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USS Haleakala (AE 25)

USS HALEAKALA was the fifth and final ship in the SURIBACHI - class of Ammunition Ships. The ship was named after the extinct volcano located on the eastern end of the island of Maui, Hawaii, meaning House of the Sun.

Decommissioned and stricken from the Navy list on December 10, 1993, the HALEAKALA was later disposed of by title transfer to the Maritime Administration on March 28, 1994, and was subsequently scrapped.

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Crew List:

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

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USS HALEAKALA Cruise Books:

• WestPac Cruise Book 1970-71
• WestPac Cruise Book 1976
• WestPac Cruise Book 1992-93

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USS HALEAKALA History:

The Navy ordered HALEAKALA on August 23, 1956. Her keel was laid at Bethlehem-Sparrows Point Shipyard, Sparrows Point, Maryland, on February 30, 1958. She was launched on February 17, 1959, sponsored by Mrs. Maurice E. Curts, wife of Vice Admiral Maurice E. Curts, and commissioned on November 3, 1959, with Captain Miles P. Refo III in command.

Following commissioning, HALEAKALA conducted shakedown training from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. After completing this initial training period, she transited the Panama Canal and made visits in Chile and Costa Rica while proceeding toward the Pacific Fleet. She arrived at San Francisco, California, on March 17, 1960. During early April, she operated with USS VEGA (AF 59) in replenishment exercises associated with the evaluation of new cargo-transfer equipment. These trials formed part of the Navy's continuing effort to improve underway-replenishment techniques as carrier aviation, guided missiles and increasingly complex weapons systems imposed greater logistical requirements on deployed forces.

HALEAKALA departed San Francisco on July 7, 1960, for her first western Pacific deployment. Captain Leroy V. Swanson relieved Captain Refo on October 4 while the ship was overseas. During the cruise, she visited Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and Yokosuka and Sasebo in Japan while providing ammunition support to units of the United States Seventh Fleet. The deployment established the operating pattern that would characterize much of her career: loading ammunition at shore facilities, moving to fleet operating areas, conducting repeated underway replenishments and returning to logistical bases to reload. HALEAKALA completed her first WestPac deployment at Port Chicago, California, on December 19, 1960.

Her second western Pacific deployment began on April 18, 1961. Captain David L. G. King III relieved Captain Swanson on July 31. HALEAKALA again supported Seventh Fleet units before returning to Port Chicago on September 8. In October, she operated with USS MOUNT KATMAI (AE 16) and proceeded to the Long Beach area for Exercise Covered Wagon. The exercise subjected a representative carrier striking force and its supporting units to realistic wartime tasks and simulated opposition, with logistics vessels providing the replenishment required to maintain the force at sea.

HALEAKALA made two further western Pacific deployments between May 29, 1962, and February 1964. Captain Clarence A. Blouin relieved Captain King on August 1, 1962, and Commander Alvin L. Gallin assumed command on August 9, 1963. During these years, the ship continued routine Seventh Fleet ammunition support as the strategic importance of Southeast Asia steadily increased and American involvement in Vietnam expanded.

On February 25, 1964, HALEAKALA arrived at Todd Shipyard in Seattle, Washington, for a major modernization. Lieutenant Commander Gordon S. Whittaker assumed temporary command on February 28, the date on which the formal Fast Automatic Shuttle Transfer conversion began. Lieutenant Commander John C. Carter relieved him on March 26, and Captain Willard L. Nyburg assumed command on October 12. The modernization represented an important stage in the development of the Navy's ammunition-transfer system. The Fast Automatic Shuttle Transfer concept, or FAST, was intended to accelerate the movement of heavy weapons and guided missiles between an ammunition ship and a receiving warship. The final system used sliding-block transfer equipment and tensioned transfer lines designed to move missiles and other large loads more rapidly and with less manual handling. The conversion was completed on April 26, 1965.

