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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive
Lost to enemy action, 7 April 1943

USS Kanawha (AO-1)
ex
 USS Kanawha (Fuel Ship #13) (1915 - 1920)

1931-International Radio Call Sign:
Negative - Easy - Quack - Dog
 NEQD

1913-International Radio Call Sign:
Nan - Nan - Dog
NND
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Combat Action Ribbon (retroactive - 7 April 1943 Tulagi Harbor) - World War I Victory Medal (with Transport clasp) - American Defense Service Medal (with "A" device)
Bottom Row - American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (1) - World War II Victory Medal
Personal Awards

Purple Heart (19-KIA, 7 April 1943 Tulagi Harbor)
Kanawha Class Fleet Oiler:
  • Laid down, 8 December 1913, at Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, CA.
  • Launched, 11 July 1914
  • Commissioned USS Kanawha (Fuel Ship #13), 5 June 1915, Richard Werner, Master, US Naval Auxility Service, in command
  • Designated (AO-1), 17 July 1920
  • Decommissioned, 18 December 1929
  • Laid up in the Reserve Fleet
  • Recommissioned, 6 June 1934
  • Final Disposition, sunk by Japanese aircraft off Tulagi Harbor, British Solomon Islands, north east of Soghonangola Island at the entrance to Tulagi Harbor. She was sunk at 0400, 8 April 1943 with the loss of 19 men
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 19 May 1943
  • USS Kanawha earned one battle star for World War II service
    Specifications:
    Displacement 5,723 t.(lt) 14,800 t.(fl)
    Length 475' 7"
    Beam 56' 3"
    Draft 26' 8"
    Speed 14 kts.
    Complement 317
    Armament
    1915 - four single 4"/50 gun mounts
    1942 - added two twin 40mm AA gun mounts
    1942 - added two twin 20mm AA gun mounts
    1943 - two single 5"/51 gun mounts replace original four 5"/50 guns
    Propulsion
    four boilers
    two Vertical triple-expansion engines with a 42" stroke
    twin propellers
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		Size Image Description Source
    Kanawha
    091900160    		 315k
    Namesake
    Kanawha - The Kanawha River is a tributary of the Ohio River, approximately 97 mi long, in West Virginia. The largest inland waterway in West Virginia, its valley has been a significant industrial region of the state since early in the 19th century.(Wikipedia)
    The confluence of the Kanawha and Ohio Rivers. The Kanawha River flows in from the left of the picture and joins the Ohio, meandering off in the distance. The town of Point Pleasant, West Virginia is in the foreground on the right. Henderson, West Virginia is on the left. The Ohio River forms the boundary between West Virginia and Ohio. The town of Gallipolis, Ohio lies in the far distance across the Ohio River. The view is to the west-southwest down the river.(Wikipedia) US Army Corp of Engineers photo    		 Tommy Trampp
    Kanawha
    091900161    		 201k Mare Island Navy Yard Loftsmen building Kanawha's templates in the mold loft in 1913.
    Mare Island Navy Yard photo #HAER CR-3-4    		 Gary McIntosh
    Kanawha
    091900162    		 203k Mare Island Navy Yard Shipfitter Shop's duplicating section where the Kanawha's templates were transferred to steel plating and shapes
    Mare Island Navy Yard photo #HAER CR-3-6    		 Gary McIntosh
    Kanawha 355k Keel laying for Kanawha (Fuel Ship #13) at Mare Island Navy Yard, 8 December 1913.
    Vallejo Naval & Historical Museum File MINSY 10547-5, USS Kanawha (AO 1), 12/8/1913 a US Navy photo now in the collections of the Vallejo Naval & Historical Museum    		 Darryl L. Baker
    Kanawha 366k Kanawha (Fuel Ship #13) ready for launching at Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, CA., 1 July 1914.
    Vallejo Naval & Historical Museum File AO 1 70555-7-14, Photo NH 70555 a US Navy photo now in the collections of the Vallejo Naval & Historical Museum    		 Darryl L. Baker
    Kanawha 454k Stern view of Kanawha (Fuel Ship #13) on the morning of her launch at Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, CA., 11 July 1914.
