~~~ USS Fulton AS-11 ~~~
History
The USS
Fulton AS-11 was launched on December 27, 1940 at the Mare
Island Navy Yard in San Pablo Bay, opposite Vallejo. Vallejo
is approximately 30 miles north of San Francisco. The Mare
Island Navy Yard opened in 1854 and was the first U.S. Navy
Shipyard on the Pacific coast. The Facility was decommissioned
on April 1, 1996. Shown below is the entrance to the Mare
Island Naval Shipyard.
The USS
Fulton was sponsored by Mrs. A. T. Sutcliff, great
granddaughter of Robert Fulton, and was commissioned on
September 12, 1941. The USS Fulton, AS-11, was the fourth ship
of the United States Navy to be named in honor of Robert
Fulton, inventor and ship designer. USS Fulton's original
Radio Call Sign: NEGX. USS Fulton's Voice Tactical Call Sign:
INDIGO PAPA.
WORLD WAR II
The USS
Fulton was on her shakedown cruise out of San Diego under the
command of Commander A. D. Douglas, when the Japanese attacked
Pearl Harbor December 7, 1941. She was immediately ordered to
Panama and arrived on December 9 ,
1941. During the next month she established advanced seaplane
bases in the Gulf of Fonseca, Nicaragua, and in the Galapagos
Islands, then returned to San Diego
to
prepare for Pacific duty. She tended Pacific Fleet submarines
at Pearl Harbor from March 15, 1942 to July 8, 1942 putting to
sea during the Battle of Midway.
The USS
Yorktown was lost in the battle of midway and the USS Fulton
was involved with bringing the Yorktown's survivors back to
Pearl Harbor. On June 7, 1942 the USS Fulton rendezvoused with
the USS Portland CA-33 and USS Russell DD
. The survivors were transferred to the Fulton as
shown below. The Fulton then steamed to Pearl Harbor with the
survivors.US
Navy
Photo
Shown
below is the USS Fulton docking at Pearl Harbor on June 8,
1942. Fulton was assisted by the tugs Hoga
YT-146 and Nokomis YT-142. The USS Fulton delivered 101
surviving officers and 179 surviving enlisted men of the
Aircraft Carrier Yorktown safely to Pear Harbor. US
Navy
Photo
The USS
Fulton was at Midway until October 17, and then sailed for
Brisbane, Australia arriving on November 9. At Brisbane the
USS Fulton established a submarine base and rest camp, and in
addition to refitting submarines between their war patrols,
acted as tender to other types of ships. The USS Fulton also
played an important role as support tender for submarines
engaged in experiments and tests of sonar mine detection
devices which enabled American submarines to successfully
penetrate the minefields guarding the Inland Sea of Japan.
Hi
Fulton WebMaster,
I'm
a volunteer at the MacArthur Museum in Brisbane,
Australia. The museum is located in the building
where General MacArthur's office was located while he was in
Brisbane. At the moment, I am undertaking some
research for an article I am writing for the museum's
quarterly magazine on US Navy 134 where the Fulton was based
for a while during the Second World War and came across your
website.
I
notice that you have an uncaptioned pic of the USS Fulton on
your website. It would have been taken while
it was acting as a submarine tender at New Farm wharf, which
is where US Navy 134 and submarine task force 42 (later 72)
was based.
You
also might be interested in the fact that the Fulton is
acknowledged in the Submariners Walk Heritage Trail which
was opened in 2013. The walk runs
along what was New Farm wharf the submarines
and their tenders were moored. I'm attaching a copy
of one of the plaques which has the same pic of the Fulton on
it.
Kind
regards
Margaret Kittson
Milne
Bay, New Guinea, was the Fulton's station from 29 October 1943
until 17 March 1944, when she sailed for a west coast
overhaul. Returning to Pearl Harbor 13 June 1944, Fulton gave
her tender services to submarines there for a month, then at
Midway between July 18th and September 8th, and then at Saipan
until April 25,1945. The USS Fulton then returned to Pearl
Harbor from May 7th to June 9th, and then sailed for Guam,
where she refitted submarines for the last patrols of the war.
The USS Fulton received one battle star for her World War II
service. After a west coast overhaul, Fulton then served as
tender at Pearl Harbor from February through May of 1946. The
USS Fulton participated in the Operation "Crossroads," atomic
weapons tests at Bikini in the Marshalls Islands that summer.
In addition to caring for the six submarines assigned to the
project, she acted as repair ship for other vessels in the
task force. On September 18, 1946 Fulton arrived at Mare
Island again, where she was decommissioned and placed in
reserve on April 3, 1947. Her wartime service record tallied
332 vessels repaired and serviced.
