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USNS Kiska (T-AE 35)

USNS KISKA was the eighth and final ship in the KILAUEA - class of Ammunition Ships. She was named for Kiska, the volcanic island in Alaska's Aleutian chain that was occupied by Japanese forces on June 7, 1942, during World War II and evacuated by them shortly before American and Canadian forces landed there on August 15, 1943. Decommissioned on August 1, 1996, KISKA was transferred to the Military Sealift Command (MSC) the same day and her hull number was changed to T-AE 35. She continued to operate under Military Sealift Command's control until she was deactivated at Pearl Harbor, Hi., on January 13, 2011. On May 30, 2013, Navy title to the former ammunition ship was transferred to the United States Maritime Administration for disposal. She was subsequently taken to Brownsville, Texas, where the ship was dismantled and recycled.

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Crew List:

This section contains the names of sailors who served aboard USS/USNS KISKA. It is no official listing but contains the names of sailors who submitted their information.

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USS/USNS KISKA History:

KISKA was laid down on April 8, 1971, at Pascagoula, Mississippi, by the Ingalls Shipbuilding Division of Litton Systems, Inc. She was launched on March 11, 1972, sponsored by M. Angelique Kidd, wife of Admiral Isaac C. Kidd Jr., and commissioned at Charleston, South Carolina, on December 16, 1972, with Captain Jerred R. Rockwood in command.

Following commissioning, KISKA transferred to the Pacific Fleet and spent the opening part of 1973 completing the training, trials and preparations necessary to bring the new ammunition ship to full operational status. She subsequently operated primarily from the West Coast, with Naval Weapons Station Concord, California, becoming her long-term home port during commissioned service. Concord's ammunition facilities made it particularly suitable for a ship whose principal task was loading, transporting and redistributing naval ordnance. From California, KISKA developed a deployment pattern that repeatedly took her across the Pacific to Hawaii, the Philippines and Japan and, on many cruises, farther west through Southeast Asian waters into the Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf.

One of KISKA's earliest documented extended overseas operations occurred late in 1973. On November 9, 1973, she departed Subic Bay, Philippines, in company with USS BADGER (DE 1071) and USS BREWTON (DE 1086), bound for the Persian Gulf region to participate in Exercise Midlink '73. The three ships called at Singapore while crossing toward the Indian Ocean and reached Bandar Abbas, Iran, on November 23. Iran under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was then a close strategic partner of the United States, and Bandar Abbas was becoming increasingly important to naval cooperation between the two countries. Midlink was a multinational Central Treaty Organization exercise intended to improve coordination among participating forces in waters leading to and within the Persian Gulf. KISKA remained associated with the exercise until its conclusion on December 2. Following a short liberty period at Bandar Abbas, KISKA, USS BADGER and USS BREWTON departed on December 3. The ships again visited Singapore during the eastward passage and returned to the Philippines later in December.

KISKA continued Pacific Fleet and Seventh Fleet logistics operations during 1974 before returning to California. The ship returned to the Western Pacific in 1975 during the final weeks of the long American involvement in Indochina. On April 17, USS BADGER departed Pearl Harbor and rendezvoused with USS HAROLD E. HOLT (DE 1074), USS SCHOFIELD (DEG 3) and KISKA for the voyage westward. The formation stopped at Guam for fuel on April 28 and continued toward the Philippines. The ships arrived at Subic Bay on May 4, only four days after the evacuation of Saigon and the collapse of South Vietnam.

A new regional crisis developed almost immediately. On May 12, 1975, Cambodian Khmer Rouge forces seized the American merchant ship MAYAGUEZ in international waters near Cambodia. The ship's crew was taken captive, and the United States rapidly assembled available naval and air forces in the Gulf of Thailand. KISKA departed Subic Bay and provided logistics support for naval forces involved in the response from May 14 through May 22.

On May 15, Marines and sailors operating from USS HAROLD E. HOLT boarded the abandoned MAYAGUEZ while United States Marines were simultaneously inserted by Air Force helicopters onto Koh Tang. Aircraft from USS CORAL SEA (CVA 43) and United States Air Force aircraft struck Cambodian military targets. The MAYAGUEZ crew had in the meantime been released by the Khmer Rouge and was recovered at sea. Following the operation, KISKA visited Sattahip, Thailand, from May 22 through May 27 before returning to normal Seventh Fleet operations.

