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USS Klondike (AD-22)
Encyclopedia
USS Klondike (AD-22) was one of four destroyer tender
Destroyer tender
A destroyer tender is a ship designed to provide maintenance support to a flotilla of destroyers or other small warships. The use of this class has faded from its peak in the first half of the 20th century as the roles of small combatants have evolved .Due to the increased size and automation of...
s built at the tail end of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
for the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
. The lead ship
Lead ship
The lead ship or class leader is the first of a series or class of ships all constructed according to the same general design. The term is applicable military ships and larger civilian craft.-Overview:...
in her class, she was named for the Klondike River
Klondike River
The Klondike River is a tributary of the Yukon River in Canada that gave its name to the Klondike Gold Rush. The Klondike River has its source in the Ogilvie Mountains and flows into the Yukon River at Dawson City....
in the Yukon Territory, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, which was the scene of the gold rush of 1897
Klondike Gold Rush
The Klondike Gold Rush, also called the Yukon Gold Rush, the Alaska Gold Rush and the Last Great Gold Rush, was an attempt by an estimated 100,000 people to travel to the Klondike region the Yukon in north-western Canada between 1897 and 1899 in the hope of successfully prospecting for gold...
. The Klondike class destroyer tenders were a Navy adaptation of the Maritime Commission's C3 fast cargo ship
Type C3 ship
Type C3 ships were the third type of cargo ship designed by the United States Maritime Commission in the late 1930s. As it had done with the Type C1 ships and Type C2 ships, MARCOM circulated preliminary plans for comment...
design.
Klondike was launched 12 August 1944 by Todd Shipbuilding Corporation of San Pedro, California, sponsored by Mrs. Dorothy J. Diirck, and commissioned at San Pedro on 30 July 1945, Commander Maurice Edward Hatch in command.
1945–1955
After shakedown, Klondike loaded hundreds of tons of spares and stores in preparation for the important task of supplying and maintaining the speedy, hard-hitting destroyers. Designed as a "mother ship" for the "greyhounds of the fleet," she departed San Pedro on 19 October for Pearl Harbor, Hawaii arriving the 25th. Recalled to the West CoastWest Coast of the United States
West Coast or Pacific Coast are terms for the westernmost coastal states of the United States. The term most often refers to the states of California, Oregon, and Washington. Although not part of the contiguous United States, Alaska and Hawaii do border the Pacific Ocean but can't be included in...
, she sailed from Pearl on 7 November with 500 home-bound veterans embarked and arrived in San Diego, California
San Diego, California
San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...
on 15 November. On 21 November she became the flagship
Flagship
A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, reflecting the custom of its commander, characteristically a flag officer, flying a distinguishing flag...
for Commander, San Diego Group, 19th Fleet and commenced inactivation operations on ships scheduled for the Pacific Reserve Fleet. Placed on an inactive status (in commission, in reserve) on 30 November 1946, Klondike was placed in service in late September, 1948. She served as flagship of the San Diego Group, Pacific Reserve Fleet until 11 May 1955.
1959–1970
Klondike recommissioned 15 July 1959 at Long Beach, CaliforniaLong Beach, California
Long Beach is a city situated in Los Angeles County in Southern California, on the Pacific coast of the United States. The city is the 36th-largest city in the nation and the seventh-largest in California. As of 2010, its population was 462,257...
with Commander Fred Ferguson Mullins, Jr. in command. Returning to San Diego on 4 December, she provided repair facilities as a unit of ServRon
ServRon
A ServRon is a standard United States Navy abbreviation for "Service Squadron."A Service Squadron was a squadron of U.S. Navy ships that served the fleet. The squadron included ships such as tankers, oilers, refrigerator ships, ammunition ships, supply ships, repair ships, and the like...
1. On 20 February 1960 she was re-classified as repair ship USS Klondike (AR-22) and she repaired vessels at San Diego, Long Beach, and San Francisco
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
until 15 July 1961. Klondike then departed San Diego for duty in the Far East
Far East
The Far East is an English term mostly describing East Asia and Southeast Asia, with South Asia sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons.The term came into use in European geopolitical discourse in the 19th century,...
. Assigned to ServRon 3, she arrived at Yokosuka, Japan on 4 August and until 23 February 1962 she provided repair facilities at Sasebo and Iwakuni, Japan and Subic Bay
Subic Bay
Subic Bay is a bay forming part of Luzon Sea on the west coast of the island of Luzon in Zambales, Philippines, about 100 kilometers northwest of Manila Bay. Its shores were formerly the site of a major United States Navy facility named U.S...
, 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...
for the peace-keeping ships of the 7th Fleet. Returning to the West Coast on 11 March, she resumed her duty out of San Diego.
Departing San Diego on 17 July 1963, Klondike steamed via Pearl Harbor for the Western Pacific
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
. While en route to Sasebo, she offered assistance 6 through 9 August 1963 to a distressed Greek
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
freighter Cryssism during a raging typhoon. Reaching Sasebo on 11 August, she proceeded to Subic Bay 15 August for repair ship station duty. Klondike operated in the Far East until 30 November, then she returned to the United States, arriving San Diego on 14 December 1963. During the next year she continued servicing ships while operating out of San Diego.
During the Vietnam War Klondike participated in the Tet Counteroffensive from March 31, 1969 to April 24, 1969. She repaired a river supply ship that collided with a destroyer and was struck in her aft section by enemy fire from river boats. For her service in Vietnam, the Klondike was awarded the Vietnam Service Medal with one Bronze Star for the Tet Counteroffensive and the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal.
Klondike was struck from the Naval Register on 15 September 1974, after which time custody was transferred to the Maritime Administration for disposal. Klondike was sold by MARAD on 8 May 1975, fate unknown.