HALEAKALA subsequently conducted trials, training and operations intended to bring the new equipment into effective fleet use, including participation in Operation Baseline during the autumn of 1965. Experience demonstrated, however, that the highly automated FAST arrangement was mechanically complicated and difficult to maintain. In 1968, a simplified form of the system was tested aboard HALEAKALA in which the below-deck automatic ammunition-handling machinery was bypassed and conventional forklifts were used to feed the transfer stations. This work contributed to the later development and adoption of the more reliable Standard Tensioned Replenishment Alongside Method, or STREAM.

HALEAKALA's original after 3-inch/50-caliber gun mounts were removed later in the decade. By 1969, her original four twin mounts had been reduced to two, and the after part of the ship had been adapted to provide a helicopter operating area, giving her an additional vertical-replenishment capability.

On November 20, 1965, HALEAKALA departed for the western Pacific by way of Pearl Harbor and proceeded to the combat-support areas associated with Yankee Station in the Gulf of Tonkin. The United States had entered a substantially different phase of the Vietnam War during 1965. Carrier aircraft were conducting sustained operations against North Vietnam under Operation Rolling Thunder, while cruisers and destroyers supported operations along the Vietnamese coast. These forces required continuous deliveries of bombs, missiles, projectiles, powder and other ammunition. HALEAKALA returned to Subic Bay, Philippines, on December 31 following her first period of direct Vietnam combat support.

Her officially credited Vietnam service during this first phase included December 20 through December 30, 1965; January 7 through January 19 and January 29 and January 30, 1966; February 6 through February 16; February 27 through March 8; March 17 through March 24 and March 26 and March 27; April 7 through April 16; May 11 through May 22; June 3 through June 18; July 9 through July 21; and August 6 through August 12. Captain John A. Gray Jr. relieved Captain Nyburg on February 25, 1966.

HALEAKALA's operations during 1966 included repeated replenishments of aircraft carriers and surface combatants. Contemporary Navy photographs document her supplying USS INTREPID (CVS 11) in the South China Sea and operating with USS KITTY HAWK (CVA 63) and USS DALE (DLG 19). Other photographs record ammunition transfers involving USS HENRY W. TUCKER (DD 875) and USS TICONDEROGA (CVA 14). These operations illustrate the variety of combatants supported by HALEAKALA, ranging from aircraft carriers consuming large quantities of aviation ordnance to destroyers requiring ammunition for naval gunfire operations.

Most of 1966 was spent in the western Pacific. HALEAKALA departed Subic Bay on August 23 and proceeded toward the United States, arriving at San Francisco on September 12. She spent the remainder of the year conducting training and exercises in the Mare Island area before returning to western Pacific operations.

Captain Richard G. Hanecak relieved Captain Gray on July 1, 1967. During 1967, HALEAKALA again spent extended periods supporting forces off Vietnam. Her official qualifying periods were April 11 through April 29; May 12 through May 31; June 16 through July 1; July 14 through August 4; August 24 through September 10; and October 1 through October 14.

HALEAKALA was photographed supplying USS ALLEN M. SUMNER (DD 692) in the Gulf of Tonkin and was documented at Cubi Point in the Philippines during the summer. On August 30, she conducted a nighttime ammunition transfer with USS CORAL SEA (CVA 43). The carrier entered the underway-replenishment formation shortly before 2000. Transfer operations began at approximately 2010, were completed at 2320, and all lines between the two ships were clear by approximately 2330.

On September 4, 1967, USS FRANK KNOX (DD 742) received approximately 800 rounds of 5-inch ammunition from HALEAKALA before returning to naval gunfire operations. On October 13, USS PROVIDENCE (CLG 6) also rearmed from HALEAKALA during operations connected with the Vietnam conflict.

HALEAKALA remained heavily involved in the Vietnam logistics cycle during 1968. Her qualifying service periods included May 22 through June 3; June 11 through June 21 and June 29 and June 30; July 1 through July 21; July 26 through August 7; August 20 through September 3; September 13 through September 22; September 30 through October 8; October 16 through October 24; and October 31 through November 4. These periods followed the Tet Offensive and coincided with continued intensive United States naval operations.