A cruise record documents another Western Pacific deployment during 1976-1977. KISKA remained active during 1978. On April 24, USS KANSAS CITY (AOR 3) conducted alongside qualification work with KISKA while preparing for deployment. Such exercises allowed crews to practice maintaining the close and precisely controlled formation necessary for connected replenishment while cargo and fuel-transfer equipment was rigged between moving ships.

Later that year, KISKA operated with carrier forces in the Western Pacific. On October 26, 1978, she conducted a vertical replenishment with USS CONSTELLATION (CV 64). Helicopters transferred ammunition or associated cargo between the ships while they remained underway. A KISKA cruise book covers the broader 1978-1979 deployment.

The strategic importance of the Indian Ocean increased sharply during the closing years of the 1970s. Political upheaval in Iran culminated in the Iranian Revolution during 1979, followed by the seizure of the United States Embassy in Tehran on November 4 and the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan in December. The United States responded by increasing the frequency and duration of naval deployments to the Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea. Ammunition ships such as KISKA were essential to maintaining carrier and surface forces far from major United States naval bases because they allowed ordnance to be transferred without requiring combatants to leave their operating areas.

Another KISKA cruise book covers a 1980-1981 deployment. During that cruise, she operated deep into the Indian Ocean logistics system. On January 28 and January 29, 1981, while USS TARAWA (LHA 1) was anchored at Diego Garcia, KISKA conducted a vertical replenishment with the amphibious assault ship. Diego Garcia had assumed growing importance as a logistics and support location for United States forces operating in the Indian Ocean following the Iranian Revolution and the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan.

A different type of mission developed in May 1982. On May 8, USNS CHAUVENET (T-AGS 29), an oceanographic survey ship, ran hard aground on Dauisan Reef in the Cagayan Islands of the Sulu Sea while proceeding from Subic Bay toward survey areas in Indonesia. The grounding damaged the ship's hull and flooded several compartments. USS BRUNSWICK (ATS 3) assumed responsibility for the salvage effort. KISKA was among the ships providing logistical assistance to the operation, together with USS SAN JOSE (AFS 7) and USNS NARRAGANSETT (T-ATF 167). Divers and salvage personnel worked to stabilize and refloat CHAUVENET while the supporting ships helped sustain operations at the remote reef.

KISKA subsequently undertook a 156-day Western Pacific and Indian Ocean deployment that was described in detail in a contemporary Navy account. During that cruise, she carried out several assignments extending beyond routine ammunition replenishment. One required the removal of navigation-aid facilities from the Indonesian islands of Lari Larian, Togo Togo and Dyang Dyangan. Two CH-46 Sea Knights from Helicopter Combat Support Squadron Eleven, Detachment Eight, operated from KISKA during the work. Over eleven days, the helicopters and ship recovered personnel, equipment and cargo from the three locations.

The same deployment involved substantial fleet logistics activity. KISKA transferred more than 4,219 tons of ammunition and 2,335 tons of other freight during connected and vertical replenishment operations. Her helicopters and cargo-handling facilities were also used to transfer approximately 14,800 pounds of mail and 1,668 personnel.

While crossing the South China Sea during this deployment, KISKA encountered Vietnamese refugees in distress and rescued 83 people. The rescue occurred during the continuing Southeast Asian refugee crisis in which large numbers of Vietnamese attempted dangerous voyages in small and frequently unseaworthy vessels. The event became part of KISKA's recognized humanitarian-service record.

The deployment also included a nine-day visit to Australia, during which KISKA was at HMAS Stirling near Perth. A Hong Kong visit also occurred during the cruise. For the final portion of the deployment, 44 family members and guests embarked at Pearl Harbor for a Tiger Cruise to California. Approximately 50 miles from Hawaii, KISKA rendezvoused with USNS TALUGA (T-AO 62) for replenishment exercises. These included connected replenishment at forward and amidships stations as well as helicopter vertical replenishment aft, providing both practical fleet training and shiphandling experience during the homeward passage.

