Bay until27 July at which time she took leave of the Marianas on her way—via Eniwetok—toEspiritu Santo in the New Hebrides.The ship arrived at Espiritu Santo on
6 August and, for the next month, conducted amphibious training there and at Guadalcanal. On8 September , "Virgo" left Guadalcanal and shaped a course for thePalau Islands . She arrived offPeleliu Island early on the morning of15 September , and her embarked troops stormed ashore at about 0830. She remained in the Palaus for almost a month supporting the troops in their difficult battle to subdue the Peleliu garrison. On3 October , she departed the Palau Islands to return to Guadalcanal via theRussell Islands . She arrived at her destination on12 October . The following day, the ship received orders to return to the United States and got underway almost immediately. After a non-stop voyage, "Virgo" arrived inSan Francisco , Calif., on29 October and, soon thereafter, began a two-month overhaul at theHunters Point Navy Yard .The attack cargo ship stood out of San Francisco on
4 January 1945 to return to the western Pacific. She stopped at Pearl Harbor from10 January to28 January before continuing her voyage west. Along the way, "Virgo" also made a visit to Eniwetok before arriving inUlithi on13 February where she reported for duty with Service Squadron (ServRon) 10. Her tour of duty with ServRon 10 brought a change in mission for the ship. No longer did she serve as an assault cargo carrier engaged in amphibious operations. From that point forward, the attack cargo ship served as a straight cargo carrier. In that role, she supported theIwo Jima operation in February by replenishing warships at sea. In April and May, "Virgo" performed similar services in support of the Okinawa campaign. In May, she began a return voyage to the United States, departing Okinawa on15 May . En route, she made stops at Ulithi and at Pearl Harbor before arriving in San Francisco on20 June . After a month in overhaul at Moore's Shipyard, "Virgo" headed back to the western Pacific on3 August . However, she did not resume warlike activities because hostilities ceased on15 August , four days before she arrived in the lagoon at Ulithi. The next day, she returned to sea with Task Group (TG) 30.8 to provision the ships of the3rd Fleet in Japanese waters. Finishing that mission early in September, "Virgo" arrived inTokyo Bay on the 9th, a week after the formal surrender. She served as station store ship at Yokosuka for the occupation forces until10 April 1946 at which time she headed back to the United States. The ship arrived in San Francisco on14 May and began overhaul at theSan Francisco Naval Shipyard .She completed repairs in August and, on the 21st, began a series of voyages from the west coast to American bases in the
Far East . She carried provisions and stores to bases in thePhilippines , in the Marianas, inJapan , and inChina . She also made side trips to Okinawa, theAdmiralty Islands , andKorea . That routine lasted until the latter half of 1949. In October 1949, she began an overhaul at thePuget Sound Naval Shipyard which lasted until the beginning of 1950. Between7 February and31 March 1950 , the attack cargo ship made a round-trip voyage from Oakland to Guam and back to San Diego. On25 April , she departed San Diego for a voyage to theeast coast of the United States . During that voyage, she transited the Panama Canal and visited both Bayonne, N.J., and Norfolk, Va. She returned to the west coast via the Panama Canal once more and arrived back in San Diego on17 July .While "Virgo" visited the east coast, conflict broke out in the Far East once again. On
25 June , troops of communistNorth Korea invaded theRepublic of Korea (ROK) to the south. The United States, and later theUnited Nations , responded with support for South Korea against the aggressors. Thus, "Virgo" soon found herself supporting combat forces once more. On19 August , she departed Port Chicago, Calif., with Navy passengers embarked and with a load of ammunition, bound ultimately for Korea. She stopped at Sasebo, Japan, from6 September to15 September and then headed forInchon , Korea. She arrived at Inchon on the 16th, the day following the amphibious landing carried out there. She remained in the Korean war zone, first at Inchon and later at Jinsen Ko, for about three weeks. During that time, the attack cargo ship provisioned minesweepers, a Canadian destroyer, an American destroyer and supplied ammunition to the troops ashore. She departed Korea on7 October and returned to Japan where she visited Sasebo and Yokosuka before heading back to the United States on1 November . After a stop at Pearl Harbor, the ship arrived in San Francisco on19 November and began repairs at the Pacific Repair Co.On