During the 1968 deployment, HALEAKALA was photographed conducting underway replenishment with USS BON HOMME RICHARD (CVA 31). She also provided heavy-caliber ammunition to USS NEW JERSEY (BB 62), which had returned to active service for naval gunfire operations off Vietnam. On October 2, HALEAKALA transferred 644 5-inch projectiles, 1,370 containers of 5-inch powder, 96 16-inch projectiles and 234 tanks of 16-inch powder to NEW JERSEY. On October 18, she supplied a further 100 16-inch projectiles and 198 tanks of 16-inch powder.

Captain Leland E. Kirkemo relieved Captain Hanecak on September 18, 1968. HALEAKALA continued Pacific Fleet operations into 1969. Her qualifying Vietnam service included July 15 through July 31 and August 23 through September 1.

On August 27, 1969, a severe flareback occurred in No. 2 boiler while HALEAKALA was operating off Vietnam. The casualty also affected No. 1 boiler and left the ship without propulsion. On August 28, harbor tug MANHATTAN (YTB 779) towed HALEAKALA into Da Nang Harbor. The following day, USS COCOPA (ATF 101) took the ammunition ship in tow toward Subic Bay. Repairs to No. 1 boiler progressed sufficiently that on August 30 HALEAKALA was able to discontinue the tow and proceed under her own power. She remained at Subic Bay for approximately two months while repairs to both boilers were completed. Sea trials began on October 30.

Captain James F. Ward II relieved Captain Kirkemo on November 24, 1969. HALEAKALA had already returned to qualifying Vietnam service from November 9 through December 2 and subsequently from December 13 through December 24 and December 29, 1969, through January 1, 1970. Further qualifying service followed from January 8 through January 17. Later in 1970, she operated in the theater from November 13 through November 27, December 6 through December 18 and again on December 28.

The Vietnam War remained the ship's principal operational commitment into 1971 and 1972. Captain Robert E. Schwoefferman relieved Captain Ward on June 25, 1971. HALEAKALA's qualifying service resumed from November 25 through December 3, 1971, followed by December 9 through December 16 and December 29 through December 31. During January 1972, she served in the combat-support cycle from January 10 through January 13 and January 19 through January 30.

On January 4, 1972, while operating in the Bay of Bengal during the period of heightened American naval activity following the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, USS TRIPOLI (LPH 10) conducted a vertical replenishment with HALEAKALA while simultaneously receiving fuel from USS WICHITA (AOR 1). Additional Vietnam service followed from February 17 through March 2 and March 9 through March 22. The strategic situation changed sharply on March 30 when North Vietnam opened the Easter Offensive, a major conventional invasion of South Vietnam. The United States responded by greatly expanding carrier aviation and naval gunfire operations, initially under Operation Freedom Train and subsequently under Operation Linebacker. Ammunition consumption increased correspondingly.

HALEAKALA was directly involved in sustaining the ships responding to the offensive. Her qualifying periods included April 2 through April 4, April 13 through April 18 and April 25 through April 29; May 6 through May 27; June 7 through June 22; July 2 through July 11 and July 20 through July 29; and August 6 through August 13.

Early on April 17, 1972, USS BENJAMIN STODDERT (DDG 22) rearmed from HALEAKALA and USS PYRO before proceeding with USS OKLAHOMA CITY (CLG 5) for operations against military targets near Vinh, North Vietnam. The American ships subsequently came under fire from North Vietnamese coastal batteries.

Commander Thomas G. Kiefaber relieved Captain Schwoefferman on August 31, 1972. By the conclusion of HALEAKALA's Vietnam-era service, the ship had received credit for 13 Vietnam campaigns.

HALEAKALA continued to serve the Seventh Fleet after the Paris Peace Accords and the end of direct American combat participation in Vietnam. The change in the political and military situation did not eliminate the need for ammunition ships, as carrier groups and surface forces continued to operate throughout the western Pacific and substantial ammunition stocks remained distributed among regional bases.