KISKA was again documented operating with carrier forces in the Western Pacific on June 5, 1983, when she supported the battle group centered on USS MIDWAY (CV 41). UH-46 Sea Knights transferred cargo during the logistics evolution. During 1984, KISKA remained active in the Western Pacific logistics system and prepared for the deployment documented in her 1984-1985 cruise book. By January 1985, she was supplying USS CARL VINSON (CVN 70) during Indian Ocean and North Arabian Sea operations. On January 12, the carrier conducted an ammunition transfer with KISKA, receiving 64 lifts while transferring 20 lifts in the opposite direction. On January 13, KISKA and USS CARL VINSON conducted a connected replenishment involving another 90 lifts.

The two ships met repeatedly during the following months as USS CARL VINSON remained in the Indian Ocean. On March 7, 1985, a combined connected and vertical replenishment resulted in 135 lifts being transferred to the carrier and 30 transferred from it. These repeated ammunition movements supported prolonged carrier operations during the Iran-Iraq War and a period of sustained American naval activity in the northern Indian Ocean.

On April 15, 1985, USS CARL VINSON conducted an ammunition offload with KISKA. The two ships met again on May 14 for another ammunition underway replenishment as the deployment approached its later stages.

A record confirms another KISKA deployment during 1986-1987. On July 7, 1987, she conducted a particularly large ammunition transfer with USS ENTERPRISE (CVN 65). During the evolution, 456 pallets were transferred from KISKA to the carrier.

An unusual emergency occurred during local operations in March 1988. On March 28, KISKA was operating with USS KANSAS CITY and other units en route toward Southern California for training. On the afternoon of March 29, USS KANSAS CITY suffered a complete loss of electrical power after its emergency diesel generator failed during engineering casualty-control drills. When the replenishment oiler's crew was unable to restore electrical service promptly, KISKA took USS KANSAS CITY in tow and proceeded toward Long Beach Naval Shipyard. Early on March 30, engineers aboard USS KANSAS CITY succeeded in restoring electrical power. The tow was released, and the ships were able to resume their scheduled training.

Later in 1988, KISKA began another Western Pacific and Indian Ocean deployment, documented by a 1988-1989 cruise book. During the autumn she formed part of a group proceeding west toward the Persian Gulf at the end of the Iran-Iraq War. The group included USS BENJAMIN STODDERT (DDG 22), USS WADDELL (DDG 24), USS HEPBURN (FF 1055), USS BARBEY (FF 1088), KISKA and USS WILLAMETTE (AO 180).

The ships reached Subic Bay and remained there from October 7 through October 11 before continuing west. The group later visited Hong Kong and departed there on October 20. After passing through the Strait of Malacca, the ships reached the northern Arabian Sea on October 30. Iran and Iraq had accepted a cease-fire effective August 20, ending the active phase of their eight-year war. During the preceding Tanker War, the United States Navy had escorted reflagged Kuwaiti tankers and confronted Iranian forces in the Persian Gulf. By the time KISKA's group arrived, naval operations were shifting from intensive convoy protection toward a continuing regional presence and readiness posture. KISKA supplied ammunition support within that force.

KISKA remained active through 1989 and into 1990. The strategic situation in Southwest Asia changed abruptly on August 2, 1990, when Iraq invaded Kuwait. The United States and an expanding multinational coalition began moving large military forces to the region under Operation Desert Shield. KISKA departed on August 14, 1990, for a deployment that ultimately lasted until May 15, 1991. During Operation Desert Shield, KISKA became part of the extensive logistics network supporting the large concentration of American naval forces in the Persian Gulf, Gulf of Oman and Arabian Sea. Ammunition requirements increased sharply as carriers and surface combatants prepared for possible hostilities against Iraq. KISKA's mission was to move ordnance forward from logistics bases and ammunition storage locations and transfer it at sea to ships remaining in operational areas.