    Vallejo Naval & Historical Museum File 1675 Photo 02, a US Navy photo now in the collections of the Vallejo Naval & Historical Museum, Vallejo, CA.    		 Darryl L. Baker
    Kanawha 141k Miss Dorothy Bennett sponsor at the launching of Kanawha (Fuel Ship #13) at Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, CA., 11 July 1914.
    Vallejo Naval & Historical Museum File AO 1 1480-7-14 a US Navy photo now in the collections of the Vallejo Naval & Historical Museum    		 Darryl L. Baker
    Kanawha 518k Christening of Kanawha (Fuel Ship #13) and launching at Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, CA., 11 July 1914.
    Vallejo Naval & Historical Museum File 1675 Photo 05A, a US Navy photo now in the collections of the Vallejo Naval & Historical Museum, Vallejo, CA.    		 Darryl L. Baker
    Kanawha 326k Ship's Sponsor, Miss Dorothy Bennett,christens Kanawha (Fuel Ship #13) at Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, CA., 11 July 1914.
    Vallejo Naval & Historical Museum File 1675 Photo 05B, a US Navy photo now in the collections of the Vallejo Naval & Historical Museum, Vallejo, CA.    		 Darryl L. Baker
    Kanawha 65k Kanawha (Fuel Ship #13) launching at Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, CA., 11 July 1914.
    US Navy photo    		 Darryl L. Baker
    Kanawha 144k Kanawha (Fuel Ship #13) launching at Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, CA., 11 July 1914.
    US Navy photo    		 Forest Cotton surviving crew member 1943
    Kanawha 484k Starboard side view of Kanawha (Fuel Ship #13) going down the ways at Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, CA., 11 July 1914.
    Vallejo Naval & Historical Museum File 1675 Photo 07, a US Navy photo now in the collections of the Vallejo Naval & Historical Museum, Vallejo, CA.    		 Darryl L. Baker
    Kanawha 1972k One of Kanawha (Fuel Ship #13)'s two main engines being removed from building 87 at Mare Island, 11 August 1914. Note that about 12 feet of the doorway has been removed for clearance.
    US Navy photo MINSY 15538-8-1914    		 Darryl L. Baker
    Kanawha 2357k Hoisting one of Kanawha (Fuel Ship #13)'s two main engines aboard the ship for installation at Navy Yard Mare Island, Vallejo, CA., 14 August 1914.
    US Navy photo MINSY 15534-8-1914    		 Darryl L. Baker
    Kanawha 2342k Preparing to lower one of Kanawha (Fuel Ship #13)'s two main engines into place aboard the ship for installation at Navy Yard Mare Island, Vallejo, CA., 14 August 1914.
    US Navy photo MINSY 15539-8-1914    		 Darryl L. Baker
    Kanawha 194k A deck view looking aft of USS Kanawha (Fuel Ship No. 13) taken at Mare Island Navy Yard, 22 June 1915, with sister USS Maumee (Fuel Ship No. 14) fitting out alongside, inboard. The four masts, each with two long booms, may originally have been intended to handle the 2,182 tons of coal that these two ships were designed to carry as an alternative to their normal cargo of oil. The requirement to carry coal in later ships of this type was deleted in August 1915 and hatches suitable for handling coal are not visible in this deck view.
    US National Archives, RG-19-E, Photo # 19-N-8-12-35 a US Navy Bureau of Ships photo now in the collections of the US National Archives.    		 Mike Green
    Kanawha 213k USS Kanawha (Fuel Ship #13) heading down the Mare Island Channel, 23 June 1915.
    Vallejo Naval & Historical Museum File AO 1 63443-6-15 a US Navy photo now in the collections of the Vallejo Naval & Historical Museum    		 Darryl L. Baker
    Kanawha 75k Aft starboard quarter photo of USS Kanawha (Fuel Ship #13) off Mare Island, 28 June 1915. Note that her bridge superstructure is forward of her forward mast. Some time between this photo and photos in 1919 the bridge was relocated aft of the forward mast.
    Navy Yard Mare Island photo # AO 1 1912-6-15, 6/28/15    		 Darryl Baker
    Kanawha 77k USS Kanawha (Fuel Ship #13) at anchor, location unknown, circa 1915-1917.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 105293, courtesy Shipscribe.com.    		 Mike Green
    Kanawha
    091900163    		 226k A 1918 view of Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, VA. At left is USS Kanawha (Fuel Ship #13), just beyond her is
    USS Proteus (Fuel Ship #9). In the foreground is a monitor, most likely, Purtain in the process of being scrapped. Just beyond her bow is a torpedo boat.
