USS Grand Canyon (AD-28)
_and_USS_Grand_Canyon_(AD-28).jpg)
USS Grand Canyon (AD-28) alongside USS Soley (DD-707) at Augusta, Sicily, on 16 December 1950
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| History | |
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| Name: | USS Grand Canyon |
| Builder: | Todd Pacific Shipyards, Tacoma, Washington |
| Laid down: | 16 October 1944 |
| Launched: | 27 April 1945 |
| Commissioned: | 5 April 1946 |
| Decommissioned: | 1 September 1978 |
| Reclassified: | AR-28 (Repair ship), 11 March 1971 |
| Struck: | 1 September 1978 |
| Fate: | Sold for scrapping, June 1980 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Shenandoah-class destroyer tender |
| Displacement: |
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| Length: | 492 ft (150 m) |
| Beam: | 69 ft 6 in (21.18 m) |
| Draft: | 28 ft (8.5 m) |
| Propulsion: | Steam turbine, single propeller |
| Speed: | 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph) |
| Complement: | 977 officers and enlisted |
| Armament: |
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USS Grand Canyon (AD-28) was a Shenandoah-class destroyer tender built at the tail end of World War II, and named for the Grand Canyon on the Colorado River.
Grand Canyon was laid down 16 November 1944 as a Maritime Commission type (C3) hull, under Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 206) at Todd Pacific Shipyards, Inc. out of Tacoma, Washington, launched 27 April 1945, sponsored by Mrs. W. L. Mann, and commissioned 5 April 1946 with Captain W.D. Hoover in command.
After brief shakedown off the coast of Southern California, Grand Canyon departed Port Townsend, Washington on 26 June 1946 en route to Newport, Rhode Island via the Panama Canal Zone. She arrived in Newport on 20 July. Assigned the task of keeping United States Navy destroyers in operation, Grand Canyon cleared Newport on 17 September 1946 for her first tour with the 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean Sea. After a visit to Palermo, Sicily, and a 4½-month stay at Naples she returned to the States, arriving back in Norfolk on 1 March 1947.
Between 1 November 1947 and 12 November 1954 Grand Canyon continued her support of 6th Fleet destroyers, making six Mediterranean deployments. During this time she participated in some of the largest peacetime service operations ever undertaken. Grand Canyon continued her tender duties in the U.S. until 24 September 1956 when she again departed for the Mediterranean for her eighth tour. By 20 October the Suez Crisis had reached the serious stage and the majority of the 6th Fleet proceeded into the Eastern Mediterranean. During this period the Grand Canyon, as flagship, took part in fleet exercises and visited the ports of Augusta, Messina and Taranto. As the Suez problem subsided she sailed for Cannes, France on 20 December in time for the Christmas holidays. Grand Canyon returned to Fall River, Massachusetts on 13 March 1957.
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