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GTS Adm. Wm. M. Callaghan (T-AKR 1001)

Initially built for the American Export Isbrandtsen Lines shipping company, the ship was delivered in 1967 and subsequently chartered by the Military Sea Transportation Service (later Military Sealift Command). Named after Admiral William M. Callaghan - the first commander of the MSTS - the ship was not assigned a hull number nor was it entered in the Naval Vessel Register. Transfered to the MARAD Ready Reserve Force on December 10, 1986, the ADM. WM. M. CALLAGHAN was later designated T-AKR 1001. Today, the ship is berthed at Alameda, Calif., capable of being fully activated within 5 days.

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Crew List:

This section contains the names of sailors who served aboard GTS ADM. WM. M. CALLAGHAN. It is no official listing but contains the names of sailors who submitted their information.

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About the Ship's Name:

William McCombe Callaghan - born on 8 August 1897 to Charles William and Rose [Wheeler] Callaghan, of Oakland, Calif., - was appointed a midshipman from the Sixth District of California on 11 June 1915. Detached from the U.S. Naval Academy on 6 June 1918, the graduation of the Class of 1919 accelerated because of the World War, he reported to WISCONSIN (BB 9) on 21 June, and was commissioned ensign the same day, to rank from 7 June.

Ordered to duty with the Destroyer Force, Ens. Callaghan was detached from the battleship at Queenstown, Ireland, on 12 July 1918, and reported on 5 August to STEVENS (DD 86). He was appointed lieutenant (junior grade) (temporary) on 25 October, to rank from 21 September. Detached from STEVENS on 15 December, he joined ALLEN (DD 66) the same day. Transferred to CHAMPLIN (DD 104) for temporary duty on 28 July 1919, Callaghan was detached from that ship upon her arrival on the west coast of the U.S., to proceed to the Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, Calif., where he helped fit out HAMILTON (DD 141) (July-November 1919), after which time he served as her engineer officer, being formally detached from temporary duty in CHAMPLIN on 22 August 1919.

Lt. (j.g.) Callaghan helped fit out NICHOLAS (DD 311), building at the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp., San Francisco, Calif., then, after her being commissioned on 23 November 1920, served as her engineer officer. For almost two and a half years, Callaghan then served in a succession of destroyers: DENT (DD 116) (4 January -10 June 1921), FARQUHAR (DD 304) (18 June-10 August 1921), TWIGGS (DD 127) (12 August-11 October 1921) (during which tour he wed Helen Louise Brunett of Rockville, Md., on 24 August 1921) and SLOAT (DD 316) (11 October-9 June 1923). During that time, he was commissioned regular lieutenant (j.g.) (25 August 1921) while he was performing engineering duty in TWIGGS, and he was commissioned a regular lieutenant four days before Christmas of 1922, to rank from 3 June.

Detached from SLOAT on 9 June 1923, Lt. Callaghan reported back to the Naval Academy on 25 June to attend the Postgraduate School, for instruction in engineering, schooling that included temporary duty at the Philadelphia (Pa.) Navy Yard; Columbia University, New York City, N.Y.; and the Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Co, Pittsburgh, Pa. Detached on 3 September 1925, Callaghan then took passage in the store ship BRIDGE (AF 1) for the voyage to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where he joined the light cruiser CONCORD (CL 10) on 19 October 1925.

Following a shore tour at the Bureau of Engineering, in Washington, D.C. (24 November 1928 – 2 May 1930), Lt. Callaghan returned to sea duty soon thereafter. Detached from the bureau, he reported to SARATOGA (CV 3) on 5 June 1930, and became her assistant engineer officer on 30 December 1931. While serving in the carrier, Callaghan received a promotion to ad interim lieutenant commander on 1 November 1932 (to rank from 2 August), then to regular lieutenant commander on 30 January 1933 (to rank from 1 July 1932). Detached from SARATOGA on 28 May 1933, Lt. Cmdr. Callaghan returned to the Naval Academy, where he served as an instructor (30 June 1933–27 May 1936).

Callaghan returned to sea duty, reporting to assume command of REUBEN JAMES (DD 245) on 15 June 1936. Detached from that destroyer on 5 March 1938, he became executive officer of the transport HENDERSON (AP 1) 12 days later, on 17 March, and while serving in that ship received promotion to ad interim commander on 23 September 1938, to rank from 23 June, and to regular commander on 23 January 1939, to rank from 23 June 1938. Detached from HENDERSON on 26 May 1939, Cmdr. Callaghan received orders to report to the office of the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO), in Washington, to serve in the Ships’ Movement Division, and did so on 6 June 1939, three months before war broke out in Europe with the German invasion of Poland.

