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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

USS Merapi (AF-38)

International Radio Call Sign:
November - Xray - Hotel - Oscar NXHO

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - China Service Medal (extended)
Second Row - American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (1) - World War II Victory Medal
Third Row - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp) - National Defense Service Medal - Korean Service Medal (5)
Fourth Row - Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation (2) - United Nations Service Medal - Republic of Korea War Service Medal (retroactive)

Adria Class Stores Ship:

Laid down, 14 August 1944, as a Maritime Commission type (R1-M-AV3) hull, under Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 2202) at Pennsylvania Shipyards, Inc, Beaumont, TX.

Launched, 4 October 1944

Acquired by the Navy, 5 March 1945

Converted for Naval service at Todd Dry Dock Co., Galveston, TX.

Commissioned USS Merapi (AF-38), 21 March 1945, LT. William W. Wood in command

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

Campaign and Dates
Asiatic-Pacific Campaign
Okinawa Gunto operation Assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto, 14 to 19 June 1945

During the Korean War USS Merapi participated in the following campaigns:

Campaign and Dates	Campaign and Dates
Korean War Campaigns
Communist China Aggression 13 to 21 December 1950	UN Summer-Fall Offensive 12 July 1951
First UN Counter Offensive 25 to 27 March 1951 21 April 1951	Third Korean Winter 23 to 24 March 1953
Communist China Spring Offensive 22 to 23 April 1951 15 to 16 May 1951 6 to 7 June 1951 28 June to 1 July 1951

Following World War II and during the Korean War USS Merapi was assigned to Occupation and China service in the Far East for the following periods:

Navy Occupation Service Medal	China Service Medal (extended)
12 January to 24 April 1946	12 January to 24 April 1946
16 October to 5 November 1946	24 March to 9 April 1948
	24 June to 24 July 1948
	26 July to 20 September 1948
	8 to 14 December 1949
	11 to 13 March 1951
	26 April to 2 May 1951
	28 May to 2 June 1951
	4 to 7 July 1951

Decommissioned, 16 January 1959, at Astoria, OR.

Laid up in the Pacific Reserve Fleet

Struck from the Naval Register, 1 July 1960

USS Merapi earned one battle star for World War II service, five for the Korean conflict, and was twice awarded the Korean Presidential Unit Citation

Laid up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, at Astoria, OR., 11 December 1959

Sold by the Maritime Administration, 22 April 1966, for non-transportation use, to Marine View Inc. for conversion to fish processing plant, named Sonya, delivered 23 May 1966

Sold in 1969 to Roy C. Furfiord, Seattle, WA. as fish factory barge, name retained

Sold in 1977 to Northwest Venture, Inc. as a fish factory barge, renamed Northwest Venture

Out of documentation by 1989.

Final Disposition, fate unknown.

Specifications:
Displacement 3,139 t.(lt) 6,240 t.(fl)
Length 338'
Beam 50'
Draft 21' 1" (lim)
Speed 11.5 kts. (trial)

Complement

Officers 10

Enlisted 76

Largest Boom Capacity 10 t.

Cargo Capacity 3,170 DWT

Refrigerated 114,580 Cu ft.

Non-refrigerated 47.610 Cu ft.

Armament

one single 3"/50 cal dual purpose gun mount

six single 20mm AA gun mounts

Fuel Capacity

Diesel 6,300 Bbls

Propulsion

one Nordberg, TSM Diesel engine

three Diesel-drive 250Kw 120V/240V D.C. Ship's Service Generators

single propeller, 1,700shp

Click On Image For Full Size Image	Size	Image Description	Contributed By
09063810	124k	*USS Merapi* (AF-38)** underway off the Texas coast, probably just after her commissioning on 21 March 1945. She is painted in Camouflage Measure 32, Design 6AO. U.S. Navy Bureau of Ships photo BS 80353	Robert Hurst
	61k	*USS Merapi* (AF-38)** at anchor, date and location unknown	Tommy Trampp
09063808	127k	*USS Merapi* (AF-38) anchored at Roi, Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Islands in 1946 while replenishing the aircraft carrier USS Shangri-La (CV-38)*. U.S. Navy photo from the USS Shangri-La (CV-38) 1944-1946 cruise book*	Robert Hurst
	61k	*USS Merapi* (AF-38)** underway (Stern view from Aft of Center Line) in Sinclair Inlet off Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, WA., 24 July 1947. US Naval Shipyard Puget Sound photo # NY8-823 now in the collections of the US National Archives, Seattle Branch.	Tracy White
	58k	*USS Merapi* (AF-38)** underway (Bow view, approximately 45° off Center Line) in Sinclair Inlet off Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, WA., 24 July 1947. US Naval Shipyard Puget Sound photo # NY8-822 now in the collections of the US National Archives, Seattle Branch.	Tracy White
	64k	*USS Merapi* (AF-38)** underway (Broadside view, Starboard Side) in Sinclair Inlet off Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, WA., 24 July 1947. US Naval Shipyard Puget Sound photo # NY8-821 now in the collections of the US National Archives, Seattle Branch.	Tracy White
09063809	467k	Overhead view of USS Merapi (AF-38) likely taken from the Golden Gate Bridge circa 1947-51 as she entered San Francisco Bay. Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum	Darryl Baker
	78k	*USS Merapi* (AF-38)** leaving Pearl Harbor for Kwajalein and Eniwetok in the summer of 1957. The deck cargo was for Kwajalein.	Ron Berwick DK3 USS Merapi
	243k	*USS Merapi* (AF-38)** underway, possibly in the entrance channel to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, circa early-1958 near the end of her active naval career. The gun visible aft is a 3"/50 weapon. US National Archives photo # USN 1033595, a US Navy photo now in the collections of the US national Archives.	US Naval History and Heritage Command

USS Merapi (AF-38)
Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)

Commanding Officers
01	LCDR. Wood Jr., William Wilson, USNR	21 March 1945 - 9 December 1945
02	LCDR. Marker, Eugene Frederick, USN	9 December 1945
03	LCDR. Nichols, Robert Greene, USN	5 July 1948 - 27 September 1949
04	LCDR. Livingston, Carlton Stanley, USN	1950 - September 1951
05	LCDR. Chance, Ray Edward, USN	September 1951 - September 1952
06	LCDR. Van Over, Roswell, USN	September 1952 - ?
07	LCDR. Davis Luna Alonzo, USN	? - 23 May 1958
08	LCDR. Waller Jr., William, USN	23 May 1958 - 16 January 1959


Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves

Crew Contact And Reunion Information Web Sites
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

Last Updated 5 May 2024