Commander Peter K. Fitzwilliam relieved Commander Kiefaber on August 15, 1974. During a western Pacific deployment late that year, HALEAKALA encountered severe weather in the South China Sea. On December 30, USS COCHRANE (DDG 21) attempted to receive ammunition from HALEAKALA and fuel from USS TOLOVANA (AO 64). Heavy seas prevented successful replenishment and both evolutions had to be abandoned.

By April 1975, the military position of South Vietnam had collapsed and North Vietnamese forces were approaching Saigon. The United States organized Operation Frequent Wind to evacuate American citizens and endangered Vietnamese from the capital. HALEAKALA's award record credits the ship with Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal and Humanitarian Service Medal eligibility for April 29 and April 30 in connection with the operation.

Commander Joseph E. Beamon II relieved Commander Fitzwilliam on August 29, 1975. HALEAKALA continued regular western Pacific deployments during the second half of the decade. A cruise book documents an extensive 1976 WestPac deployment, during which the ship continued its basic ammunition-support mission among the operating areas and logistics bases used by the Seventh Fleet. She was also photographed at Subic Bay during this period.

Commander Michael A. Kubishen relieved Commander Beamon on August 12, 1977. HALEAKALA remained active through the late 1970s, alternating overseas deployments with training and maintenance periods on the West Coast. A September 1978 photograph documents her in a San Francisco shipyard.

Commander Robert P. Glover relieved Commander Kubishen on December 5, 1979. HALEAKALA continued western Pacific service into the early 1980s at a time when the strategic responsibilities of the Pacific Fleet increasingly included the Indian Ocean as well as its traditional western Pacific operating areas. Commander Walter H. Graham relieved Commander Glover on December 24, 1981. HALEAKALA remained in regular Pacific Fleet service through 1982 and 1983. By then, the ship had been commissioned for more than two decades, and maintaining her steam plant, ammunition elevators, replenishment equipment and other machinery required increasingly substantial industrial maintenance.

Commander Joseph W. R. Felty assumed command on January 13, 1984. On June 28, HALEAKALA entered Mare Island Naval Shipyard for an extensive regular overhaul. The industrial period continued through April 25, 1985 and was intended to restore material readiness for continued fleet service. Following the overhaul, HALEAKALA resumed training and ammunition operations. During the autumn of 1985, she supported USS CARL VINSON (CVN 70) during post-maintenance workups off Southern California. HALEAKALA conducted ammunition underway replenishments with CARL VINSON on October 30 and October 31 during pre-refresher-training operations and again on November 14 and November 15 during refresher training.

Commander Charles M. Pyetzki relieved Commander Felty on May 22, 1986. On July 24, the Navy formally recorded an exemption for HALEAKALA under the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea because the ship's special construction and purpose prevented complete compliance with the prescribed horizontal separation between her forward and after masthead lights. Her actual installation achieved approximately 87 percent of the normally required horizontal separation.

A more operationally important change followed in October 1986, when HALEAKALA's home port was shifted from Concord, California, to Apra Harbor, Guam. Forward basing placed a dedicated ammunition ship much closer to the western Pacific operating areas and reduced the distance required to support Seventh Fleet forces. Guam remained HALEAKALA's home port for the remainder of her commissioned career.

Captain Michael B. Edwards assumed command on January 8, 1988, and Captain Walter R. Lohrmann relieved him on February 20. HALEAKALA continued routine ammunition support throughout the western Pacific during the final years of the Cold War. Commander Dennis L. Worley relieved Captain Lohrmann on February 6, 1990. In March, HALEAKALA participated in Exercise Team Spirit 90, the large annual United States-Republic of Korea exercise. Team Spirit 90 took place from March 6 through March 18 and practiced reinforcement and defense of South Korea with American and South Korean naval, air and ground forces. HALEAKALA provided ammunition-support capability to the naval force.

