US Navy Auxiliary Ships: Mauna Loa (AE-8) Class

USS Mazama (AE-9) circa early 1944
Click on this photograph for links to larger images of this class.

Class:        MAUNA LOA (AE-8)
Design:        Navy C2 (as MC C2-T)
Displacement (tons):        5,450 light, 14,225 lim.
Dimensions (feet):        459.0' oa, 435.0' pp x 63.0' e x 26.4' lim.
Original Armament:        1-5"/38 4-3"/50 2-1.1"Q 8-20mm (1943-44: AE 8-9)
Later armaments:        1-5"/38 4-3"/50 2-40mmT 8<10-20mm (1945: AE 9, 13); 1-5"/38 4-3"/50 2-40mmT 8>4-20T (1945-56. AE-9); 1-5"/38 4-3"/50 8>2-20mmS (1946-56: AE-8); 1-5"/38 4-3"/50 (1957-59: AE 8-9);
4-3”/50 (1959-61, AE 8-9); 2-3”/50 (1966-67: AE-8)
Complement:        268 (1944)
Speed (kts):        15.3
Propulsion (HP):        6,000
Machinery:        Nordberg diesel (TSM219), 1 screw

Construction:

AE	Name	Ord.	Builder	Keel	Launch	Commiss.
8	MAUNA LOA	21 Jul 42	Tampa SB	10 Dec 42	14 Apr 43	27 Oct 43
9	MAZAMA	21 Jul 42	Tampa SB	14 Apr 43	15 Aug 43	10 Mar 44
13	AKUTAN	6 Nov 43	Tampa SB	20 Jun 44	17 Sep 44	15 Feb 45

Disposition:

AE	Name	Decomm.	Strike	Disposal	Fate	MA Sale
8	MAUNA LOA	26 Feb 71	1 Oct 76	1 Jul 73	MA/T	20 Mar 84
9	MAZAMA	8 May 70	1 Sep 70	1 Sep 71	MA/T	1 Mar 73
13	AKUTAN	19 Oct 46	1 Jul 60	30 Jun 60	MA/T	16 Feb 78

Class Notes:
FY 1942 (AE 8-9), 1944. On 9 May 42 the Auxiliary Vessels Board noted that the Maximum War Effort Program included 13 tenders, 2 ammunition ships, and 14 oilers to be converted from C3, C2, and T3 type hulls respectively in 1943-45, and the Board recommended that steps be taken to build or acquire the ships. The Maritime Commission had been obtaining new C2 hulls for use as ammunition ships from the Tampa Shipbuilding Co., but in April 1941 control of this yard had been transferred from the MC to the Navy, meaning that the Navy now had to contract directly with the yard for the two additional C2 hulls. In July 1942 it ordered two ships as duplicates of SHASTA (AE-6) with some minor changes including the replacement of the waste heat boiler by a regular oil-fired boiler and the installation of a muffler for the exhaust from the main engines. They were to follow AD-17 and AD-18 on the building ways.

On 11 Jun 43 the Auxiliary Vessels Board surveyed the Navy's needs for auxiliaries following the approval of a large combatant ship building program in May. After studying the construction facilities available to the Navy for large auxiliaries, it concluded that the Navy could build 15 additional tenders and one ammunition ship to support the new combatants. The AE was to be built on the C2 hull design, similar to the MAUNA LOA, and completed in the second quarter of 1946. The Board strongly recommended that the Navy build the ship itself rather than trying to acquire and convert a Maritime Commission hull.

Ship Notes:

AE	Name	Notes
8	MAUNA LOA	In USN reserve 1946-55 and 1958-60. In NDRF (MA custody) 22 Nov 60 to 7 Aug 61. To NDRF 8 Jul 71, to buyer 6 Nov 84.
9	MAZAMA	In USN reserve 1946-52 and 1957-60. To NDRF 1 Mar 60, to MA 30 Jun 60, stk. 1 Jul 60. From MA 8 Aug 61, reinstated 1 Sep 61. To NDRF 19 Nov 70, to buyer 16 Apr 73.
13	AKUTAN	In USN reserve 1946-60. To NDRF 8 Mar 60, to buyer 10 Mar 78.