Operation Desert Storm began on January 17, 1991. United States and coalition carrier aircraft and surface ships conducted intensive combat operations against Iraqi forces, creating a continuing requirement for aviation ordnance, missiles, gun ammunition and other supplies. KISKA supported the wartime logistics system throughout the conflict. Her overall Persian Gulf War deployment continued until May 15, 1991. During the homeward movement after the Gulf War, KISKA visited Western Australia. Contemporary documentation places her together with USS FLINT (AE 32) at HMAS Stirling in March 1991. The Australian stop formed part of the extended return passage from Southwest Asia to the Pacific.

On January 10, 1992, KISKA was involved in an environmental incident approximately 15 nautical miles southwest of the Farallon Islands off northern California. A failed flange in a lubricating-oil pump allowed several hundred gallons of lubricating oil to enter the bilges, creating a potential fire hazard. To eliminate the immediate safety problem, approximately 900 gallons of oily water, waste and lubricating oil were discharged overboard. Because the ship was near the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary, the Navy reported the discharge to the National Response Center and Coast Guard personnel monitored the situation. An aerial inspection subsequently found no visible oil, and the case was closed on January 11.

KISKA returned to routine carrier-support operations soon afterward. On March 4, 1992, she participated in an ammunition offload with USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN (CVN 72) in the northern California operating area. The evolution formed part of an underway period extending from March 2 through March 5 and was typical of the major carrier ammunition transfers KISKA conducted between extended overseas deployments.

The ship spent much of 1993 and the opening part of 1994 in a cycle of maintenance, training, inspections and preparations for further Pacific operations. KISKA began another major Western Pacific and Persian Gulf deployment from Naval Weapons Station Concord in November 1994. The deployment lasted approximately six months and placed her in the logistics force supporting the battle group centered on USS CONSTELLATION. The carrier force subsequently operated in the Persian Gulf in support of Operation Southern Watch, the continuing enforcement of the no-fly zone over southern Iraq.

By early April 1995, KISKA had steamed more than 23,000 miles during the deployment. She had transferred more than 4,000 tons of ammunition and ordnance, delivered more than 340,000 gallons of fuel and moved additional cargo, mail and supplies to more than 20 ships. Documented overseas visits during the cruise included ports in Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, Kenya and the United Arab Emirates. The deployment acquired an additional mission when KISKA was assigned to support Operation United Shield off Somalia. United Shield covered the final withdrawal of United Nations forces from Somalia at the end of February and beginning of March 1995. United States naval and Marine forces provided security while the remaining United Nations contingents withdrew through Mogadishu. KISKA transported and transferred ammunition, supplies, mail, equipment and personnel in support of the naval force and moved logistics material through Mombasa, Kenya.

USS ESSEX (LHD 2) provides several precisely documented examples of KISKA's activity during the operation. On February 7, 1995, USS ESSEX conducted underway and vertical replenishment operations with USNS WALTER S. DIEHL (T-AO 193) and KISKA. USS ESSEX arrived off Mogadishu on February 8. On February 11, KISKA conducted connected and vertical replenishment with USS ESSEX, followed by another documented vertical replenishment on February 16. CH-46 Sea Knights operated between KISKA and ships of the force as the withdrawal operation continued. The final United Nations forces left Somalia in early March.

After completion of the East African assignment, KISKA continued through the Indian Ocean and Western Pacific before returning to California. Later in 1995, she again became involved in large carrier ammunition movements. On September 26 and September 27, USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN conducted a major ordnance offload to KISKA. The overall evolution involved 1,451 lifts and approximately 2,229 tons of ordnance.

During October 1995, KISKA worked with USS CARL VINSON as that carrier prepared for its forthcoming Western Pacific and Arabian Gulf deployment. The carrier conducted ammunition loading from KISKA over three consecutive days as part of its predeployment preparations.

