Search the Site with 
GeneralGeneral Characteristics Crew List Memorabilia Cruise Books Accidents aboard the Ship Patch Gallery Image Gallery to end of page

USS Nitro (AE 23)

- decommissioned -


USS NITRO was the third SURIBACHI - class ammunition ship. Decommissioned after almost exactly 36 years of service on April 28, 1995, the ship was then stricken from the Navy list on August 14, 1995, and spent the following years laid up at the James River Reserve Fleet in Fort Eustis, VA, awaiting final disposal. In July 2008, the NITRO was sold to Esco Marine, Brownsville, Tx., for scrapping.

General Characteristics:Awarded: August 23, 1956
Keel laid: May 20, 1957
Launched: June 25, 1958
Commissioned: May 1, 1959
Decommissioned: April 28, 1995
Builder: Bethlehem Steel, Shipyard Inc., Sparrows Point, Md.
Propulsion system: Two boilers, geared turbines, one shaft, 16,000 shaft horsepower
Length: 511 feet (155.75 meters)
Beam: 72 feet (22 meters)
Draft: 29 feet (8.8 meters)
Displacement: approx. 17,450 tons full load
Speed: 20 knots
Aircraft: helo platform only
Armament: 4 3-inch/50-caliber guns
Crew: 19 Officers and 324 Enlisted


Back to topback to top  go to endgo to the end of the page



Back to topback to top  go to endgo to the end of the page

Crew List:

This section contains the names of sailors who served aboard USS NITRO. It is no official listing but contains the names of sailors who submitted their information.


back to top  go to the end of the page



Back to topback to top  go to endgo to the end of the page

USS NITRO Cruise Books:


Back to topback to top  go to endgo to the end of the page

Accidents aboard USS NITRO:

DateWhereEvents
June 28, 1972150 nautical miles east
of Da Nang, South Vietnam
USS NITRO and USS ORISKANY (CVA 34) are in a minor collision during an underway replenishment.
June 1, 198160 nautical miles northeast
of Souda Bay, Greece
USS NITRO is badly damaged by a fire in the machinery room while en route to Athens, Greece. NITRO is taken under tow the next day by USNS NEOSHO (T-AO 143) for Souda Bay.


Back to topback to top  go to endgo to the end of the page

USS NITRO Patch Gallery:

Operation Desert Storm


Back to topback to top  go to endgo to the end of the page

The photos below were contributed by Barry Smith. The first photo shows the NITRO at Curacoa.



The photo below was taken by Michael Martin and shows the NITRO at Esco Marine, Brownsville, Tx., ready to be scrapped. The photo was taken on December 26, 2008.



Back to topback to top



Back to Ammunition Ships Site. Back to ships list. Back to selection page. Back to 1st page.