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USS Mauna Loa (AE-8)
Encyclopedia
USS Mauna Loa (AE-8) was laid down by Tampa Shipbuilding Co., Tampa, Fla., 10 December 1942; launched 14 April 1943; sponsored by Mrs. Robert E. Friend; and commissioned 27 October 1943, Comdr. George D. Martin in command. She is named after Mauna Loa
, a large shield volcano
on the Island of Hawaii.
, Mauna Loa loaded on 5,600 tons of ammunition at Norfolk and departed Hampton Roads, Va., 19 December with a stopover at San Francisco for 2 days, arriving Pearl Harbor
17 January 1944. Assigned to the service force, on 1 February she continued on to the Marshalls escorted by USS Manlove (DE‑36)
, reaching Majuro
7 days later to begin rearming the fleet.
On 9 February a near-disaster occurred while Mauna Loa was supplying USS Pennsylvania (BB‑38)
with gunpowder. With the men on Mauna Loa moving the powder containers over faster than they could be removed to the magazines of the battleship, the cans gradually piled up to more than a hundred on Pennsylvania’s forward deck. At 16:35 a flash of flame leaped out across her deck, accompanied by a dull boom — one of the cans had exploded!
Grains of burning powder were hurled about, many of them streaking down Mauna Loa’s open hold. Without a moment’s hesitation, Boatswain F. B. Wilson seized a hose and turned it on the burning can. This stream of water checked the fire until Pennsylvania’s men could get the can over the side before it ignited the others. Two of Pennsylvania’s men suffered broken legs and the man handling the powder can was blinded. Courageous performance of their duties under such hazardous conditions had become mere routine to the officers and men of the ammunition ship.
On 2 March Mauna Loa sailed for the west coast, via Pearl Harbor
, arriving San Francisco the 21st to replenish her cargo of ammunition. She got underway 10 April again for the South Pacific, her destination being the New Hebrides
. She reached Espiritu Santo
28 April for a month of operations, then proceeded to Eniwetok, Marshalls, where from 13 June to 23 July she supported the Marianas operation.
After a return trip to San Francisco, on 8 September Mauna Loa entered the Kossol Passage, Palaus, in company with USS Shasta (AE‑6)
and USS McCoy Reynolds (DE-440)
. She then began a 24‑hour‑a‑day rearming of the 3d Fleet, while swept mines exploded all around the anchorage. After an unidentified plane strafed her during the night of 19 September while USS Portland (CA‑33)
was alongside, night operations were halted.
By November she was en route to the Carolines, arriving Ulithi
the 30th. Mauna Loa remained there until the beginning of the Okinawa campaign. On 13 March 1945 she departed Ulithi with TG 50.8 for 5 successful months on the “line,” as it came to be termed, replenishing some 99 ships underway. The Japanese capitulation 14 August found her at San Pedro
, Philippines
.
Mauna Loa departed San Pedro for the west coast 4 October, arriving Tiburon, Calif., the 21st. She moved up to Bremerton, Wash., 12 November. She then entered the Pacific Reserve Fleet at San Diego 15 May 1946 and decommissioned 2 June 1947.
for alterations, she began refresher training out of Newport, R.I., 8 September; then served out of Earle, N.J., through the end of the year.
On 5 January 1956 Mauna Loa departed Earle with Mine Division 81 for Europe
, arriving Naples
, Italy
, the 24th. The ammunition ship operated with the 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean until 28 May when she steamed from Tangiers for home. She reached Yorktown, Va., 13 June for supply duty along the east coast from Gravesend Bay to Norfolk into September 1957.
On July 26, 1957 the Navy ammunition ship Mauna Loa threatened for more than an hour to emulate the famous Hawaiian volcano in more than just a name. With 3500 tons of explosives and a crew of 220 aboard she caught fire about 5 miles off Ambrose Lighship, the entrance to New York Harbor. The fire was contained to the ships engine room and was extinguished by crew members. It was towed to Gravesend Bay for repairs the following 2 weeks. An explosion would have periled the shore by leveling coney island and breaking all windows on manhattan up to 34th street.(based on estimates from the similar USS MountHood AE 11 explosion in 1944.)
On 27 September she again got underway from Earle for another tour in the Mediterranean until her return to Norfolk 17 November for 2d Fleet operations. From 1 February to 27 June 1958 Mauna Loa made a third visit to the Mediterranean, returning to New York 7 July. She shifted to Beaumont, Tex., 15 September for inactivation and 16 December again decommissioned this time entering the Atlantic Reserve Fleet at Orange, Tex.
On 15 January 1962 the ammunition ship got underway from Norfolk for shakedown off Guantanamo Bay, Cuba
, into late February. For the next seven years Mauna Loa continued a pattern of upkeep and supply service along the east coast out of Norfolk and Earle, interspersed with training cruises and exercises in the Caribbean.
