USS Kalamazoo (AOR-6)

USS Kalamazoo (AOR-6)
USS Kalamazoo in underway replenishment with USS Saratoga.
Career (USA)
Name:	USS Kalamazoo
Namesake:	Kalamazoo, Michigan and the Kalamazoo River
Builder:	General Dynamics Corporation, Quincy, Massachusetts
Laid down:	1 October 1970
Launched:	1 November 1972
Commissioned:	11 August 1973, as USS Kalamazoo (AOR-6)
Decommissioned:	16 August 1996
Struck:	29 October 1998
Honors and awards:	Joint Meritorious Unit Award
Fate:	Sold for scrap, 15 July 2008, for $1,465,726
General characteristics
Class & type:	Wichita-class replenishment oiler
Displacement:	14,048 long tons (14,273 t) light 39,790 long tons (40,429 t) full
Length:	659 ft (201 m)
Beam:	96 ft (29 m)
Draft:	37 ft (11 m)
Propulsion:	3 × boilers, 2 × steam turbines, 2 × shafts, 32,000 shp (23,862 kW)
Speed:	20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph)
Complement:	34 officers, 463 enlisted
Armament:	• 2 × Phalanx CIWS • 1 × Sea Sparrow missile system (NSSMS)
Aircraft carried:	2 × CH-46 Sea Knight helicopters
Aviation facilities:	Helo Deck and berthing for 8 Airdet Personnel

USS Kalamazoo (AOR-6) was a Wichita-class replenishment oiler commissioned by the U.S. Navy in 1973. She continued to support Navy requirements until 1996 when she was placed in the reserve fleet and later struck.

Construction

Kalamazoo was laid down on 1 October 1970 and launched on 1 November 1972 at the shipyard of the General Dynamics Corporation, Quincy, Massachusetts. On 11 August 1973 she was commissioned USS Kalamazoo (AOR-6) and placed into service for the fleet. Her homeport was initially Naval Station, Mayport, Florida and later transferred to Norfolk Naval Base in Norfolk, Virginia.

Navy operational service

AOR-6 Deployments - Major Events Add an AOR-6 Shellback Initiation Add an AOR-6 Deployment - Major Event

Month and year	to Month and year	Deployment or event
Oct 1970		Keel date: 1 Oct 1970 at General Dynamics Corporation Quincy MA:
Nov 1972		Launch date: 1 Nov 1972:
Aug 1973		Commissioned: 11 AUG 1973:
JAN 1975	DEC 1975	Marjorie Sterret Battleship Award:
APR 1975	OCT 1975	Blue Nose - Arctic Circle:
JUL 1976	JUL 1976	New York Harbor Tall Ships Celebration:
APR 1978	MAY 1979	Regular overhaul:
FEB 1980	SEP 1980	Mediterranean-Indian Ocean:
OCT 1981		Shellback Initiation - 8 OCT 1981 - Atlantic Ocean:
OCT 1981	APR 1982	Mediterranean-West Africa:
NOV 1982	May 1983	Mediterranean:
DEC 1983	Jun 1984	OVERHAUL - HOBOKEN N.J.:
JAN 1983	DEC 1984	Mediterranean-Lebanon:
JAN 1984	DEC 1984	Mediterranean-Lebanon:
AUG 1986	OCT 1986	North Atlantic: Blue Nose
DEC 1986	JUN 1987	Mediterranean:
DEC 1988	JUN 1989	Mediterranean:
Dec 1989	May 1990	Mediterranean: **I Don't think line is accurate—I think this was a South American deployment**
Dec 1990	Jun 1991	Desert Storm:
OCT 1992	Apr 1993	Mediterranean:
May 1994	Nov 1994	Mediterranean-Indian Ocean-Persian Gulf:
Aug 1996		Decommissioned: 16 Aug 1996

Decommissioning

On 16 August 1996 Kalamazoo was decommissioned and placed in reserve at the National Defense Reserve Fleet, James River, Lee Hall, Virginia. She was struck from the Navy list on 29 October 1998 and, on 15 July 2008, she was sold by the U.S. Maritime Administration to Esco Marine, Brownsville, Texas, for $1,465,726. Kalamazoo was towed out of James River Reserve Fleet on Tuesday 30 September 2008 en route to ESCO Brownsville.

Honors and awards

Qualified Kalamazoo personnel were authorized the following:

Joint Meritorious Unit Award

Navy Unit Commendation

Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation

Navy Battle "E" Ribbon (2)

Navy Expeditionary Medal (1-Iran/Indian Ocean, 5-Lebanon)

National Defense Service Medal

Southwest Asia Service Medal

See also

• United States Navy
• Replenishment oiler

References

• Photo gallery of Kalamazoo at NavSource Naval History
• Wildenberg, Thomas (1996). Gray Steel and Black Oil: Fast Tankers and Replenishment at Sea in the U.S. Navy, 1912-1995. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/GSBO/index.html. Retrieved 2009-04-28.