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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

USS Basilan (AG-68)


International Radio Call Sign:
November - Quebec - Quebec - Yankee
NQQY
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - China Service Medal (extended) - American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal
Bottom Row - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp) - Philippines Liberation Medal
Basilan Class Miscellaneous Auxiliary
  • Projected as Internal Combustion Engine Repair Ship (ARG-12)
  • Laid down, 5 February 1944, as SS Jacques Phillipe Villere, a Maritime Commission type (EC-2-S-C1) hull under a Maritime Commission contract (MCE hull 2460) at Delta Shipbuilding Corp., New Orleans, LA.
  • Renamed, Basilan designated Miscellaneous Auxiliary (AG-68), date unknown
  • Launched, 21 March 1944
  • Acquired by the Navy, 24 April 1944, and placed in reduced commission, LCDR. James H. Graves Jr., USNR (Ferry Crew # 5) in command
  • Converted to a Miscellaneous Auxiliary at Waterman Steamship Co., Mobile AL.
  • Decommissioned, 24 April 1944
  • Commissioned USS Basilan (AG-68), 10 October 1944, LCDR. Lawrence A. Parks, USNR, in command
  • During World War II USS Basilan was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater
  • Following World War II USS Basilan was assigned to Occupation and China service in the Far East for the following period:

    Navy Occupation Service Medal
    China Service Medal (extended)
    17 September to 9 December 194517 September to 9 December 1945

  • Decommissioned, 14 May 1946, at Pearl Harbor, T.H.
  • Towed to Drake's Bay, CA. and turned over the Maritime Commission, 14 May 1946
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 28 May 1947
  • Transferred to the Maritime Commission, 15 August 1947, for lay up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, Suisun Bay, Benecia, CA.
  • Final Disposition, sold, 2 November 1970, to Zidell Explorations, Inc., for scrapping (PD-X-886), removed, 17 February 1971
    Specifications:
    Displacement 5,371 t.(lt) 14,350 t.(fl)
    Length 441' 6"
    Beam 56' 11"
    Draft 23'
    Speed 12.5 kts.
    Complement
    Officers 15
    Enlisted 166
    Staff Accommodations
    Officers 13
    Enlisted 733
    Largest Boom Capacity 36 t.
    Armament
    one single 5"/38 cal dual purpose gun mount
    four single 40mm AA gun mounts
    twelve single 20mm AA gun mounts
    Fuel Capacities
    NSFO 8,435 Bbls
    Diesel 740 Bbls
    Propulsion
    one Albina vertical triple-expansion reciprocating engine
    two Babcock and Wilcox header-type boilers, 220psi 450°
    three turbo-drive 150Kw 120V D.C. Ship's Service Generators
    single propeller, 2,500shp
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed By/Source
    Basilan
    09291207    		 120k USS Basilan (AG-68) underway probably in Mobile Bay, AL. or Gulf of Mexico, 13 October 1944. She is painted in Camouflage Measure 33, Design 9D. Photos taken by an aircraft from Naval Air Station Pensacola, FL.
    09291207- U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command. Photo # NH 89194
    09291206 - U.S. Navy Bureau of Ships. Photo ID: 80-G-282587, from usndazzle.com    		 Robert Hurst
    Basilan
    09291208    		 106k
    Basilan
    19-N-91477    		 90k USS Basilan (AG-68) underway in San Francisco Bay, 27 March 1945, after overhaul.
    US National Archives, RG-19-LCM, photo #'s 19-N-91477 & 19-N-91476, US Navy Bureau of Ships photos now in the collections of the US National Archives, courtesy Shipscribe.com.    		 Robert Hurst
    Basilan
    19-N-91476    		 75k
    Basilan 176k USS Basilan (AG-68) at San Francisco, 28 March 1945. The ship has had many features added since her original conversion. New items (possibly fitted during this overhaul) include the radar test stands (with antennas) on the bow, additional cargo booms, and the landing craft carried above the large ship's boats forward.
    US National Archives, RG-19-LCM, photo # 19-N-91481, a US Navy Bureau of Ship photos now in the collections of the US National Archives, courtesy Shipscribe.com.    		 Robert Hurst
    Basilan 72k USS Basilan (AG-68) moored in the Whangpoo River at Shanghai, China, 14 October 1945.
    US National Archives, photo, courtesy Sh
    Basilan
    09291205    		 95k USS Basilan (AG-68) at anchor, probably at Shanghai, China, in October 1945.
    US Navy photos from the USS Basilan (AG-68) 1944-1945 cruise book    		 Robert Hurst
    Basilan
    09291206    		 143k
    USS Basilan (AG-68)
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
     LCDR. Graves Jr., James Henry, USNR (Ferry Crew # 5)24 April 1944 - 24 April 1944
     Decommissioned24 April 1944 - 10 October 1944
    01LCDR. Parks, Lawrence Arthur, USNR10 October 1944 - 22 April 1946
    02CDR. Kiley, Francis Marion, USNR7 January 1946 - 22 January 1946
    03ENS. Cocubinsky, John, USNR22 January 1946 - 27 March 1946
    04LCDR. Randall Jr., John Albert,USNR27 March 1946 - 22 April 1946
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    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 Ship Photo Index Back To the Internal Combustion Engine Repair Ship (ARG) Photo Index Back To the Miscellaneous Auxiliary (AG) Photo Index
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 22 November 2024