A NEW LIFE
Recommissioned
on April 10, 1951, the USS Fulton sailed 3 weeks later for New
London, her homeport through 1991. The USS Fulton's subs now
included the Sea Wolf, the Skate, and the Nautilus - making
Fulton the first Tender to support Nulaa
Fast Attack Subs. Her primary assignment was as the tender for
Submarine Squadron 10 at New. London, but she occasionally
relieved the tender Orion (AS-18), at Norfolk. The USS Fulton
also allowed her sailors to earn "seapay"
by participating in exercises from Newfoundland and Iceland to
the Caribbean. She first crossed the Atlantic in the fall of
1957 for Operation "Natoflex,"
visiting Rothesay, Scotland, and Portland, England. A
heightening of her responsibility came 1 April 1958, when
three nuclear submarines were assigned to her squadron. In
August, Fulton sailed to New York for the celebration of the
arrival of Nautilus (SSN-571) from her historic submerged
passage under the North Pole.
USS Fulton Ship's plaque
USS Fulton underway
The
USS
Fulton tied up at the State Pier in New London, CT
with subs of
Submarine Squadron Ten. Notice the Route95
bridge over the River Thames in the background.
The
years between 1959 and 1971 were spent tending units of SubRon 10 from the state pier at New
London, CT., with an occasional break for minor overhauls and
R&R trips. In
1970 the
USS Fulton sailed to Bermuda for a R&R trip and in 1971
she sailed to Charlestown South Carolina for a drydock yard
overhaul. During this time units of Submarine
Squadron
Ten were the USS Fulton, AS-11; USS Skylark, ASR-20; USS Gato; USS Nautilus; USS Greenling; USS
Pollack; and USS Sturgeon.
In 1972 Fulton made
a 5 month deployment to the
Mediterranean, at LaMaddalena,
Sardinia. Fulton's mission was to prepare for full time use an
advance refit site for nuclear fast attack submarines. This
was the first deployment of a WWII vintage submarine tender to
the Med since WWII.
After a shipyard
overhaul in 1976, Fulton returned to New London to continue
support of Atlantic Fleet submarines.
Fulton was again
modernized in 1983-1984 with an extensive overhaul at both
Electric Boat,Groton,
CT, and General Dynamics, Quincy, MA. While at Quincy a fire
started in the After Engine Room
in an electrical panel when it was re-energized at about 0830
(the panel was wired incorrectly by the shipyard). It quickly
spread to the cork lagging which had about 45 years of oil and
paint in and on it. The crew performed quickly and well, and
soon had the fire under control. The ship did not return to EB
for repair, repairs were accomplished at Fore River.
On the way down to
Gitmo for refresher training after the yard period, the ship
had a problem with a propeller shaft that required drydocking
and repair at Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, which took
approximately two weeks. (Provided by Bryan Moody ex-ET1(SS)
USS Fulton)
In late 1984, Fulton
attended REFTRA (refresher training) at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Then on January 3, 1985, the Fulton got underway for LaMaddalena, Sardinia to relieve her
sister tender (AS-18) Orion of her maintenance responsibility,
to allow a pier-side SRA period for Orion's overhaul. During
this underway period, she visited Barcelona and Palma Spain,
and Bergen, Norway.
The USS Fulton
returned to New London May 10, 1985. She was underway 128 days, and traveled over 11,000 miles
without incident.
From May 1985
through January 1988, Fulton remained the flagship of
ComSubron-10, tending submarines at State Pier. There were
short underway periods throughout this period, including a
deployment to Puerto Rico for "sub rescue operations". About
half way there, the sub which was in trouble was okay, but
Fulton completed the transit, staying only about 4 or 5 weeks.
Other port visits
during this period included St. Johns, New Brunswick, Ft.
Lauderdale, FL, and Annapolis, MD. to attend graduation
ceremony at the U. S. Naval Academy.
In January 1988,
Fulton again found herself undergoing another SRA rehab period
in a drydock at Norshipco in
Norfolk, VA. Extensive berthing rehab, sandblast of the hull
below the waterline, and other repairs were conducted. In
March 1988 after a port visit to New York City during Fleet
Week, the USS Fulton again returned to New London to tend
submarines as the ComSubron-10 flagship. She visited Bermuda
in a two week workup for an
Operational Propulsion Performance Evaluation and passed with
flying colors. Fulton remained in New London until her
decommissioning in 1991.
