USS Wichita (AOR-1)
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| History | |
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| Name: | USS Wichita |
| Awarded: | 2 June 1965 |
| Builder: | General Dynamics Quincy Shipbuilding Division |
| Laid down: | 16 June 1966 |
| Launched: | 16 March 1968 |
| Commissioned: | 7 June 1969 |
| Decommissioned: | 12 March 1993 |
| Struck: | 15 February 1995 |
| Fate: |
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| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Wichita-class replenishment oiler |
| Displacement: | 40,100 long tons (40,743 t) full |
| Length: | 659 ft (201 m) |
| Beam: | 96 ft (29 m) |
| Draft: | 35 ft (11 m) |
| Propulsion: | 3 × boilers, steam turbines, 2 × shafts, 32,000 shp (23,862 kW) |
| Speed: | 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph) |
| Complement: | 22 officers, 398 enlisted |
| Armament: |
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| Aircraft carried: | 2 × CH-46 Sea Knight helicopters |
| Service record | |
| Part of: | United States Seventh Fleet |
| Operations: | Vietnam War |
| Awards: | |
USS Wichita (AOR-1) was the lead ship of the Wichita-class replenishment oilers. She was the second ship to be named for the city of Wichita, Kansas.
The second Wichita (AOR-1) was laid down on 16 June 1966 at Quincy, Massachusetts, by the General Dynamics Quincy Shipbuilding Division; launched on 16 March 1968; sponsored by Mrs. Howard B. Yeager; and commissioned on 7 June 1969, Captain Robert R. Deibler in command.
After fitting out in the Boston Naval Shipyard, Wichita on 17 June sailed for the west coast. Following stops at San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and after transiting the Panama Canal, she arrived at Long Beach, California, her home port, on 19 July. For the next four months, she remained at Long Beach undergoing post construction availability. In December, she got underway to conduct standardization trials, followed by shakedown training. In February 1970, the ship began a two-month post-shakedown availability at Long Beach. In April, she began normal operations out of Long Beach, which included type training and damage control training which kept the ship busy until 22 June, when she began her first deployment to the western Pacific. She changed operational control to Commander, 7th Fleet on Independence Day and arrived in Subic Bay on 11 July. After adjusting her load at Subic, she got underway for her first line period in support of the combat ships operating off the coast of Vietnam. During her first deployment to the western Pacific, Wichita made five separate line swings to replenish the ships operating on "Yankee Station." She terminated each at Subic Bay and varied her routine with two liberty calls at Hong Kong. The ship concluded her first deployment when she arrived back in Long Beach on 2 February 1971.
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