Later that year, Iraq's invasion of Kuwait on August 2 fundamentally altered American military commitments in Southwest Asia. The United States began Operation Desert Shield and rapidly deployed naval, air and ground forces to the region. HALEAKALA subsequently received orders to support the expanding naval logistics requirement. The ship's award record includes a Navy Unit Commendation for the period January 17 through February 7, 1991. Her actual deployment from Guam toward Southwest Asia began on January 22. HALEAKALA reached the Persian Gulf operating area on February 9, beginning the period for which she received Southwest Asia Service Medal credit through March 14.

Deck-log-derived records place HALEAKALA at Al Jubayl, Saudi Arabia, on February 19, February 20 and February 21, 1991. On February 19 and February 21 she was specifically recorded at Berth 12. Al Jubayl served as an important logistics port for coalition naval and Marine forces during Operation Desert Storm. During her Southwest Asia deployment HALEAKALA replenished 15 ships while underway and delivered cargo in support of Marine forces ashore. These operations took place while coalition naval forces supported the air campaign, operated in the northern Persian Gulf and supported preparations for the ground offensive that began on February 24. HALEAKALA completed her Southwest Asia support period in March and returned to Apra Harbor on April 10, 1991.

Only two months later, another regional emergency affected the Navy's major western Pacific logistics facilities. On June 15, 1991, the catastrophic eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines caused extensive destruction at Clark Air Base, Naval Station Subic Bay and surrounding civilian communities. The United States organized Operation Fiery Vigil to evacuate military personnel, dependents and other evacuees and to relocate equipment from the affected area. HALEAKALA participated in the sealift phase of Operation Fiery Vigil together with other Navy and Military Sealift Command vessels. The eruption accelerated the already developing reduction of the long-standing American military presence in the Philippines. HALEAKALA was photographed at Subic Bay on September 23 amid the continuing recovery from the eruption and extensive volcanic-ash damage to the facilities.

HALEAKALA continued forward-deployed operations from Guam in 1992. On April 12, she was photographed at anchor at Singapore. Commander Cecil D. Bradley relieved Commander Worley on April 16 and became HALEAKALA's final commanding officer. On April 18, the ship was back at Naval Station Guam undergoing repair work. HALEAKALA was also documented at Hong Kong during 1992. On August 28, 1992, Typhoon Omar struck Guam, causing extensive damage to military and civilian infrastructure, including facilities in and around Apra Harbor. Recovery operations began immediately. By September 15, the harbor had been surveyed, re-buoyed and reopened to traffic, and the loading of HALEAKALA with ammunition from the Naval Magazine was reported to be proceeding according to schedule. Her return to the ammunition-loading cycle formed part of the wider effort to restore the operational capability of United States military facilities on Guam.

A cruise book documents HALEAKALA's 1992-1993 operations, the final overseas operating period of her career. By then, she had been in commissioned service for more than 33 years and was among the Navy's older active logistics ships. Newer multipurpose combat-support ships and Military Sealift Command vessels were increasingly assuming missions previously performed by conventional steam-powered ammunition ships, while the post-Cold War reduction in fleet size also made retirement of the older auxiliaries increasingly likely.

HALEAKALA remained operational through much of 1993 before preparations were made for retirement. USS HALEAKALA was decommissioned at Guam and simultaneously struck from the Naval Vessel Register on December 10, 1993, ending slightly more than 34 years of commissioned service. Commander Bradley remained in command through decommissioning. Unlike several of the other SCB 114 ammunition ships, HALEAKALA did not spend years in a reserve fleet awaiting disposal. Following decommissioning, the Maritime Administration was asked to arrange the sale of the ship directly from Guam. On March 9, 1994, the Maritime Administration reported that HALEAKALA had been sold. Release of the former ammunition ship to the buyer was authorized on March 29, and she was towed out of Guam on April 15 for disposal and subsequent scrapping.

HALEAKALA's service record reflected more than three decades of changing naval requirements. Her decorations included the Navy Unit Commendation, Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation, National Defense Service Medal, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, Vietnam Service Medal with 13 campaign stars, Humanitarian Service Medal, Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal, Southwest Asia Service Medal and a Kuwait Liberation Medal.

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