Detached on 8 August 1941, Cmdr. Callaghan reported to the American Embassy in London, England, two days later, and served a brief tour as a naval observer there (10 August-9 September), reporting back to the office of the CNO on 11 September. He continued on duty in Washington through U.S. entry into World War II with the attack on Oahu by Japanese carrier planes on 7 December 1941, and into the first summer of the war, at which time he received orders on 6 July 1942 to report to Adm. Chester W. Nimitz, Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet (CinCPac), for duty on his staff. A little over two months later, on 11 September, Callaghan received appointment as captain for temporary service, to rank from 17 June. He received the Legion of Merit for his “exceptionally meritorious conduct as Assistant War Plans Officer for Logistics and Assistant Logistics Officer” for the period between 10 July 1942 and 1 May 1944.

Service in that capacity served as a prelude to Callaghan’s receiving command of the new battleship MISSOURI (BB 63), the third ship of the IOWA (BB 61) - class.

Ordered to “temporary duty [in] connection [with] fitting out” the new warship, he assumed command when MISSOURI was commissioned on 11 June 1944. Arriving in the forward areas in February 1945, the battleship provided support for the carriers that launched the first mass air strike against the Japanese home islands (16-17 February), furnished close support for the carriers as they operated against Iwo Jima, against Tokyo (25-27 February), and reprised her work with the carriers at Iwo Jima (1 March). Soon thereafter, MISSOURI took part in a two-day sweep off the Japanese coast line, and the initial bombardment of Okinawa (24 March).

On April 11, 1945, USS MISSOURI was struck by a kamikaze off the coast of Okinawa. The damage was minor, and no one died aboard this battleship except the Japanese pilot, Setsuo Ishino, whose body was recovered. Captain Callaghan insisted that the young Japanese airman had done his job to the best of his ability and with honor and deserved a military funeral. The following day, April 12, 1945, the pilot was given a military funeral at sea.

Callaghan commanded MISSOURI until 15 May 1945 (relieved at Ulithi by Capt. Stuart S. Murray) and was promoted to rear admiral (for temporary service) two days later, on 17 May. Returning to duty on CinCPac’s staff (May-July 1945), he then journeyed back to Washington and the Navy Department, becoming Assistant Chief of Naval Operations (Transportation) and Chief of the Naval Transportation Service (NTS), during which time the NTS returned nearly 3,500,000 servicemen from Pacific areas for demobilization after the cessation of hostilities. He then served as Commander, Training Command, Atlantic Fleet (13 August 1948). Becoming Commander, Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS) on 15 September 1949, he served in that capacity, receiving promotion to vice admiral on 11 April 1951, until December of 1952.

After serving as Commander, Amphibious Force, Pacific Fleet (December 1952 – March 1954), and Commander, Naval Forces, Far East (March 1954 – November 1956), Vice Admiral Callaghan closed out his naval career as Commander Western Sea Frontier (November 1956 – March 1957). He retired with the permanent rank of rear admiral on 1 March 1957, but was advanced to vice admiral on the retired list by Act of Congress.

Vice Admiral Callaghan died at Bethesda National Naval Medical Center (NNMC) on 8 July 1991 following a stroke.

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GTS ADM. WM. M. CALLAGHAN History:

GTS ADM. WM. M. CALLAGHAN (T-AKR 1001) emerged from a mid-1960s U.S. requirement for a fast, vehicle-centric sealift ship that could move rolling cargo quickly without depending on shore cranes. In early 1965, the Military Sea Transportation Service began seeking an industry solution for a commercial roll-on/roll-off design suitable for defense cargoes, and in October 1965 a contract was let that ultimately produced a large, purpose-built ro/ro with an unconventional propulsion plant. Built at Sun Shipbuilding and Dry Dock in Chester, Pennsylvania, for Sunexport Holdings Corp. of Wilmington, Delaware, the ship was launched on October 17, 1967 and delivered on December 19, 1967. On the same day it was placed into service under time charter to the Military Sea Transportation Service. From the outset, the ship's configuration reflected its mission: extensive vehicle decks connected by internal ramps, roll-on/roll-off access via multiple sideports and a stern ramp, and supplementary lift-on/lift-off capability via heavy booms and smaller cargo booms to handle outsized items or conventional cargo when needed. Just as distinctive was the propulsion concept. The ship entered service as an all-gas-turbine-powered ro/ro - an early attempt to pair rapid start, high speed, and simplified plant layout with large-deck military logistics. The original Pratt & Whitney FT-4 installations proved troublesome in practice, and by 1969 they were being replaced with the first production examples of the General Electric LM2500 marine gas turbine, an engine family that would later become widespread in U.S. naval service.

