ROANOKE (AOR-7)
![Roanoke_Photos_Page_1.jpg](/images/Roanoke_Photos_Page_1.jpg)
Historical Narrative
USS Roanoke, named for Roanoke, Virginia, is a
replenishment oiler built by National Steel & Shipbuilding in San
Diego, California in 1974.
Roanoke was the most modern of the Wichita-class
replenishment oilers and was the only AOR built by National Steel &
Shipbuilding in San Diego, with the others built by General Dynamics in Quincy, Massachusetts.
On February 4, 1977, Roanoke sailed for the Bering Sea for cold weather operations, earning it the nickname “Polar Express.” Roanoke
later served in Southeast Asia and in the Western Pacific. In 1983 the
ship underwent a substantial overhaul and upgrade including
installation of a HALON 1351 firefighting system in the main engineering
spaces to improve the vessel’s damage control readiness.
In 1985, Roanoke
was awarded the Battle Efficiency “E” award and a Meritorious Unit
Commendation for providing outstanding logistics support to the Battle
Group during its Western Pacific deployment.
In 1991, while the ship was underway near the Philippines, the volcano, Mount Pinatubo erupted and the vessel helped evacuate 564 people.
During the same year, Roanoke headed to the Gulf of
Oman to support Operation DESERT STORM.
The Navy decommissioned the ship on October 6, 1995, transferred it to the Maritime Administration’s Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet for final disposition on December 18, 1998.
Roanoke departed Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet on November 29, 2012 under a domestic scrap sale.
Naval History and Heritage Command Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships entry on USS Roanoke.
Vessel Name History
No Mission for this vessel
No documents for this vessel
Milestones
Event | Date | Content |
---|---|---|
Entry
| 10/12/1995 | Entered Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet |
Acquisition
| 12/18/1998 | MARAD took title from US Navy |
Cleared Historic Review
| 6/21/2005 | California SHPO cleared the ship for disposal on this date. |
Withdrawal
| 11/29/2012 | Departed under domestic scrap sale contract with ESCO Marine, Inc. |
Ship Imagery
![Roanoke_Photos_Page_1.jpg](/images/Roanoke_Photos_Page_1.jpg)
![Roanoke_Photos_Page_2.jpg](/images/Roanoke_Photos_Page_2.jpg)
Status Cards
![4156_RS10338AF.jpg](/cards/4156_RS10338AF.jpg)
Documents
No documents for this vessel
Plans
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Shipwreck Information
No ship wreck information for this vessel