She departed Bayonne 9 October 1967 for a new and vital mission, supply operations off South Vietnam
. She transited the Panama Canal
the 16th on her way to the Pacific, and soon thereafter arrived off the troubled Southeast Asian area to begin service to the fleet fighting to repel Communist aggression. From 1968 till 1970 her mission was rearming aircraft carriers, destroyers, and cruisers in the Mediterranean Sea. The Mauna Loa was finally decommissioned in February 1971.
Mauna Loa
Mauna Loa is one of five volcanoes that form the Island of Hawaii in the U.S. state of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean, and the largest on Earth in terms of volume and area covered. It is an active shield volcano, with a volume estimated at approximately , although its peak is about lower than that...
, a large shield volcano
Shield volcano
A shield volcano is a type of volcano usually built almost entirely of fluid lava flows. They are named for their large size and low profile, resembling a warrior's shield. This is caused by the highly fluid lava they erupt, which travels farther than lava erupted from more explosive volcanoes...
on the Island of Hawaii.
1944-1947 (WWII service and near-disaster supplying USS Pennsylvania)
After shakedown in the Chesapeake BayChesapeake Bay
The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States. It lies off the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by Maryland and Virginia. The Chesapeake Bay's drainage basin covers in the District of Columbia and parts of six states: New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and West...
, Mauna Loa loaded on 5,600 tons of ammunition at Norfolk and departed Hampton Roads, Va., 19 December with a stopover at San Francisco for 2 days, arriving Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...
17 January 1944. Assigned to the service force, on 1 February she continued on to the Marshalls escorted by USS Manlove (DE‑36)
USS Manlove (DE-36)
USS Manlove was an of the United States Navy during World War II. She was promptly sent off into the Pacific Ocean to protect convoys and other ships from Japanese submarines and fighter aircraft...
, reaching Majuro
Majuro
Majuro , is a large coral atoll of 64 islands in the Pacific Ocean, and forms a legislative district of the Ratak Chain of the Marshall Islands. The atoll itself has a land area of and encloses a lagoon of...
7 days later to begin rearming the fleet.
On 9 February a near-disaster occurred while Mauna Loa was supplying USS Pennsylvania (BB‑38)
USS Pennsylvania (BB-38)
USS Pennsylvania was a United States Navy super-dreadnought battleship. She was the third Navy ship named for the state of Pennsylvania....
with gunpowder. With the men on Mauna Loa moving the powder containers over faster than they could be removed to the magazines of the battleship, the cans gradually piled up to more than a hundred on Pennsylvania’s forward deck. At 16:35 a flash of flame leaped out across her deck, accompanied by a dull boom — one of the cans had exploded!
Grains of burning powder were hurled about, many of them streaking down Mauna Loa’s open hold. Without a moment’s hesitation, Boatswain F. B. Wilson seized a hose and turned it on the burning can. This stream of water checked the fire until Pennsylvania’s men could get the can over the side before it ignited the others. Two of Pennsylvania’s men suffered broken legs and the man handling the powder can was blinded. Courageous performance of their duties under such hazardous conditions had become mere routine to the officers and men of the ammunition ship.
On 2 March Mauna Loa sailed for the west coast, via Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...
, arriving San Francisco the 21st to replenish her cargo of ammunition. She got underway 10 April again for the South Pacific, her destination being the New Hebrides
New Hebrides
New Hebrides was the colonial name for an island group in the South Pacific that now forms the nation of Vanuatu. The New Hebrides were colonized by both the British and French in the 18th century shortly after Captain James Cook visited the islands...
. She reached Espiritu Santo
Espiritu Santo
Espiritu Santo is the largest island in the nation of Vanuatu, with an area of . It belongs to the archipelago of the New Hebrides in the Pacific region of Melanesia. It is in the Sanma Province of Vanuatu....
28 April for a month of operations, then proceeded to Eniwetok, Marshalls, where from 13 June to 23 July she supported the Marianas operation.
After a return trip to San Francisco, on 8 September Mauna Loa entered the Kossol Passage, Palaus, in company with USS Shasta (AE‑6)
USS Shasta (AE-6)
USS Shasta , an ammunition ship, was laid down under Maritime Commission contract on 12 August 1940 by the Tampa Shipbuilding Company, Tampa, Fla., initially as a C2 type cargo ship. She was acquired by the Navy on 16 April 1941 and launched on 9 July 1941, sponsored by Mrs. Spessard L. Holland....
and USS McCoy Reynolds (DE-440)
USS McCoy Reynolds (DE-440)
USS McCoy Reynolds was a acquired by the U.S. Navy during World War II. The primary purpose of the destroyer escort was to escort and protect ships in convoy, in addition to other tasks as assigned, such as patrol or radar picket...
