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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

USS Mercury (AKS-20)
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USS Mercury (AK-42) (1942 - 1945)

International Radio Call Signs,
USS Mercury (AK-42) 1942 International Radio Call Sign: Nan - Oboe - Roger - Dog NORD	USS Mercury (AK-42) 1944 International Radio Call Sign: Nan - Charlie - Item - Charlie NCIC	USS Mercury (AKS-) 1945 International Radio Call Sign: Nan - Charlie - Yoke - Love NCYL

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons



Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Combat Action Ribbon (retroactive 26 June 44)
Second Row - American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (5) - World War II Victory Medal
Third Row - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Europe clasp) - National Defense Service Medal - Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (3-Lebanon)

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During World War II USS Mercury was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater and participated in the following campaigns:

Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns
Campaign and Dates	Campaign and Dates
Marshall Islands operation Occupation of Kwajalein and Majuro Atolls, 31 January to 8 February 1944 Occupation of Eniwetok Atoll, 17 to 25 February 1944	Manila Bay-Bicol operation Zambales-Subic Bay, 29 to 31 January 1945
Marianas operation Capture and occupation of Saipan, 27 June to 2 July 1944	Okinawa Gunto operation 5th and 3d Fleet raids in support of Okinawa Gunto, 23 March to 13 May 1945
Leyte operation Leyte landings, 20 October and 18 November 1944

Following World War II USS Mercury was assigned to Occupation service in Europe for the following periods:

Navy Occupation Service Medal
10 December 1946 to 24 April 1947 21 to 27 November 1947 2 to 8 January 1948 12 to 20 February 1948 7 to 15 May 1948 17 to 30 June 1948 3 to 11 August 1948 16 to 23 September 1948 3 to 8 December 1948	15 to 20 January 1949 26 to 28 February 1949 1 April to 10 August 1949 30 January to 11 February 1950 8 to 15 May 1950 22 to 30 June 1950 14 October to 5 December 1950 3 February to 2 April 1951	8 October 1951 to 14 February 1952 23 May to 10 July 1952 16 October to 8 December 1952 19 March to 28 May 1953 3 Dec. 1953 to 3 February 1954 17 April to 4 June 1954 12 August to 29 November 1954 21 February to 7 June 1955

Final Disposition, sold for scrapping 3 May 1975, to Consolidated Steel Corp. for $277.777.77

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Specifications:
Displacement 7,345 t.(lt), 10,850 t.(fl), (13,900 t.(lim)
Length 459' 2"
Beam 63'
Draft 25' 9" (max)
Speed 16.4 kts. (trial)

Complement

Officers 19

Enlisted 159

Largest Boom Capacity 30 t.

Armament

one single 5"/38 dual purpose gun mount

four single 3"/50 dual purpose guns

eight single 20mm AA gun mounts

Cargo Capacity

non-refrigerated 462,691 Cu. ft.

refrigerated 28,864 Cu ft.

Fuel Capacity NSFO 9,055Bbls

Propulsion

one General Electric turbine

two Babcock & Wilcox boilers, 465psi 765°

double General Electric Main Reduction Gear

three Ship's Service Generators, 300Kw 120V/240V D.C.