    Photo by International Film Services. Uploaded to Wikimedia, 31 May 2016, by Harley Flowers    		 Robert Hurst
    Kanawha 159k USS Kanawha (Fuel Ship #13) ship's officers on the quarterdeck. From left to right. LCDR William Henry Lee, LT. Winquist, Ensign Kendrick and clerk Berustein. The back of the photo was written on by LCDR Lee and reads "Here is my Strategy Board and a portion of the Quarterdeck rear 4" gun mount. Kanawha anchored where engagement between the Monitor and Merrimac took place in 1864. Winquist, Kendrick and the clerk, Berustein. Hampton Roads March twenty-eight '16". The other portion reads: "Oh you four eyes! not SIX tho!!" refers to LCDR Lee's reference to both his and the photo's recipient wearing eye glasses. Dick Hirtle
    Kanawha 58k USS Kanawha (Fuel Ship #13) underway, circa 1919, location unknown. Robert Hurst
    Kanawha 152k USS Kanawha (Fuel Ship #13) undergoing repairs in drydock, at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, PA., 3 March 1919. USS L-3 (Submarine # 42) is alongside, at left. Note Kanawha's rudder and port side propeller, and propellers on L-3, whose rudder and after diving planes have been removed. Kanawha is still painted in World War I pattern camouflage.
    US Naval Historical Center Photo #: NH 52222, by J.W. Replogle, Philadelphia Navy Yard photographer.    		 Robert Hurst
    Kanawha 205k USS Kanawha (Fuel Ship #13) in Drydock #2, Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, CA., 20 November 1919. Dave Wright
    Kanawha 74k USS Kanawha (Fuel Ship #13) in drydock at the Philadelphia Navy Yard shortly before leaving NOTS to join the train. Throughout WWI USS Kanawha carried oil and seaplanes to Europe.
    US Navy Photo # NR& L (M) 1957 from DANFS.    		 Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret
    Kanawha 115k USS Kanawha (Fuel Ship #13) in drydock at the Philadelphia Navy Yard shortly before leaving NOTS to join the train. Throughout WWI USS Kanawha carried oil and seaplanes to Europe.
    US Navy Photo from DANFS.    		 Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret
    Kanawha 41k USS Kanawha (Fuel Ship #13) moored at San Diego, 23 February 1920. Dave Wright
    Kanawha 80k Some of USS Kanawha's crew (and mascot) while enroute to Coronado Island in the ship's launch, 11 September 1920. Dave Wright
    Kanawha 283k USS Kanawha (AO-1) entering the Panama Canal, circa late-1920. Dave Wright
    Kanawha 57k USS Kanawha at Banderas Bay, Mexico, 2 January 1921. Dave Wright
    Kanawha 182k USS Kanawha at La Union, El Salvador, 10 January 1921. Note the seaplane moored to her stern. Dave Wright
    Kanawha 111k USS Kanawha at La Union, El Salvador, 11 January 1921. Dave Wright
    Kanawha 62k USS Kanawha at anchor, date and location unknown.
    Photo from "U.S.Warships of World War One" with permission from the author Paul H. Silverstone.    		 Robert Hurst
    Kanawha 396k USS Kanawha inboard of USS Neches (AO-5) at Mare Island, 15 Sept. 1923.
    Mare Island Naval Shipyard Photo # MINSY 4644-9-23 now in the collections of the Vallejo Naval & Historical Museum.    		 Darryl Baker
    Kanawha 248k USS Kanawha under way, location unknown, circa 1923. Photo taken from a 1924 calander. Paul Beal
    Kanawha 72k Broadside view of USS Kanawha (AO-1) at anchor in Hawaiian waters, April 1925.
    Navy photo # AO 1 009-4-25.    		 Darryl Baker
    Kanawha 38k Photo of USS Kanawha (AO-1) from a mid 1920-5 scrapbook of a Hawaii cruise of the USS S-42. Ric Hedman
    Kanawha 198k USS Kanawha (AO-1) refueling USS Texas (BB-35), date and location unknown.
