USS Milwaukee (AOR-2) | |
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![]() USS Milwaukee in March 1982 | |
Career (USA) | |
Name: | USS Milwaukee |
Namesake: | The city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin and the Milwaukee River |
Builder: | General Dynamics Corporation, Quincy, Massachusetts |
Laid down: | 29 November 1966 |
Launched: | 1 January 1969 |
Commissioned: | 1 November 1969 |
Decommissioned: | 27 January 1994 |
Struck: | 8 April 1997 |
Fate: | Transferred to Maritime Administration, 24 February 2001 |
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 Milwaukee (AOR-2) was a Wichita-class replenishment oiler commissioned by the U.S. Navy in 1969 She continued to support Navy requirements until 1994 when she was placed in the reserve fleet and later struck.
History[]
Milwaukee was laid down on 29 November 1966 and launched on 1 January 1969 at the shipyard of the General Dynamics Corporation, Quincy, Massachusetts. On 1 November 1969 she was commissioned USS Milwaukee (AOR-2) and placed into service for the fleet.

USS Milwaukee taking on fuel at Craney Island, Virginia (USA), on 25 September 1990.
Operational service[]
During the Vietnam War USS Milwaukee participated in operation Vietnam Ceasefire from 12 November 1972 through 20 February 1973. The USS Milwaukee (AOR-2) earned one campaign star for Vietnam War service. [1]
In September 1976, returning from a routine deployment, the USS Milwaukee (AOR-2) along with the USS Sylvania (AFS-2) had the honor of transporting the world famous King Tutankhamun Exhibition to America for the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.
On 1 March 1980 the Malaysian oil tanker Santo Prestige lost power and collided with the USS Milwaukee (AOR-2) which was moored in Norfolk, Virginia. The collision results in a 40- by 15-foot gash in the hull of the Milwaukee.[2]
In 1985 the USS Milwaukee (AOR-2) participated in the anti-submarine exercise Arctic SHAREM.[3]
Decommissioning[]
On 27 January 1994 the USS Milwaukee (AOR-2) was decommissioned and struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 8 April 1997. On 15 January 2009, the Milwaukee was sold for $56,410 for scrapping to Bay Bridge Enterprises, Chesapeake, VA.[4]
References[]
This article includes information collected from the Naval Vessel Register, which, as a U.S. government publication, is in the public domain.
- 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 Milwaukee (AOR-2) and the edit history here.