*** USS Fulton Association ***
*** 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.
WORLD WAR 2
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
Email
the Webmaster
with your opinions or questions.
Last edited on 4 July 2019