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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

USS Silver Cloud (IX-143)
ex
 USS Alameda (AO-10) (1920 - 1922)
 USS Alameda (Fuel Ship #10) (1919 - 1920)


International Radio Call Sign:
November - Juliet - Romeo - Sierra
 NJRS
USS Silver Cloud 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
Alameda Class Fleet Oiler:
  • Laid down, 16 December 1918, under a USSB contract, at William Cramp & Sons, Ship and Engine Building Co., Philadelphia, PA.
  • Launched, 15 July 1919
  • Commissioned, USS Alameda (Fuel Ship #10), 17 October 1919, CDR. Malcolm P. Nash, USNRF, in command
  • Designated Fleet Oiler (AO-10), 17 July 1920
  • Damaged beyond economical repair by an engine fire, off Cape Henry, VA., 19 November 1921
  • Decommissioned, 29 March 1922, at Norfolk, VA.
  • Struck from the Naval Register, August 1922
  • Sold, 9 August 1922, for commercial service,
  • Entered merchant service in 1925 as SS Olean
  • SS Olean was torpedoed, 15 March 1942 off Cape Lookout by the German U-158
  • Towed into Hampton Roads, VA. where he was first declared a total loss, taken over by the Requestioned by the War Shipping Administration (WSA) in April 1942
  • Returned to service in April 1943 as SS Sweep
  • Acquired by the Navy on a bare-boat basis at Eniwetok, Marshall Islands, 12 July 1944, for use as a Mobile Floating Storage Tanker
  • Commissioned USS Silver Cloud (IX-143), 12 July 1944, LCDR. H. R. Will USNR, in command
  • Decommissioned and delivered, 29 March 1946, to the War Shipping Administration (WSA) at Mobile, AL. for disposal
  • Struck from the Navy Register, 17 April 1946
  • Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, (PD-X-237)21 January 1947, to Pinto Islands Metals Co.
    Specifications:
    Displacement 4,410 t.(lt) 14,450 t.(fl)
    Length 446'
    Beam 58' 2"
    Draft 25' 6"
    Speed 11 kts.
    Complement
    Alameda - 87
    Silver Cloud - 132
    Armament
    Alameda - two 5"/51 guns mounts
    Silver Cloud - one 4" gun mount, one 3"/50 gun mount
    Propulsion
    three oil fired single ended boilers
    one 2,847hp vertical triple expansion steam engine
    one propeller shaft
    one reciprocating steam engine
    single shaft, 2,800shp
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		Size Image Description Source
    USS Alameda (AO-10)
    Alameda
    091901003    		 44k
    Namesake
    Alameda is a large perennial stream in the San Francisco Bay Area. The creek runs for 45 miles from a lake northeast of Packard Ridge to the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay by way of Niles Canyon and a flood control channel.    		 Tommy Trampp
    Alameda 38k USS Alameda (AO-10) moored pierside at Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, VA., 7 March 1921.
    Panoramic photograph by Crosby, "Naval Photographer",324 First Street, Portsmouth, VA.
    Donation of the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard Museum, 1970..
    US Navy photo # NH 103100 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center.    		 US Naval History and Heritage Command
    Merchant Service
    Alameda 145k SS Sweep under way circa 1943 following extensive repairs and augmentation of her armament. This ship, originally USS Alameda (AO-10) operated as SS Olean from 1925 until she was torpedoed twice in the engine room, 15 March 1942. Towed into Hampton Roads, VA., she was first declared a total loss but on 13 June 1942 was requisitioned by the War Shipping Administration and then reconstructed as SS Sweep. She became USS Silver Cloud (IX-143) in 1944.
    Photo Arthur D. Baker III. Photo No. Unknown (possibly 80-G-272245), courtesy Shipscribe.com.     		Robert Hurst
    USS Silver Cloud (IX-143)
    William P Biddle 3417k USS Silver Cloud (IX-143) is alongside of USS William P. Biddle (APA-8) as she discharges troops over the side at Mindoro Island, Philippines, 9 February 1945. David C. Hoover
    USS Alameda (AO-10)
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    USS Silver Cloud (IX-143)
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
    01CDR. Nash, Malcolm P.17 October 1919 - ?Alameda
    01LCDR. Will, Howard Robert12 July 1944 - 12 March 1947Silver Cloud
    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
    MARAD Vessel History Database
    Back To The Navsource Photo Archives Main Page Back To The Service Force Ship Type Index Back To The Fleet Oiler (AO) Photo Index Back To The Miscellaneous Unclassified (IX) Photo Index
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
    All pages copyright NavSource Naval History
    Last Updated 20 November 2020