Because the ship operated under a defense charter, much of its day-to-day trading and routing during the late 1960s and 1970s was not published in the same way as commercial liner schedules, but the ship is specifically credited in government vessel records with supporting Vietnam War-era sealift tasks - precisely the kind of heavy rolling-cargo movement the design was built to perform. One unusually well-documented Cold War movement followed soon afterward and illustrates the ship's niche. In August 1969, GTS ADM. WM. M. CALLAGHAN loaded a battalion-sized package of Pershing 1-A missile system equipment in a drive-on/drive-off configuration at Port Canaveral, Florida, and carried it across the Atlantic to the North Sea port of Bremerhaven, West Germany. The cargo then rolled off for onward road movement to a staging area near Fischstein, Germany, where the "swap" of older equipment for the new Pershing 1-A configuration could be conducted incrementally while units maintained readiness. In strategic terms, this was part of the broader NATO posture in Europe, where U.S. Army theater missiles and rapid reinforcement logistics were central to deterrence planning. In practical terms, it was a demonstration of why a high-throughput ro/ro mattered - vehicles and mission gear could be driven aboard in Florida, carried at speed, and driven off in Germany with minimal port time.

After nearly two decades of operational use under the Military Sea Transportation Service and its successor organizations, GTS ADM. WM. M. CALLAGHAN transitioned from day-to-day employment into reserve sealift. In 1985, it was transferred into the Maritime Administration's Ready Reserve Fleet, an asset pool maintained for rapid activation during crises. The administrative record then becomes more date-explicit. On June 25, 1987, the ship entered the Reserve Fleet, and on July 1, 1988, title transferred to the Maritime Administration. A withdrawal on December 14, 1989, was followed by re-entry on January 16, 1990, reflecting the ship's managed readiness cycle as it shifted between preservation status, maintenance, and activation preparation.

That cycle was overtaken by events in the Persian Gulf in 1990. Following Iraq's invasion of Kuwait on August 2, 1990, and the rapid U.S. decision to build and sustain a large coalition force in the region, the Ready Reserve Force began activating surge sealift ships. On August 10, 1990, GTS ADM. WM. M. CALLAGHAN was activated for the Gulf crisis sealift effort, and on August 26, 1990, it was recorded as having completed that initial mission. In the broader sealift picture this period encompassed the flow of heavy equipment and sustainment cargo into the Middle East that enabled the later combat phase. For the ship itself, it was an early demonstration of the reserve-force concept - bringing a maintained, partially crewed vessel to full operational status on short notice and sending it on a high-priority lift. During the return from its first Middle East voyage, however, the ship struck an uncharted obstruction in the Red Sea and suffered severe bottom damage over hundreds of feet of hull. The resulting repairs extended well beyond the end of the Gulf War, underscoring a hard operational truth of surge sealift: a fast ro/ro is only as useful as its material condition and the industrial capacity available to restore it when mishaps occur.

By the early 1990s, with the Cold War ended but regional contingencies continuing, the ship's recorded activations reflect the shifting pattern of U.S. military operations. On June 3, 1992, it was activated for Operation Fuertes Camino and on June 22, 1992, it completed that mission. Fuertes Camino was associated with U.S. engagement and engineering activities in the U.S. Southern Command area, where deployments supported construction and civic-action projects as part of broader security cooperation and regional stability efforts. Two years later, the ship was activated for Operation Uphold Democracy, the U.S.-led intervention aimed at restoring Haiti's elected government after the 1991 coup and the subsequent international pressure campaign. On September 8, 1994, GTS ADM. WM. M. CALLAGHAN was activated for the Haiti operation and on September 10, 1994, it was recorded as having completed that mission - an activation window consistent with surge sealift moving equipment and support material in the run-up to and early execution of the intervention.

After the mid-1990s operations, the public record for the ship becomes dominated by readiness movements and activation drills - exactly what would be expected for a Ready Reserve Force ro/ro in a period when the United States wanted credible rapid deployment without keeping every surge ship continuously underway. Those records also provide unusually granular local movements around San Francisco Bay. On February 7, 1997, the ship was recorded en route to Hunters Point in San Francisco and later the same day as being at Hunters Point. On March 24, 1997, it was recorded en route to Oakland and later that day as being at Oakland. On August 5, 1997, it was recorded en route to San Francisco, California and later that day as being at Pier 50. These point-to-point shifts fit the practical needs of reserve ship management - positioning for maintenance, inspections, pier availability, and readiness evolutions.

The same late-1990s period also shows the formal testing of surge activation timelines. On September 3, 1997, the ship executed a turbo activation sea trial (TA-97-2) and on September 6, 1997, it was recorded as having completed that sea trial. On May 9, 1998, it conducted a no-notice turbo activation sea trial, completing it on May 11, 1998 - an event type designed to measure how quickly crews and shore support can bring the ship from reduced operating status to underway condition without advance scheduling. The pattern continued: on September 29, 2000, it conducted an annual sea trial and completed it on September 30, 2000. On October 12, 2000, it conducted a maintenance sea trial and completed it on October 14, 2000.

