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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

USS Kailua (IX-71)


International Radio Call Sign:
November - Xray - Papa - Whiskey
 NXPW
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Precedence of awards is from left to right
American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal - World War II Victory Medal
  • Launched in 1923 as SS Dickenson, at Sun Shipbuilding & Drydock Co., Chester, PA.
  • Prior to WWII SS Dickenson served as a cable ship for Commercial Pacific Cable Co., tasked with laying communication networks, repairing cable and carrying supplies between 1923 and 1941, serving Midway and Fanning Island. During this period she was also chartered by British Telco Cable and Wireless Ltd. to evacuate company employees from Fanning Island during the first two year of WWII prior to the U.S.'s official involvement in the war
  • Acquired by the Navy, 19 May 1942
  • Commissioned USS Kailua (IX-71), 5 May 1943, LT. Carl R. Bower in command
  • During World War II USS Kailua was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater, Service Squadron Seven
  • Decommissioned, 29 October 1945, at Pearl Harbor, T. H.
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 19 December 1946
  • Final Disposition, intentionally torpedoed in February 1946 twenty miles off Oahu, HI. coming to rest upright in 2,000 ft. of water
    Specifications:
    Displacement 1,411 t. (lim)
    Length 189' 9"
    Beam 30'
    Draft 15' 9" (lim)
    Speed 9 kts. (trial)
    Complement
    Officers 7
    Enlisted 54
    Armament
    one single 3"/50 gun mount
    four .50 cal. machine guns
    two depth charge tracks
    Fuel Capacity
    NSFO 1,300 Bbls
    Propulsion
    one vertical triple-expansion steam engine
    two Scotch boilers, 185psi, &Sat
    single propeller
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    Commerical Service
    Kailua
    094607102    		 61k Commercial Pacific Cable Company's cable-laying ship SS Dickenson, date and location unknown.
    John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland    		 Robert Hurst
    USS Kailua (IX-71)
    Kailua 50k USS Kailua (IX-71) underway, 17 July 1943, location unknown.
    US Navy photo         		Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret.
    USS Kailua (IX-71)
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
    01LT. Bower, Carl R.5 May 1943 - ?
    02LT. Markham, Charles A.30 September 1944 - ?
    03LT. Peabody, Julian L.January 1945 - ?
    04ENS. Reimer, Arthur J.27 October 1945 - 29 October 1945
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 30 June 2023