19 January 1951 , "Virgo" departed San Francisco for her second tour of duty in the Korean combat zone. She arrived in Sasebo on6 February to disembark passengers and unload ammunition. From Sasebo, the ship moved to Yokosuka at mid-month; and, from there, she headed for Korea. The attack cargo ship entered port atPusan on15 March but soon returned to sea to transfer ammunition to "Valley Forge" (CV-45) and to "Juneau" (CL-119). Following that, she returned to Sasebo for several days on the 19th. At the end of the month, she resumed ammunition resupply duty along the Korean coast, visitingSongjin ,Wonsan ,Suyong , andPohang as well as replenishing ships at sea between port calls. She returned to Sasebo on7 May and remained there until the 29th when she got underway to return to the United States. On13 June , the attack cargo ship entered port at Long Beach Calif., and began overhaul at theLong Beach Naval Shipyard . She completed repairs in August and, after refresher training out of San Diego, loaded passengers and ammunition at Port Chicago in late September. On5 October , she put to sea to return to theFar East . The ship arrived in Sasebo on22 October , disembarked her passengers, and unloaded some ammunition before getting underway for the war zone once more. During that tour of duty, her mission consisted entirely of replenishments at sea in support ofUnited Nations naval forces operating off the Korean coast. That assignment lasted until12 August 1952 at which time she departed Yokosuka for home. She stopped at Pearl Harbor along the way and arrived in San Francisco on the 25th. "Virgo" then began an availability at the Triple "A" Machine Shop in San Francisco."Virgo" completed repairs in October and departed San Francisco on
1 November to resume duty in the Orient. She arrived in Sasebo on19 November and remained there almost two months. On3 January 1953 , the ship stood out of Sasebo, bound for Korean waters. For the next five months, she resumed the familiar schedule of replenishments at sea punctuated by ammunition deliveries at Korean ports and return trips to Sasebo for the purpose of restocking her own supplies. She completed her last mission early in June and, on the 13th, headed back to the United States. She reentered San Francisco on28 June and entered theMare Island Naval Shipyard for a three-month overhaul. While she underwent repairs, hostilities in Korea effectively ceased with the signing of an armistice on19 July 1953 . Thus, when she emerged from the shipyard late in September and prepared to resume voyages to the Far East, her missions lost their combat character.Over the next five years, she continued to make voyages between the west coast and American bases in the Far East. Most frequently, she called at such ports as Sasebo and Yokosuka in Japan,
Kaohsiung on the island ofTaiwan , andManila and Subic Bay in the Philippines. Less frequently, she stopped at the Japanese ports of Kure andKobe , at Okinawa, Guam, andHong Kong . At the end of that five years, on3 April 1958 , "Virgo" was decommissioned and berthed with the Columbia River Group,Pacific Reserve Fleet , located atAstoria, Oregon On1 July 1961 , her name was struck from the Navy list; and she was transferred to the custody of the Maritime Administration. She was berthed with theNational Defense Reserve Fleet located also at Astoria.In September 1965, the Navy took custody of her once again, and her name was reinstated on the Navy list. On
1 November 1965 , she was reclassified as anammunition ship and redesignated AE-30. After almost a year of reactivation and rehabilitation work on the ship, Virgo (AE-30) was recommissioned atSeattle , Wash., on19 August 1966 , Capt. Harold R. MacMillan in command. She spent the remainder of 1966 engaged in shakedown training and independent ship's exercises along the west coast. In January 1967, she loaded ammunition at Concord, Calif., in preparation for her first deployment to the western Pacific in support of the American effort in the Vietnamese civil war. She departed Concord on12 January and arrived in Subic Bay on6 February . There, she unloaded a part of her cargo before departing the Philippines on the 12th for replenishment missions in theGulf of Tonkin . During the following six months, the ship made an equal number of replenishment voyages from Subic Bay to the warships operating in the Gulf of Tonkin to keep them supplied with ammunition. She punctuated those assignments with liberty calls at Subic Bay and at Hong Kong. "Virgo" headed back to the United States on22 August . Almost a month later, on21 September , she moored at the naval weapons station at Concord, Calif. She spent the remainder of the year engaged in normal operations out of her base at Concord.During the first six weeks of 1968, "Virgo" loaded ammunition in preparation for and participation in the
