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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

Contributed by Mike Smolinski

Contributed by Al Grazevich

USS Regulus (AF-57)

International Radio Call Sign:
November - Lima - Uniform - Juliet
NLUJ
JANAP Tactical Voice Radio Call Sign - Debutante (V)ictor - Section 6A of JANAP 119(F) 1968

Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
National Defense Service Medal (2) - Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (6-Vietnam) - Vietnam Service Medal (11) - Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal

Denebola Class Provisions Store Ship:

Laid down, 29 April 1944, as SS Escanaba Victory, a Maritime Commission type (VC-2-S-AP3) hull, under Maritime Commission contract (MCV hull 112), at Oregon Shipbuilding Corp., Portland, OR.

Launched, 7 June 1944

Delivered to the Maritime Commission, 29 June 1944

Acquired under a General Agency Agreement by American South African Lines, 29 June 1944

Acquired under a Bare Bottom Charter by American Export Lines Inc., 13 June 1946

Returned to the Maritime Commission, 18 August 1948, for lay up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, Wilmington, N.C.

Acquired under GAA agreement by American Export Lines Inc., 6 August 1950

Bare Bottom Charter, 25 August 1950, by American Shipping & Trading Co.

Acquired by the Navy Department from the Maritime Administration (MARAD), 5 May 1952

Converted for Naval service as a Provisions Store Ship at Todd Shipyard, Brooklyn, N.Y.

Commissioned USS Regulus (AF-57), 3 February 1954, CDR. John D. Lautaret in command

Title transferred to the Navy "as is where is", 5 May 1952

During the Vietnam War USS Regulus (AF-57) participated on the following campaigns:

Campaigns and Dates	Campaigns and Dates
Vietnam War Campaigns
Vietnamese Counteroffensive 20 to 27 March 1966 7 to 11 April 1966 26 to 30 April 1966	Vietnam Summer-Fall 1969 22 to 28 October 1969
Vietnamese Counteroffensive - Phase II 30 September to 13 October 1966 22 October to 1 November 1966 14 to 25 May 1967	Vietnam Winter-Spring 1970 7 to 13 November 1969 11 to 17 December 1969
Vietnamese Counteroffensive - Phase III 22 June to 10 July 1967	Sanctuary Counteroffensive 15 to 29 June 1970
Tet Counteroffensive 9 to 15 February 1968 7 to 15 March 1968 25 March to 1 April 1968	Vietnamese Counteroffensive - Phase VII 16 July to 3 August 1970 14 August to 5 September 1970 8 to 21 September 1970 6 to 17 April 1971 24 to 25 April 1971 3 to 7 May 1971 19 to 28 May 1971 6 to 23 June 1971
Vietnamese Counteroffensive - Phase IV 2 April 1968	Consolidation I 10 to 16 July 1971 29 to 31 July 1971
Vietnamese Counteroffensive - Phase VI 24 November to 7 December 1968 13 to 23 December 1968

Final Disposition, grounded on a reef at Kau Yi Chau Island during Typhoon Rose, 16-17 August 1971, damaged beyond economical repair

Decommissioned, and struck from the Naval Register, 10 September 1971

USS Regulus earned 11 campaign stars for Vietnam War service

Specifications:
Displacement 4,960 t.(lt) 11,900 t.(fl)
Length 455' 3"
Beam 62'
Draft 28' 6"
Speed 16 kts.
Complement 250
Armament

four twin 3'/50 dual purpose gun mounts
Propulsion geared turbine engine, single propeller, 8,500shp