    US National Archives photo # 80-G-83099, a US Navy photo now in the collections of the US National Archives.    		 David Merrill
    USS Canisteo (AO-99) Web Site
    Kanawha 91k USS Kanawha (AO-1) with thirteen destroyers alongside, off San Diego, CA., during the early 1920s. Ships present are (from left to right):
    USS Meade (DD-274),
    USS Evans (DD-78),
    USS Kennedy (DD-306),
    USS Aaron Ward (DD-132),
    USS Woolsey (DD-77),
    USS Wickes (DD-75),
    USS Buchanan (DD-131),
    USS Kanawha (AO-1),
    USS Farquhar (DD-304),
    USS Paul Hamilton (DD-307),
    USS Thompson (DD-305),
    USS Reno (DD-303),
    USS Stoddert (DD-302)     and
    USS Philip (DD-76)
    Photographed by Bunnell, 414 E Street, San Diego.
    US Navy photo # NH 98029 A US Naval Historical Center photo for the collection of Chief Quartermaster John Harold, USN.    		 US Naval Historical Center
    Kanawha 98k USS Kanawha (AO-1) at anchor early 1920s, location unknown.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 77266    		 Mike Green
    Kanawha 106k USS Kanawha (AO-1) at anchor, date and location unknown.
    US Navy photo.    		 Jim Kurrasch
    Battleship Iowa Pacific Battleship Center
    Kanawha 191k USS Kanawha (AO-1) at anchor, date and location unknown.
    US Navy photo.    		 Jim Kurrasch
    Battleship Iowa Pacific Battleship Center
    Kanawha 194k Fueling tests conducted between USS Kanawha (AO-1) and USS Arizona (BB-39) in the mid-1920s. (Top) Kanawha playing out towing line. (Lower left) The steam-powered tension engine was a special device installed on Kanawha so that the fuel lines would not drag in the water while fueling astern. (Lower right) The crew sets the steel tension line.
    US Navy photo and text from "Gray Steel and Black Oil: Fast Tankers and Replenishment at Sea in the U.S. Navy, 1912-1995", by Thomas Wildenberg. Published by Naval Institute Press · Annapolis, Maryland     		Robert Hurst
    Kanawha 83k USS Arizona (BB-39) is in tow while fuel is transferred from USS Kanawha (AO-1) via the astern method. Note how the steel tension wire keeps the fuel hose from dipping into the sea.
    US Navy photo and text from "Gray Steel and Black Oil: Fast Tankers and Replenishment at Sea in the U.S. Navy, 1912-1995", by Thomas Wildenberg. Published by Naval Institute Press · Annapolis, Maryland     		Robert Hurst
    Kanawha 108k Starboard quarter view of USS Kanawha (AO-1) photographed circa the early 1920s. Her bridge was moved back between the first two masts, possibly at Philadelphia Navy Yard in early 1919.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command. Photo # NH 103332, courtesy Shipscribe.com.    		 Robert Hurst
    Brazos 195k USS Kanawha (AO-1), USS Cuyama (AO-3), USS Sapelo (AO-11), and USS Brazos (AO-4) at anchor mid-1920s, location unknown.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command catalog # NH 77321, from the scrapbooks of Fred M. Butler. Courtesy of Mrs. C.R. DeSpain, Forrest Knolls, Maryland, 1973.     		US Naval History and Heritage Command
    Kanawha 116k USS Kanawha (AO-1) under way, date and location unknown. Forest Cotton surviving crew member 1943
    Kanawha 125k USS Kanawha (AO-1) near the Mare Island Navy Yard, 6 February 1942. While being overhauled she lost her third mast. She retained her four 4"/50 guns while adding some anti-aircraft guns. Note the triangular flanges reinforcing her narrow bridge.
    US National Archives, RG-19-LCM. Photo # 19-N-28183 a US Navy Bureau of Ships photo now in the collections of the US National Archives, courtesy Shipscribe.com.    		 Robert Hurst
    Kanawha
    091900111    		 162k USS Kanawha (AO-1), probably at Noumea, New Caledonia, as seen from USS Wasp (CV-7) on the eve of the Guadalcanal-Tulagi invasion. Photo is dated 4 August 1942. Other ships present include, at right, USS San Juan (CL-54), an old "flush-deck" destroyer in center, and in the distance a heavy cruiser (left) and a transport (right).