By the mid-1990s, the Navy was increasingly transferring large fleet auxiliaries from commissioned Navy operation to the Military Sealift Command. KISKA nevertheless remained a commissioned Navy ship through most of 1996. On August 1, 1996, she was decommissioned at the Fleet and Industrial Supply Center in Oakland, California, ending almost 24 years of commissioned service as USS KISKA. KISKA did not leave operational service. On the same day, she was placed in service with the Military Sealift Command's Naval Fleet Auxiliary Force as USNS KISKA (T-AE 35). Most of her uniformed Navy crew was replaced by civilian mariners, while a smaller military element remained for specialized Navy functions. In Military Sealift Command service KISKA was unarmed. Her fundamental mission, however, remained the same: transporting ammunition to forward operating areas and transferring it to Navy ships underway.

KISKA spent the late 1990s operating within the Military Sealift Command logistics system and undergoing the maintenance and modifications associated with continued operation by a predominantly civilian crew. Photographic documentation places her in San Diego in October 1997. She subsequently returned to regular Pacific Fleet ammunition-support duties.

On January 12, 2000, KISKA conducted a substantial vertical replenishment with USS JOHN C. STENNIS (CVN 74). During approximately five hours, the carrier received and stowed 83 ammunition lifts from KISKA. The evolution occurred during the opening phase of the carrier's deployment toward the Western Pacific and helped establish its operational ammunition inventory before arrival in forward operating areas.

KISKA remained heavily involved in Seventh Fleet logistics during 2001. On February 12, USS KITTY HAWK (CV 63) was operating in the Philippine Sea when it simultaneously received fuel from USNS RAPPAHANNOCK (T-AO 204) and ammunition by vertical replenishment from KISKA. On April 30, 2001, shortly after departing Saipan, USS CHANCELLORSVILLE (CG 62) conducted a vertical replenishment with KISKA. The cruiser received seven pallets of ammunition at its forward vertical-replenishment station.

KISKA continued Pacific operations during 2002. In December, she was documented near Astoria, Oregon, following a dry-docking period. Such maintenance periods became increasingly important as the steam-powered ammunition ship approached three decades of service and required recurring hull, machinery and structural work to remain available for overseas operations.

Early in 2003, KISKA supported an unusual salvage project at Ulithi Atoll in the Federated States of Micronesia. The Navy was conducting an operation to remove oil remaining aboard the wreck of USS MISSISSINEWA (AO 59), which had been sunk at Ulithi by a Japanese kaiten attack on November 20, 1944. USNS SALVOR (T-ARS 52) was among the ships supporting the recovery operation. On February 18, 2003, KISKA entered Ulithi through an unmarked channel with assistance from the civilian vessel JAYA MARLIN and anchored in the northeastern part of the atoll. She delivered perishables and mail for USNS SALVOR. JAYA MARLIN ferried the supplies from KISKA to a salvage barge, from which they were moved onward to USNS SALVOR.

Within weeks, KISKA was supporting combat operations associated with Operation Iraqi Freedom, which began on March 20, 2003. On April 5, while operating in the Arabian Gulf, KISKA conducted an ammunition transfer with USS CONSTELLATION. An SH-60 Seahawk transferred ordnance from KISKA to the carrier while naval aviation operations over Iraq continued. On April 8, KISKA supported another major carrier ammunition evolution, this time with USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN in the North Arabian Sea. Helicopters moved ordnance during an offload as the carrier's operational requirements changed following combat operations. After leaving Middle Eastern waters, KISKA continued through the Indo-Pacific region. Australian government records document her visit to Darwin from June 18 through June 23, 2003.

A major redistribution of ammunition among Military Sealift Command auxiliaries occurred during May 2004. As USNS FLINT prepared to leave the Seventh Fleet operating area, it transferred nearly 4,000 separate loads of ordnance material to KISKA during a five-day period. At the same time, USNS FLINT received nearly 1,500 loads from USNS SHASTA (T-AE 33). The operation redistributed the ammunition inventories among the vessels that would continue supporting forward-deployed forces.

On July 20, 2004, KISKA conducted an underway replenishment with USS KITTY HAWK in the Pacific. KISKA's deck crews handled transfer equipment while signalmen coordinated communications between the ships. USS KITTY HAWK was then operating during the period of Summer Pulse 2004, when several carrier strike groups were simultaneously deployed or exercising under the Navy's Fleet Response Plan.