Click On Image For Full Size Image	Size	Image Description	Contributed By
Merchant Service American South African Lines (Farrell) American Export Lines
	57k	SS Escanaba Victory under way with tugs, circa 1944-48, location unknown.	Richard Miller BMCS USNR Ret.
USS Regulus (AF-57)
0913001404	49k	*Namesake* Regulus is the brightest object in the constellation Leo and one of the brightest stars in the night sky.	Tommy Trampp
	125k	*USS Regulus* (AF 57)** pierside at the Brooklyn Navy Yard with, USS PC-1208 in the foreground. circa 1954.	Courtesy Bob Daly USS PC-1181
	74k	*USS Regulus* (AF 57) replenishing the destroyer USS O'Bannon (DD-450) and the aircraft carrier USS Shangri-La (CVA-38). Shangri-La*, with assigned Air Task Group 3* (ATG-3), was deployed to the Western Pacific from 5 January to 23 June 1956. US Navy photo from the USS Shangri-La (CVA-38) 1956 cruise book.	Robert Hurst
	80k	*USS Regulus* (AF 57)** under way at San Francisco Bay in September 1957. Photo by ©Allied Photographers of San Francisco.	Robert M. Cieri
	39k	*USS Regulus* (AF 57)** at anchor in Japan, circa 1950s.	Richard Miller BMCS USNR Ret.
	1235k	*USS Regulus* (AF 57)** under way, date and location unknown.	David Buell
	162k	*USS Regulus* (AF 57)** pierside at Sasebo, Japan in 1959,	Richard Miller BMCS USNR Ret, Courtesy Swenson
	110k	*USS Regulus* (AF 57) under way while alongside USS Platte (AO-24)** in the Tonkin Gulf, circa 1960s	Richard Miller BMCS USNR Ret.
09065717	299k	*USS Regulus* (AF 57)** under way in Subic Bay, Republic of the Philippines in 1962. US Navy photo	Don Ellis USS Regulus 1962-63
	42k	*USS Regulus* (AF 57) alongside USS Ticonderoga (CVA-14)** while conducting an underway replenishment in WestPac, circa 3 January to 15 July 1963	Sal Vacca, AE2, VAW-11 Detachment Bravo, USS Ticonderoga (CVA-14)
	286k	*USS Regulus* (AF 57) center, during an underway replenishment with the guided missile destroyer USS Cochrane (DDG-21) and the antisubmarine warfare aircraft carrier USS Kearsarge (CVS-33)** while operating on "Yankee Station" in the Gulf of Tonkin in November 1966,	Robert M. Cieri
	103k	*USS Regulus* (AF 57) under way in the South China Sea in 1967. Photo taken from USS Bausell (DD-845)**	Photo by Lee Noland STGC, USN Ret. USS Bausell.
	64k	*USS Regulus* (AF 57)** under way outbound to sea from San Diego, date unknown.	Richard Miller BMCS USNR Ret.
	321k	*USS Regulus* (AF 57)** arriving at Vancouver, B. C. and being assisted by a tug, 18 July 1968. City of Vancouver Archives, Photo No. AM1506-S3-3-: CVA 447-7741, by Walter E. Frost	Mike Green
	34k	*USS Chara* (AE-31) and USS Regulus (AF-57)** moored pierside at NAS Alameda, October 1968.	Richard Miller BMCS USNR Ret.
	98k	*USS Regulus* (AF 57) steams alongside USS America (CVA-66)** in the Pacific Ocean during an underway replenishment in 1970. US Navy photo.	Richard Miller BMCS USNR Ret.
	118k	*USS Regulus* (AF 57)** aground on a reef at Kau Yi Chau Island off the coast of Hong Kong following the passing of Typhoon Rose on 16-17 August 1971.	Richard Miller BMCS USNR Ret USS Vega
	1237k	*USS Safeguard* (ARS-25) (inboard) and USS Grasp (ARS-24) (outboard) conducting salvage operations of USS Regulus (AF-57)** after she ran aground on a reef at Kau Yi Chau Island off the coast of Hong Kong following the passing of Typhoon Rose on 16-17 August 1971. US Navy photo	Joseph Colombara USS Abnaki
09065718	153k	*USS Regulus* (AF 57)** lying aground on the hard rock and sand of Kau Yi Chau Island in Hong Kong harbor, showing the break in her hull caused by Typhoon Rose. Cut apart, her bow and stern were floated to a junkyard and sold. >i>"Mud, Muscle, and Miracles: Marine Salvage in the United States Navy."" 2nd Edition. Captain Charles A. Bartholomew, USN, and Commander William I. Milwee, Jr., USN, (Ret.). Naval History and Heritage Command, Naval Sea Systems Command, Department of the Navy, Washington, D.C., 2009.	Robert Hurst
	550k	*USS Regulus* (AF 57)** plaque presented to departing Commanding Officer (Feb. 1962 - Feb 1963), CAPT. Walter C. Klein USN.	Kurt Klein for his father CAPT. Walter C. Klein USN

USS Regulus (AF-57)
Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)

Commanding Officers
01	CDR. Lautaret, John Daniel	3 February 1954 - February 1955
02	CDR. Klippel, Randolph	February 1955 - 1957
06	CAPT. Klein, Walter Charles	16 February 1962 - 16 February 1963
07	CAPT. Dahllof, Robert Lawrence	16 February 1963 - 30 April 1964
08	CAPT. Cain, James Bernice, USN	30 April 1964 - January 1965
09	CAPT. Gendron, Edward Wilson	1966 - 1967
11	CAPT. Finlay Jr., Robert Wilson, USN (USNA 1946)	1968 - 1969
12	CAPT. Fuller, Jack Darling	1969 - 1970
13	CAPT. Austin, Kenneth Burdette, USN	1970 - 1971
14	CAPT. Nelson, Frederick Louis	1971 - 10 September 1971


Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves

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

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Last Updated 16 September 2022