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USNS Kilauea (T-AE 26)

- formerly AE 26 -
- Military Sealift Command -
- decommissioned -
- sunk as target -



First ship in the Navy named after the volcano on the Island of Hawaii, the USNS KILAUEA was the lead ship of the KILAUEA - class of Ammunition Ships and the first ship in her class transferred to the Military Sealift Command. Stricken from the Navy list on September 15, 2008, the KILAUEA was laid up at Pearl Harbor for the following years. A live-fire exercise, part of Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2012, sank the KILAUEA in waters 15,480 feet deep, 63 miles off the coast of Kauai at 9:32 a.m. June 22, 2012.

General Characteristics:Awarded: March 30, 1965
Keel laid: March 10, 1966
Launched: August 9, 1967
Commissioned: August 10, 1968
Decommissioned: October 1, 1980
MSC "in service": October 1, 1980
Deactivated: September 15, 2008
Builder: General Dynamics, Quincy, Massachusetts
Propulsion system: 3 Foster-Wheeler boilers; 600 psi (42.3kg/cm²); 870°F (467°C); 1 turbine, 22,000 hp (16.4 MW); Automated Propulsion System (APS)
Propellers: one (six bladed)
Length: 564,3 feet (172 meters)
Beam: 81 feet (24.7 meters)
Draft: 28 feet (8.5 meters)
Displacement: approx. 20,000 tons full load
Speed: 20 knots
Aircraft: two CH-46 helicopters
Armament: none
Crew: 125 civilians, 55 naval personnel (including a helicopter detachment)


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Crew List:

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


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Accidents aboard USS/USNS KILAUEA:

DateWhereEvents
July 2, 1976Richmond, Ca.A fire breaks out in the main engine room of USS KILAUEA while it is drydocked for overhaul at Richmond, Ca.


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USNS KILAUEA SinkEx:

The video below shows the KILAUEA being sunk as a target during exercise RIMPAC 2012 off the Hawaiian Islands on June 22, 2012.




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The photo below was taken by me and shows the KILAUEA at Alameda, Calif., on July 18, 2006. At the time, she was already in reduced operating status (ROS90), able to be fully activated within 90 days.



The photo below was taken by me and shows the KILAUEA at Alameda, Calif., on March 11, 2008. Although the Navy's Naval Vessel Register indicates the KILAUEA as being (deactivated and?) stricken in September 2008, the ship does not fly the national ensign on this photo. Most likely, the KILAUEA was already deactivated when the photo below was taken (in March 2008).



Stern view of the KILAUEA at Pearl Harbor, Hi., while laid-up between an LSD and an AFS. The photo was taken by me on March 20, 2010.



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