| USS Kansas City (AOR-3) | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Career |  |
| Name: | USS Kansas City |
| Awarded: | 6 July 1966 |
| Builder: | General Dynamics, Quincy, Massachusetts[1] |
| Laid down: | 20 April 1968[1] |
| Launched: | 28 June 1969[1] |
| Commissioned: | 6 June 1970[1] |
| Decommissioned: | 7 October 1994[2] |
| Struck: | July 1997[2] |
| Honours and awards: | Meritorious Unit Commendation and 3 campaign stars (Vietnam) |
| Fate: | Currently mothballed at Suisun Bay, California |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type: | Wichita-class replenishment oiler |
| Displacement: | 40,100 long tons (40,743 t) full |
| Length: | 659 ft (201 m) |
| Beam: | 96 ft (29 m) |
| Draft: | 35 ft (11 m) |
| Propulsion: | 3 × boilers, steam turbines, 2 × shafts, 32,000 shp (23,862 kW) |
| Speed: | 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph) |
| Complement: | 22 officers, 398 enlisted |
| Armament: |
• 2 × Phalanx CIWS • 1 × Mark 29 Sea Sparrow missile launcher |
| Aircraft carried: | 2 × CH-46 Sea Knight helicopters |
USS Kansas City (AOR-3) was the third of the Wichita-class replenishment oilers. She was the second ship to be named for the city of Kansas City, Missouri.
The keel was laid on 18 April 1968 in Quincy, Massachusetts, and the ship was launched on 1 June 1969. The ship was commissioned on 6 June 1970 and saw service in the Vietnam War and Operation Desert Storm. Subsequently, the ship was decommissioned on 7 October 1994, and was stricken from the Navy List on 8 April 1997. She is currently at the Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet, Benicia, California, awaiting final disposal.[3] She was towed to Mare Island on July 31, 2013 and is in dry dock to be cleaned in preparation for being towed to Texas for scrapping.
Awards[]
Kansas City earned three battle stars and the Meritorious Unit Commendation for Vietnam service.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Prézelin and Baker 1990, p. 836.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Baker 1998, p. 1056.
- ↑ "USS Kansas City (AOR 3)". Navysite.de. http://navysite.de/aor/aor3.htm. Retrieved 2008-09-29.
- Photo gallery of Kansas City at NavSource Naval History
- USS Kansas City (AOR-3)
- Baker, A.D. (1998). The Naval Institute Guide to Combat Fleets of the World 1998–1999. Annapolis, Maryland, USA: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-111-4.
- Prézelin, Bernard; Baker, A.D. (1990). The Naval Institute Guide to Combat Fleets of the World 1990/1991. Annapolis, Maryland, USA: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-250-8.
- 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.
The original article can be found at USS Kansas City (AOR-3) and the edit history here.