single propeller, 6,000shp

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Click On Image For Full Size Image	Size	Image Description		Source
USS Mercury (AK-42)
US National Archives photo # 80-G-373777	130k	USS Mercury (AK-42) resupplying USS Essex (CV-9) via highline, 27 April 1945, while operating off Okinawa. Essex crewmen in the foreground are stacking bags of flour. Note the man on Mercury's forward hatch, directing the hoisting of another load from her hold. US National Archives photo #'s 80-G-373777, and 80-G-373776, US Navy photos now in the collections of the US National Archives		80-G-373777 - US Naval History and Heritage Command 80-G-373776 - Tracy White
US National Archives photo # 80-G-373776	180k
	331k	Entry hole from a Japanese torpedo dropped the night of 26 June 1944 as USS Mercury (AK-42) lay at anchor off Saipan. The torpedo entered the amidships living spaces on the 01 level, port side, with no chance to arm and broke in two. The plane itself was brought down by the ship's after starboard boom (see newspaper article below) and impacted the water 500 yards off the starboard quarter. US Navy photo 80-G-270918 now in the custody of the National Archives, College Park.		Tracy White
	230k	USS Mercury (AK-42) conducting and underway replenishment with USS John Rodgers (DD-574), with USS Sigsbee (DD-502) beyond. TG58.1, 8 April 1945. From DD574 collections.		John Chiquoine and Dave Schroeder
	575k	USS Mercury (AK-42) newspaper article		Ron Reeves
USS Mercury (AKS-20)
	59k	USS Mercury (AKS-20) at anchor, circa 1946, location unknown.		Robert Hurst
	88k	USS Mercury (AKS-20) under way circa the late 1940s. By this time she had lost her kingpost pairs on the superstructure. Unlike most wartime rebuilds, Mercury retained her kingposts forward, where other rebuilds had theirs replaced with a goalpost mast. US Navy photo, No number, courtesy Shipscribe.com		Mike Green
	126k	USS Mercury (AKS-20) under way in the Mediterranean while transferring provisions by high-line to USS Albany (CA-123), 24 November 1951. US Naval History and Heritage Command, Photo No. 80-G-429250, courtesy Shipscribe.com.		Mike Green
	69k	USS Mercury (AKS-20) under way, date and location unknown.		Richard Miller BMCS USNR Ret.
	118k	From left to right Sixth Fleet ships moored at Barcelona, Spain in April 1956: USS Cassin Young (DD-793), USS Albany (CA-123), USS Newport News (CA-148), USS Mercury (AKS-20), and USS Mauna Loa (AE-8). Newport News had just taken over as Flagship for Vice Admiral Harry D. Felt, Commander Sixth Fleet, when this photo was taken.		George Klos

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USS Mercury (AK-42 / AKS-20)
Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)

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Commanding Officers
01	LCDR. Graber, George W. USNR	1 July 1942 - 28 May 1944	AK-42
02	LCDR. Salmon, Nelson Denman, USN	28 May 1944 - 25 June 1946	AK-42
03	CDR. Domenech, Juan Paul, USN (USNA 1932)	25 June 1946 - 26 January 1947	AK-42/AKS-20
04	LCDR. Hancock, Rayner, USN	26 January 1947 - 20 Octoer 1948	AKS-20
05	LCDR. Flaherty, James Joseph (Joseph John, USN)	20 October 1948 - 1949	AKS-20
06	CDR. McKaig, William Vaughan, USN (USNA 1931)	1949 - April 1950	AKS-20
07	CAPT. Delaney Jr., John Francis	April 1950 - 1951	AKS-20
08	CDR. Hobbs, George Orrin, USN (USNA 1932)	1951 - 1952	AKS-20
09	CDR. Conway John Philbin, USN	1952 - July 1953	AKS-20
10	LCDR. Smith, Bert Leroy (XO acting CO)	July 1953 - August 1953	AKS-20
11	CDR. Conway John Philbin, USN	August 1953 - August 1954	AKS-20
12	CDR. Burgett, William Ano, USN	August 1954 - 1955	AKS-20
13	CAPT. Orr, William Stewart, USN (USNA 1936)	1955 - 27 July 1956	AKS-20
14	CAPT. Starley, Jr., James Jarlathe, USN (USNA 1934)	27 July 1956 - 29 July 1957	AKS-20
15	CAPT. Kear Jr., Carleton Romig, USN (USNA 1935)	29 July 1957 - 29 October 1958	AKS-20
16	CDR. Bellinger Jr., William Cotesworth Pinchney, USN (USNA 1933)	29 October 1958 - 3 March 1959	AKS-20
17	CDR. Martin, Robert Anthon, USN (USNA 1942)	3 March 1959 - 28 May 1959	AKS-20

Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves. Photos courtesy Bill Gonyo

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Crew Contact And Reunion Information
U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log

Addition Resources and Web Sites of Interest
USS Mercury (AK-42 / AKS-20) War Diary and History, 1942-1945
MARD Vessel History Database

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This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo

Last Updated 9 August 2024