. She then began a 24‑hour‑a‑day rearming of the 3d Fleet, while swept mines exploded all around the anchorage. After an unidentified plane strafed her during the night of 19 September while USS Portland (CA‑33)
USS Portland (CA-33)
USS Portland , the lead ship of her class of heavy cruiser, was the first ship of the United States Navy named after the city of Portland, Maine....
was alongside, night operations were halted.
By November she was en route to the Carolines, arriving Ulithi
Ulithi
Ulithi is an atoll in the Caroline Islands of the western Pacific Ocean, about 191 km east of Yap. It consists of 40 islets totalling , surrounding a lagoon about long and up to wide—at one of the largest in the world. It is administered by the state of Yap in the Federated States of...
the 30th. Mauna Loa remained there until the beginning of the Okinawa campaign. On 13 March 1945 she departed Ulithi with TG 50.8 for 5 successful months on the “line,” as it came to be termed, replenishing some 99 ships underway. The Japanese capitulation 14 August found her at San Pedro
San Pedro, Laguna
The City of San Pedro is a first class Municipality in the province of Laguna, Philippines. It is named after its patron saint, Saint Peter. San Pedro is Laguna's gateway to Metro Manila since it lies on the boundary with Muntinlupa City, Metro Manila's southernmost city...
, Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
.
Mauna Loa departed San Pedro for the west coast 4 October, arriving Tiburon, Calif., the 21st. She moved up to Bremerton, Wash., 12 November. She then entered the Pacific Reserve Fleet at San Diego 15 May 1946 and decommissioned 2 June 1947.
1955-1958 (Recomissioning and engine-room fire)
Mauna Loa recommissioned 31 January 1955, Capt. Elgin B. Hurlbert in command, and departed San Diego 16 March for the east coast. After docking at Norfolk Naval ShipyardNorfolk Naval Shipyard
The Norfolk Naval Shipyard, often called the Norfolk Navy Yard and abbreviated as NNSY, is a U.S. Navy facility in Portsmouth, Virginia, for building, remodeling, and repairing the Navy's ships. It's the oldest and largest industrial facility that belongs to the U.S. Navy as well as the most...
for alterations, she began refresher training out of Newport, R.I., 8 September; then served out of Earle, N.J., through the end of the year.
On 5 January 1956 Mauna Loa departed Earle with Mine Division 81 for Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, arriving Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, the 24th. The ammunition ship operated with the 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean until 28 May when she steamed from Tangiers for home. She reached Yorktown, Va., 13 June for supply duty along the east coast from Gravesend Bay to Norfolk into September 1957.
On July 26, 1957 the Navy ammunition ship Mauna Loa threatened for more than an hour to emulate the famous Hawaiian volcano in more than just a name. With 3500 tons of explosives and a crew of 220 aboard she caught fire about 5 miles off Ambrose Lighship, the entrance to New York Harbor. The fire was contained to the ships engine room and was extinguished by crew members. It was towed to Gravesend Bay for repairs the following 2 weeks. An explosion would have periled the shore by leveling coney island and breaking all windows on manhattan up to 34th street.(based on estimates from the similar USS MountHood AE 11 explosion in 1944.)
On 27 September she again got underway from Earle for another tour in the Mediterranean until her return to Norfolk 17 November for 2d Fleet operations. From 1 February to 27 June 1958 Mauna Loa made a third visit to the Mediterranean, returning to New York 7 July. She shifted to Beaumont, Tex., 15 September for inactivation and 16 December again decommissioned this time entering the Atlantic Reserve Fleet at Orange, Tex.
1960-1969 (Recomissioining and Vietnam)
After temporarily joining the National Defense Reserve Fleet at Philadelphia 12 November 1960, Mauna Loa was reacquired and recommissioned the third time 27 November 1961, Capt. Vernon P. O’Neil in command. She sailed from Philadelphia 8 October for her home port, Bayonne, N.J.On 15 January 1962 the ammunition ship got underway from Norfolk for shakedown off Guantanamo Bay, Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
, into late February. For the next seven years Mauna Loa continued a pattern of upkeep and supply service along the east coast out of Norfolk and Earle, interspersed with training cruises and exercises in the Caribbean.
She departed Bayonne 9 October 1967 for a new and vital mission, supply operations off South Vietnam
South Vietnam
South Vietnam was a state which governed southern Vietnam until 1975. It received international recognition in 1950 as the "State of Vietnam" and later as the "Republic of Vietnam" . Its capital was Saigon...
. She transited the Panama Canal
Panama Canal
The Panama Canal is a ship canal in Panama that joins the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and is a key conduit for international maritime trade. Built from 1904 to 1914, the canal has seen annual traffic rise from about 1,000 ships early on to 14,702 vessels measuring a total of 309.6...
the 16th on her way to the Pacific, and soon thereafter arrived off the troubled Southeast Asian area to begin service to the fleet fighting to repel Communist aggression. From 1968 till 1970 her mission was rearming aircraft carriers, destroyers, and cruisers in the Mediterranean Sea. The Mauna Loa was finally decommissioned in February 1971.