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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

USS Valencia (AKA-81)


International Radio Call Sign:
November - Hotel - Juliet - Golf
 NHJG
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 (1) - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp)
Tolland Class Attack Cargo Ship:
  • Laid down, 20 May 1944, as a Maritime Commission type (C2-SAJ3) hull, under Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 1389) at North Carolina Shipbuilding Corp, Wilmington, N.C.
  • Launched, 22 July 1944
  • Acquired by the Navy, 18 August 1944
  • Commissioned USS Valencia (AKA-81), 9 January 1945, at Key Highway Plant, Bethlehem Steel Corp. Baltimore, MD., LCDR. Rodney A. Blake, USNR, in command
  • During World War II USS Valencia was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater:
    TransRon Nineteen, COMO. C.D. Edgar;
     TransDiv Fifty-Seven, CAPT. G.F. Galpin USN (21) and participated in the following campaign:

    Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns
    Campaign and Dates
    Okinawa Gunto operation
    Assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto, 17 to 22 April 1945

  • Following World War II USS Valencia was assigned to Occupation service from 25 September to 13 November 1945
  • Decommissioned, 8 May 1946, at Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, VA.
  • Returned to the Maritime Commission, 13 May 1946, for lay up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, James River Group, Lee Hall, VA.
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 21 May 1946
  • USS Valencia earned one battle star for her World War II service
  • Merchant Service
    Sold, 19 December 1947, to Lykes Lines, renamed SS Genevieve Lykes
     Sold, 10 January 1964, T. J. Stevenson and Co., Inc. New York N.Y,, renamed SS Garden City
  • Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, 14 April 1970, to Yu Kuo Steel Co. Ltd., Kaohsiung, Taiwan
    Specifications:
    Displacement 8,635 t.(lt) 14,160 t.(fl)
    Length 459' 2"
    Beam 63'
    Draft 26' 4"
    Speed 16.5 kts.
    Complement
    Officers - 24
    Enlisted - 223
    Largest Boom Capacity 35 t.
    Armament
    one single 5"/38 cal dual purpose gun mount
    four twin 40mm AA gun mounts
    sixteen single 20mm AA gun mounts
    Boats
    fourteen LCVPs
    eight LCMs
    Cargo Capacity 5,275DWT
    non-refrigerated 380,000 Cu ft.
    Fuel Capacities
    NSFO - 10,425 Bbls
    Diesel - 805 Bbls
    Propulsion
    one General Electric geared turbine
    two Foster Wheeler header-type boilers, 450psi 750°
    double General Electric Main Reduction Gear
    three 300Kw 120V/240V D.C. Ships's Service Generators
    single propeller, 6,000shp
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    USS Valencia (AKA-81)
    Valencia 130k Valencia (AKA-81) underway in 1944 with the assistance of tugs off her builders yard, North Carolina Shipbuilding Corp, Wilmington, N.C.
    US National Archives photo # 19-N-77394 a US Navy Bureau of Ships photo now in the collections of the US Naval History and Heritage Command    		 US Naval History and Heritage Command
    Valencia 51k USS Valencia (AKA-81) at anchor, date and place unknown. Bruce Coffyn for his father Clarence Frank Coffyn, PHm USS Tyrrell, Courtesy Fred Gast USS Tyrrell
    Valencia 159k USS Valencia (AKA-81) underway, circa 1945-1946, location unknown.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 80015, courtesy of James Russell.    		 US Naval History and Heritage Command
    Merchant Service Lykes Bros. Steamship Line J. J. Stevenson Lines
    Valencia 78k Ex-USS Valencia (AKA-81) underway in merchant service as the Lykes Bros. Cargoliner SS Genevieve Lykes approaching Bremen, Germany, circa late 1950s. Gerhard Mueller-Debus
    Valencia 180k SS Genevieve Lykes working cargo at Hamburg, Germany in 1960 while in merchant service for the Lykes Bros. Gerhard Mueller-Debus
    Valencia 63k Ex-USS Valencia (AKA-81) underway in merchant service as the T. J. Stevenson and Co. SS Garden City working cargo at Bremerhaven, Germany in August 1968. Photo by Gerhard Mueller-Debus
    Valencia 67k SS Garden City working cargo at Bremerhaven, Germany in August 1968. Photo by Gerhard Mueller-Debus
    USS Valencia (AKA-81)
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
    01LCDR. Blake, Rodney Alfred USNR9 January 1945 - ?
    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
    USS Valencia (AKA-81) War Diaries January 1944 to November 1945
    MARAD Vessel History Database
    Back To The Navsource Photo Archives Main Page Back To The Amphibious Ship Type Index Back To The Amphibious Cargo Ship (AKA) Photo Index
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
    All pages copyright NavSource Naval History
    Last Updated 15 March 2019