KISKA continued supplying USS KITTY HAWK during the following year. On February 14, 2005, the ships conducted a documented vertical replenishment, and another VERTREP followed on February 22. By this period, MH-60S Seahawks were increasingly replacing the older CH-46 Sea Knights in the Navy's vertical-replenishment role, while KISKA continued performing essentially the same ammunition-transfer mission for which she had originally been designed.

On November 11, 2005, KISKA operated in the Sea of Japan with USNS FLINT and USNS SHASTA following a major cross-deck operation involving approximately 1,500 pallets of ordnance distributed among the three ammunition ships. The operation allowed Seventh Fleet logistics planners to adjust the ships' ammunition inventories according to future deployments, maintenance requirements and operating schedules.

On May 10, 2006, KISKA conducted another vertical replenishment with USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN in the South China Sea. An MH-60S Seahawk assigned to Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 25 transferred loads from KISKA to the carrier's flight deck while USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN and its embarked air wing conducted regional operations.

On February 17, 2007, KISKA conducted a vertical replenishment of ordnance with USS RONALD REAGAN (CVN 76) in the Pacific. MH-60S helicopters moved ammunition between the ships while the carrier operated during a surge deployment to the Western Pacific. The two ships worked together again on March 28, 2007, during the period of the annual United States-Republic of Korea Reception, Staging, Onward Movement and Integration/Foal Eagle exercise. In the South China Sea, USS RONALD REAGAN came alongside KISKA for an ordnance offload, reducing and redistributing part of the carrier's weapons inventory during the Western Pacific operating cycle.

KISKA also visited Australia during 2007. Australian records document her arrival at Brisbane on July 20 and departure on July 24. The visit took place during a period of extensive United States-Australian naval activity following Exercise Talisman Saber 2007, although the available ship-specific documentation does not establish that every aspect of KISKA's Australian movements formed part of the exercise itself.

KISKA remained operational during 2008 as part of the Military Sealift Command Pacific logistics force. By this time, however, the Navy was progressively replacing specialized ammunition ships and combat-stores ships with the new LEWIS AND CLARK-class dry cargo/ammunition ships, which were designed to combine several logistics functions in a single platform.

KISKA was still conducting regular carrier replenishments in 2009. On February 7, she carried out a vertical replenishment with USS JOHN C. STENNIS during the carrier's scheduled Western Pacific deployment. MH-60S Seahawks transferred cargo between the vessels, and civilian mariners aboard KISKA handled loads beneath the hovering helicopters.

The arrival of the LEWIS AND CLARK-class eventually brought KISKA's long operational career to an end. USNS MATTHEW PERRY (T-AKE 9) entered the Seventh Fleet logistics system and formally relieved KISKA of her forward support role on October 30, 2010. At the time, KISKA was operated by approximately 133 Civil Service Mariners. USNS MATTHEW PERRY could transport both ammunition and general stores, allowing a single vessel to assume functions that had previously been divided among several specialized auxiliary types.

After being relieved, KISKA departed the Seventh Fleet operating area and proceeded toward deactivation. Her operational career ended at Pearl Harbor in mid-January 2011, approximately 38 years after her commissioning. KISKA remained in government custody after deactivation. On May 30, 2013, Navy title to the former ammunition ship was transferred to the United States Maritime Administration for disposal. She was subsequently taken to Brownsville, Texas, where the ship was dismantled and recycled.

KISKA's official awards included a Joint Meritorious Unit Award, two Navy Unit Commendations, three Navy Meritorious Unit Commendations and four Navy Battle Efficiency "E" awards, together with expeditionary, campaign and humanitarian recognition associated with operations including the Mayaguez crisis, Persian Gulf and Southwest Asia service and the rescue of Southeast Asian refugees.

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USS/USNS KISKA Image Gallery:

The photo below was taken by Karl-Heinz Ahles and shows USNS KISKA at San Diego, Calif., in October 1997.

The photos below were taken by me and show the KISKA laid up at Pearl Harbor, Hi., on March 6, 2012. There, the KISKA (center) is laid up alongside her sistership SHASTA (T-AE 33)[right].

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