1st Fleet exercise, Operation "Bead Stringer." In mid-February, she loaded ammunition for her second deployment to the western Pacific during the Vietnam conflict. On26 February , she began her voyage west. The ship changed operational control to the7th Fleet on7 March and arrived in Subic Bay 12 days later. Once again, her assignment fell into a pattern of replenishment voyages to the ships operating in the Gulf of Tonkin. In six months' time, she made eight line swings from Subic Bay to the gulf bringing in new stocks of ammunition to refill the depleted magazines of American warships along the Vietnamese coast. She finished her last such mission early in October and returned to Subic Bay on the 10th. From there, she moved to Sasebo, Japan, for a four-day liberty call before getting underway for the United States on23 October . The ammunition ship arrived back in Concord on11 November , offloaded ammunition, and entered the Mare Island Naval Shipyard to begin post-deployment standdown. On19 December , she moved to the Triple "A" shipyard to begin a six-week restricted availability.Her repair period continued until the end of January 1969. On the 31st, she loaded ammunition at Concord in preparation for operations at sea with units of the 1st Fleet. Those missions—primarily to train new crew members—lasted until the beginning of April. After final loadout at Concord, she got underway for the Far East on
19 April . She arrived in Subic Bay on14 May and, after two weeks of voyage repairs, began the familiar series of voyages between Subic Bay and Vietnamese waters to resupply 7th Fleet ships with ammunition. However, the increasing use of thefast combat support ship (AOE), which combined the features of both ammunition ship and oiler, relegated her to a reduced role.During most of her eight line swings, "Virgo" either served as a backup for the AOE's or concentrated on replenishing the cruisers and destroyers operating close to the coast. The ammunition ship completed her eighth and final line period on
12 November and returned to Subic Bay on the 14th. On the 19th, "Virgo" got underway for Sasebo where she remained from the 23d to the 26th. On the latter day, she departed Sasebo and shaped a course for home. The ship arrived back in Concord on13 December and began post-deployment leave and upkeep.Standdown continued into January 1970. On
21 January , she began a restricted availability at the Bethlehem Steel shipyard located in San Francisco. Repairs complete on16 February , "Virgo" moved back to Concord to load ammunition in preparation for operations at sea along the west coast. Refresher and type training occupied her time until7 May at which time she departed San Francisco for the last western Pacific deployment of her Navy career. "Virgo" arrived in Subic Bay on29 May and embarked upon the first of six line periods supplying ammunition to the warships off Vietnam. She completed her final line swing early in November and, after a stop at Sasebo, she got underway for home on27 November . She arrived back at Concord on12 December and began preparations for decommissioning. "Virgo" (AE-30) was decommissioned atVallejo , Calif., on18 February 1971 , and her name was struck from the Navy list simultaneously. Subsequently transferred to the Maritime Administration for disposal, she was sold on19 November 1973 to Taipei Hsieh, of Taiwan, for scrapping."Virgo" earned seven battle stars during
World War II , nine battle stars forKorean War service, and 10 battle stars for service during theVietnam conflict .References
External links
* [http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/v3/virgo.htm Naval Historical Center: USS "Virgo"]
* [http://www.navsource.org/archives/10/02020.htm NavSource Online: AK-69 / AKA-20 / AE-30 "Virgo"]
* [http://www.uss-virgo.com/ USS "Virgo" web site]
* [http://ussrankin.org/id352.htm 51 Years of AKAs]
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