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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

USS Carondelet (IX-136)

International Radio Call Sign:
November - Juliet - Quebec - Kilo
 NJQK
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - American Campaign Medal
Bottom Row - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal - World War II Victory Medal - Philippine Liberation Medal
Mobile Floating Storage Tanker:
  • Built in 1921 as SS Brennero at Societa Escercizio Bacini, Riva Trigossa, Italy
  • Seized in 1941 at New York by Maritime Commission under an Executive Order dated 6 June 1941
  • Placed under Panamanian registry, renamed SS Gold Heels
  • Assigned to Keystone Shipping Co. under GAA agreement at Hoboken, N.J., 2 February 1942
  • Transferred to the US Navy from the War Shipping Administration (WSA), 24 February 1944
  • Commissioned, USS Carondelet (IX-136), 4 April 1944, LT. W. W. Morphew, USNR, in command
  • During World War II USS Carondelet was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater
  • Decommissioned, 25 February 1946
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 12 March 1946
  • Returned to the War Shipping Administration at Mobile AL. 25 February 1946
  • Returned to Italian Government per Executive Order 9935 signed by President Truman, 16 March 1948
  • Final Disposition, fate unknown
    Specifications:
    Displacement 4,500 t.(lt) 11,780 t.(lim)
    Length343'
    Beam 59' 4"
    Draft 24' 10"
    Speed 10 kts.
    Complement
    11 officers
    144 enlisted
    Armament
    one 5"/38 dual purpose gun mount
    three twin 40mm AA gun mounts
    eight single 20mm AA gun mounts
    Fuel Capacity
    NSFO 4,375 Bbls
    Propulsion
    one vertical triple expansion steam engine
    two water tube boilers
    two turbo-drive 20Kw 120V. D.C. Ship's Service Generators
    single propeller
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    SS Gold Heels (War Shipping Administration)
    Carondelet 84k SS Gold Heels at anchor circa 1942-1943. location unknown. Note the experimental Pugliese underwater side protection system fitted to her during construction is conspicuous in the form of large external bulges.
    Photo from Arthur D. Baker III collection, courtesy Shipscribe.com    		 Robert Hurst
    Carondelet 104k SS Gold Heels (ex-SS Brennero) under way in port, 18 February 1943. This ship became USS Carondelet (IX-136) in 1944.
    Photo from Arthur D. Baker III collection, courtesy Shipscribe.com    		 Robert Hurst
    USS Carondelet (IX-136)
    Carondelet
    094613606    		 406k
    Namesake
    Carondelet - formerly a separate village in St. Louis County, Mo., it is now a a neighborhood in the extreme southeastern portion of city of St. Louis, Missouri. It was incorporated as an independent city in 1851 and was annexed by the City of St. Louis in 1870. Carondelet was named after Baron Carondelet, the governor of the Spanish colony Upper Louisiana. The community also held a number of names and nicknames over the centuries, including: Delor's Village, Catalan's Prairie, Louisbourg, Vide Poche, and Sugarloaf (Wikipedia)
    Photo ©Onegentlemanofverona, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons    		 Tommy Trampp
    Carondelet 50k USS Carondelet (IX-136) moored pierside at Subic Bay, 1945. Ed Brinkman for his grandfather William F. Watt, S1/c USNR USS Carondelet
    Carondelet 97k USS Carondelet (IX-136) crew photo taken at Subic Bay, 1945. Ed Brinkman for his grandfather William F. Watt, S1/c USNR USS Carondelet
    Carondelet 30k USS Carondelet (IX-136) refueling USS LST-1000, Subic Bay, 1945. Bob Cornmesser USS Carondelet
    USS Carondelet (IX-136)
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    MARAD Vessel History Database
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
    All pages copyright NavSource Naval History
    Last Updated 2 June 2023