A notable maintenance episode followed in 2001. On August 28, 2001, the ship was towed to a San Francisco drydock for repairs and recorded as being at the drydock for drydocking that day. On September 26, 2001, it conducted a sea trial to return to its reduced operating status berth, but on September 28, 2001, the record notes the sea trial was not completed and a retrial was required. The ship then conducted a sea trial on November 2, 2001, and was recorded as completing it the same day. This sequence - tow to drydock, attempted post-repair sea trial with a "no-go" outcome, then a later successful trial - captures the reality behind reserve readiness statistics: maintaining an aging, complex propulsion plant and large ro/ro hull in a condition that can reliably surge is an ongoing technical and managerial effort, not a one-time certification.

In 2002, the ship continued its cycle of trials and activation tests. It conducted a maintenance sea trial on July 18, 2002, and completed it on July 19, 2002. It conducted another sea trial on August 14, 2002 and completed it the same day. It then executed Turbo Activation 02-03 sea trials beginning on September 13, 2002, and completed them on September 20, 2002, maintaining the reserve fleet's emphasis on measurable, repeatable activation performance.

That focus was tested again as the United States prepared for large-scale operations in Southwest Asia in the early 2000s. On January 24, 2003, the ship was activated in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Soon after, on January 30, 2003, it was recorded under Military Sealift Command operational control in connection with Operation Enduring Freedom (with the record noting the operational control date of January 28, 2003). The ship returned from Operation Iraqi Freedom on May 26, 2003, at which time the record also notes a new homeport - consistent with the ship settling back into its Ready Reserve Force posture after the initial surge of sealift that moved equipment and sustainment cargo for the opening phase of the Iraq war, and with the broader contemporaneous requirement to support ongoing operations in Afghanistan as well. While the publicly available activation record does not reliably publish the full list of overseas ports visited during these 2003 missions, it does clearly place the ship within the surge sealift framework supporting the post-September-11 operational tempo.

The remainder of the record shows continued readiness maintenance in Alameda, California, and periodic sea trials. The ship conducted a sea trial on November 11, 2004, and completed it on November 14, 2004. It commenced a sea trial for Turbo Activation 07-03 on June 16, 2007, and completed that sea trial at Alameda, California on June 19, 2007. On March 26, 2008, it shifted berths in Alameda from Pier 2 North to Pier 2 South at 0952 Pacific Daylight Time, completing the shift at 1104 Pacific Daylight Time, a small but telling snapshot of the ship's routine berth management as an active Ready Reserve Force asset.

In 2009, the ship undertook an activation associated with a Canadian exercise. On March 3, 2009, it is recorded for Operation Byzantine Voyager-2. On March 11, 2009, it departed for Canadian Exercise Bynzantine Voyager 2 at 1100 Pacific Daylight Time, and the same day it was recorded as completing the Operation Byzantine Voyager 2 mission. On March 23, 2009, it arrived after completing the Canadian exercise at 1139 Pacific Daylight Time. Even without an extensive public port itinerary, the dated sequence indicates a multi-day evolution consistent with an exercise transit and participation window, after which the ship returned to its Alameda area operating pattern.

A decade later, the record continues to show sea trials tied to readiness. The ship conducted a sea trial on August 4, 2014, and completed it on August 11, 2014. It then returned to shipyard-related work in 2016: on June 17, 2016, it transited to a shipyard and conducted post-drydock maintenance, and on June 20, 2016, it completed a post-drydock sea trial - another clear example of the recurring maintenance burden and the verification steps required to keep a high-readiness ro/ro credible for surge operations.

Beyond these dated milestones, the ship's continuing status is also documented in broader reserve-fleet context. GTS ADM. WM. M. CALLAGHAN has remained in U.S. government service as a Ready Reserve Force ro/ro ship based in Alameda, California, and in the 2020s it has continued to be associated publicly with turbo-activation readiness culture - surge drills in which multiple reserve sealift ships get underway in a short window to validate crewing, engineering reliability, and operational procedures.

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GTS ADM. WM. M. CALLAGHAN Image Gallery:

The photos below were taken by me and show the ADM. WM. M. CALLAGHAN berthed at Alameda, Calif., on July 18, 2006.

The photos below were taken by me and show the ADM. WM. M. CALLAGHAN berthed at Alameda, Calif., on March 28, 2010.

The photos below were taken by me and show the ADM. WM. M. CALLAGHAN berthed at Alameda, Calif., on March 19, 2012.

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