Notes
Note N22
Index
USS Orion (AS-18) was a Fulton-class submarine tender of the United States Navy. She was laid down 31 July 1941 at the Moore Dry Dock Company, Oakland, California; launched 24 June 1942; sponsored by Mrs. Robert A. White; and commissioned 30 September 1943, Capt. C. S. Isgrig in command.
Post-war, 1945-1993
As the formal surrender documents were being signed in Tokyo Bay, Orion was en route to the United States. Assigned to the Atlantic Fleet, she operated off the east coast for four months, then sailed south to Balboa, C. Z. Taking up duties with SubRon 6, 24 January 1946, she remained in the Panama Canal Zone, with one interruption for overhaul, until 11 May 1949. Then, with SubRon 6, she steamed to Norfolk, her new homeport.
After that change of homeport, Orion continued to service SubRon 6 at Norfolk and, during fleet exercises, in the Caribbean Sea. A FRAM II overhaul and conversion to nuclear support, 6 September 1960 - 25 February 1961, was followed by refresher training off Cuba. In June; her first nuclear submarine job came alongside in the form of Shark (SSN-591). Three years later she added foreign nuclear submarines to her long list of services performed after completing work on HMS Dreadnought. Support of SubRon 6, however, continued to be Orion’s primary mission. Into 1970 she serviced the conventional and nuclear-powered ships of that squadron from the Destroyer/Submarine Piers at Norfolk.
Orion again changed homeport to La Maddalena, Italy, servicing ships of the Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean Sea until 1993, when she was relieved by the Simon Lake. Orion returned to the United States and was decommissioned 3 September 1993. Ex-Orion was transferred to the Maritime Administration for storage 1 May 1999 and sold to North American Ship Recycling, Baltimore, Maryland to be dismantled on 27 July 2006.
At the time of her decommissioning in 1993, Orion was the oldest active ship in the US Navy's fleet. Accordingly, she flew the "Don't Tread On Me" flag toward the end of her service.
Notes
Note N23
Index
USS Dobbin (AD-3) is the name of a United States Navy destroyer tender of World War II, named after James Cochrane Dobbin, the Secretary of the Navy from 1853 to 1857.
Dobbin was launched on 5 May 1921 by the Philadelphia Navy Yard. She was commissioned on 23 July 1924, and served for 22 years before being decommissioned on 27 September 1946, and transferred to the United States Maritime Commission for disposal.
Attack on Pearl Harbor
Dobbin was present during the attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941. At the time of the attack she was moored northeast of Ford Island with five destroyers, USS Phelps (DD-360), USS Macdonough (DD-351), USS Worden (DD-352), USS Dewey (DD-349) and USS Hull (DD-350).[1]
Dobbin's watched helplessly as Japanese planes targeted Battleship Row, but as the battleships each took heavy damage the Japanese pilots looked for other targets. The aircraft seeing that the ship had admiral flags[1] tried to bomb Dobbin but the ship only took shrapnel damage.
Dobbin's small craft spent the morning picking up survivors and taking the wounded to shore. The ship picked up hundreds of sailors from other ships and when she left the harbor in search of the Japanese fleet had 200 men from USS Raleigh (CL-7) alone aboard.[1]
World War II
After the attack, Dobbin served in the Hawaiian area until May 1942 and then she was sent to Sydney, Australia. Dobbin was one of several Allied vessels located in Sydney Harbor during the Japanese midget submarine attack of 31 May 1942.[2] On 25 June 1943 she was sent to Brisbane, Mackay, Townsville, and Cleveland Bay, Australia, before arriving at Milne Bay, New Guinea, 30 September 1943. She stayed near New Guinea until 14 February 1945 at which point she returned to America and decommissioned 27 September 1946, and transferred to the Maritime Commission for disposal 24 December 1946.
Dobbin received one battle star for World War II service.
Notes
Note N24
Index
USS Titania (AK-55/AKA-13) was an Arcturus-class attack cargo ship named after Titania, one of the moons of the planet Uranus. She served as a commissioned ship for 13 years, beginning in 1942.
Korean War
When fighting broke out in Korea on 25 June 1950, Titania was at Yokohama. Early in July, she carried troops, cargo and the 8055th M.A.S.H. unit from Naha to Pusan, docking there 7 July;[1] then returned to Japan to embark marines and troops of the 1st Cavalry Division for the assault on Pohang. Underway on 16 July, the darkened ship crossed the Japanese Inland Sea and passed between Kyūshū and Honshū through the Shimonoseki Strait, arriving off the assault area at 04:15 on 18 July. Debarkation was uneventful; and, by 22:25, her landing craft had returned to the ship, their mission completed. Titania remained anchored at Geitjetsu Wan until 23 July when she got under way for Yokosuka.
Following the Pohang operation, the transport returned to the United States, arriving at San Diego on 7 August. There, she began taking on ammunition and marine cargo; but in the early hours of 15 August, before the loading had been completed, a fire broke out in her number 1 boiler. Within three hours, the fire was brought under control, but the damage incurred required two weeks of repairs. It was 3 September before Titania got under way for Japan. As she crossed the Pacific, she skirted Typhoon Missatha, encountering 53-knot (98 km/h; 61 mph) winds before she arrived at Kobe on 21 September.
On 25 September, only 10 days after the initial landings at Inchon, Titania arrived off that port to unload marines, equipment, and ammunition, and to embark members of the 1st Naval Beach Group. Although Titania did not come under fire, frequent alerts and the sights and sounds of night shore bombardment made this a tense operation. Her mission completed, Titania departed Inchon on 1 October. She made additional voyages to Inchon and Wonsan carrying combat cargo before getting under way from Yokohama on 17 November 1950 for San Francisco.
After the Korean War and decommissioning
Until the signing of the armistice on 27 July 1953, the Titania continued to carry men and cargo between American ports and the Orient. Much of her time was spent rearming and provisioning ships at sea in the waters off Korea. Rough seas, rain, and snow hampered the ship's operations during the winter months, taxing the resilience and resourcefulness of her crew on many occasions. Following the cessation of hostilities in the summer of 1953, Titania remained in the Far East operating out of Japanese ports and in Korean waters until February 1954 when she returned to San Francisco.
On 15 July 1954, the Titania departed San Francisco steaming, via the Hawaiian Islands and Japan, for the Philippines. She operated out of Subic Bay until October when she visited Hong Kong and Sasebo before getting under way from Japan on 6 November. After spending the early months of 1955 in California ports, Titania was decommissioned on 19 July 1955. Her name was struck from the Navy List on 1 July 1961 and she was sold for scrap to China Trade & Development Corp. on 10 July 1974.[2]