    US National Archives photo # 80-G-K-526, a US Navy photo now in the collections of the US National Archives.    		 Robert Hurst
    Kanawha 90k Broadside view of USS Kanawha (AO-1) off Mare Island, 2 January 1943, in her final configuration.
    Navy Yard Mare Island photo # AO 1 51-1-43, 1/2/43.    		 Darryl Baker
    Kanawha 106k Off centerline view of USS Kanawha (AO-1) off Mare Island, 2 January 1943, in her final configuration. Her four 4"/50 guns have been replaced by two 5"/51 guns, both aft in the enlarged 4" gun sponsons.
    US National Archives, RG-19-LCM. Photo # 19-N-39486, a US Navy Bureau of Ships photo now in the collections of the US National Archives, courtesy Shipscribe.com.    		 Darryl Baker
    Kanawha 57k USS Kanawha (AO-1) on fire at Tulagi Harbor, Solomon Islands, 7 April 1943 after being attacked by Japanese aircraft. Forest Cotton surviving crew member 1943
    Kanawha 48k USS Kanawha (AO-1) on fire at Tulagi Harbor, Solomon Islands, 7 April 1943 after being attacked by Japanese aircraft. Forest Cotton surviving crew member 1943
    Kanawha 106k USS Kanawha (AO-1) on fire at Tulagi Harbor, Solomon Islands, 7 April 1943 after being attacked by Japanese aircraft. Forest Cotton surviving crew member 1943
    Kanawha 59k USS Kanawha (AO-1) on fire at Tulagi Harbor, Solomon Islands, 7 April 1943 after being attacked by Japanese aircraft. Forest Cotton surviving crew member 1943
    Kanawha 103k In Memory of the 19 USS Kanawha (AO-1) crew members lost at Tulagi Harbor, Solomon Islands, 7 April 1943. Forest Cotton surviving crew member 1943
    USS Kanawha (AO-1)
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
    01Werner, Richard, Master (Naval Auxiliary Service)5 June 1915 - 1916
    02Kenndey, William Robert, Master (Naval Auxiliary Service)1916 - 28 April 1917
    03CDR. Dowling, Otto Carl, USN (USNA 1902)28 April 1917 - 1 November 1918
    04CDR. Werner, Richard, USNRF (Return from Sick Leave) 1 November 1918 - 21 June 1919
    05CDR. McBain, David Arthur, USNRF21 June 1919 - 13 December 1919
    06LCDR. Lee, William Henry, USN (USNA 1907)13 December 1919 - ?
    07CDR. Dowling, Otto Carl, USN (USNA 1902)1 July 1922 - 8 June 1919
    08CDR. Smith, Chalres Earl, USN (USNA 1903)8 June 1919 - 18 June 1924
    09CDR. Shipp, Earl Roof, USN (USNA 1905)18 June 1924 - ?
    10CDR. Alexander, George Andrew, USN (USNA 1906)10 June 1926 - 11 June 1927
    11CDR. Scubber, Randolph Perry, USN (USNA 1906)11 June 1927 - 29 June 1928
    12CDR. Keller, Charles Stanley, USN (USNA 1907)29 June 1928 - 18 December 1929
     Decommissioned18 December 1929 - 6 June 1934
    13CDR. West, Clyde Gray, USN (USNA 1908)6 June 1934 - 17 April 1936
    14CDR. Mahoney, John Joseph, USN (USNA 1915)17 April 1936 - 30 June 1937
    15CDR. Webb, Walter Whitfield, USN (USNA 1916)30 June 1937 - 18 February 1938
    16CDR. Reuse, Harry Joseph, USN (Photo as Warrant Machinist WO-1)18 February 1938 - 5 March 1940
    17CDR. Townsend, Rockwell Justus, USN (USNA 1919)5 March 1940 - 1 April 1941
    18CDR. Reed, Kendall Sturtevant, USN (USNA 1919) :RADM1 April 1941 - 26 October 1942
    19CDR. Cross John, Gilbreth, USN26 October 1942 - 5 January 1943
    29LCDR. Bock, Brainard Norton, USN (USNA 1924)5 January 1943- 7 April 1943
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    Fleet Tankers Association
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    Report of Action to Commander South Pacific Force
    Location of the wreck of USS Kanawha (AO-1) in Iron Bottom Sound
    Postal Covers related to the ship
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    Last Updated 26 May 2023