Decommissioned,
30 September 1991. Struck from the Naval Register, 20 December
1991. Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, 17 November 1995,
by the Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service.
Here is
the video of Fulton’s
Departure from New London on 27 Sep 1991.
In 1988 Submarine
Squadron TEN, of which FULTON was the flagship, included the
USS JACK (SSN-605), USS TINOSA (SSN-606), USS WHALE (SSN-638),
USS GREENLING (SSN-614), USS GATO (SSN-615), USS PARGO
(SSN-650), USS TREPANG (SSN-674), USS BILLFISH (SSN-676) and
the Torpedo Retriever TWR-681.
SHIPS DATA
HULL |
MACHINERY |
ARMAMENT |
ALLOWANCES |
Length:
530 ft. 6 in. |
Propulsion:
Diesel Electric |
Four:
Single 20 mm mounts |
52
Officers |
Beam:
73 ft. 4 in. |
Shafts:
Two |
Two:
Single 50 cal mounts |
918
Enlisted Men |
Max
Height: 124 ft. 10 1/2 in. |
Shaft
HP: 5,600 each shaft |
|
|
Displacement:
15,0344 Tons |
Speed:
16 knots |
|
|
Draft:
22 ft. 5 1/4 in. |
|
|
|
COMMANDING
OFFICERS
Captain
A. D. Douglas |
12
Sep 1941 To 14 Oct 1942 |
Captain
E. C. Bain |
14
Oct 1942 To 27 Aug 1944 |
Captain
A. A. Clarkson |
27
Aug 1944 To 16 May 1945 |
Captain
A. R. St. Angelo |
16
May 1945 To 4 Apr 1947 |
Captain
V. B. Mccrea |
10
Apr 1951 To 16 Jan 1952 |
Commander
T. K. Kimmel |
16
Jan 1952 To 26 Feb 1952 |
Captain
J. S. Coye jr. |
26
Feb 1952 To 27 Aug 1953 |
Captain
J. F. Enright |
27
Aug 1953 To 26 Jul 1954 |
Captain
C. H. Henderson |
26
Jul 1954 To 4 May 1955 |
Captain
E. T. Shepard |
4
May 1955 To 6 Jul 1956 |
Captain
A. R. Faust |
6
Jul 1956 To 9 Jul 1957 |
Captain
D. G. Baer |
9
Jul 1957 To 11 Aug 1958 |
Captain
F. E. Janney |
11
Aug 1958 To 28 Jul 1959 |
Captain
R. H. Lockwood |
28
Jul 1959 To 1 Jul 1960 |
Captain
M. H. Rindskope |
1
Jul 1960 To 21 Jul 1961 |
Captain
P. K. Schratz |
21
Jul 1961 To 2 Aug 1962 |
Captain
C. K. Miller |
2
Aug 1962 To 20 Jul 1963 |
Captain
M. C. Duncan |
20
Jul 1963 To 2 Jul 1964 |
Captain
H. E. Rice |
2
Jul 1964 To 10 Sep 1965 |
Captain
R. B. Gustafson |
10
Sep 1965 To 25 May 1966 |
Captain
H. S. Morgan Jr |
25
May 1966 To 7 Fed 1968 |
Captain
W. H. McCracken |
7
Feb 1968 To 2 Jan 1970 |
Captain
S. M. Jenks |
2
Jan 1970 To 26 Jun 1971 |
Captain
R. W. Bulmer |
26
Jun 1971 To 7 Jul 1973 |
Captain
J. P. Bayne |
7
Jul 1973 To 20 May 1975 |
Captain
E. S. Kellogg III |
20
May 1975 To 2 Oct 1976 |
Captain
R. M. Hughes |
2
Oct 1976 To 1 Jul 1978 |
Captain
W. S. Rich |
1
Jul 1978 To 20 Sep 1980 |
Captain
W. 0. Lange |
20
Sep 1980 To 31 Jul 1982 |
Captain
J. R. Groth |
31
Jul 1982 To 14 Jul 1984 |
Captain
D. R. Montgomery |
14
Jul 1984 To 18 Jul 1986 |
Captain
R. H. Hartman |
18
Jul 1986 To 22 Jul 1988 |
Captain
G. M. Hewitt |
22
Jul 1988 To 20 Jul 1990 |
Captain
M. C. Haley |
20
Jul 1990 To 17 May 1991 |
Credits:
Dictionary
of American Fighting Ships, U.S. Navy., Tender Tales, Mike Ratican
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Webmaster
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Last
edited on 22 Apr 2024