USS Black Hawk (AD-9)

USS Black Hawk (AD-9) was a destroyer tender.

"AD-9" redirects here. For the British Salmson aero-engine, see British Salmson AD.9.

USS Black Hawk (ID # 2140) Moored at Inverness, Scotland, in September 1918, while serving as Mine Force repair ship and flagship, and painted with a camouflage pattern.
History
United States
NameUSS Black Hawk
BuilderWilliam Cramp & Sons, Philadelphia
Cost$99,751 (hull & machinery)[1]
Launched1913, as SS Santa Catalina
Acquiredby purchase, 3 December 1917
Commissioned15 May 1918
Decommissioned15 August 1946
ReclassifiedAD-9, November 1920
Honours and
awards		1 battle star (WWII)
FateTransferred to Maritime Commission, 4 September 1947 Sold for scrap, 17 March 1948
General characteristics
TypeDestroyer tender
Displacement5,690 long tons (5,781 t)
Length420 ft 2 in (128.07 m)
Beam53 ft 10 in (16.41 m)
Draft28 ft 5 in (8.66 m)
Speed13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph)
Complement471
Armament
  • 4 × 5 in (130 mm) guns
  • 1 × 3 in (76 mm) gun

Construction and commissioning

Black Hawk was launched in 1913 as SS Santa Catalina by William Cramp & Sons Ship and Engine Building Co., Philadelphia; purchased by the U.S. Navy on 3 December 1917; and commissioned 15 May 1918.

Service history

Post World War I operations

Assigned as tender and flagship to the Mine Force, Black Hawk departed Boston in June 1918 to take station at Inverness, Scotland. She remained there until the end of World War I and then shifted her base to Kirkwall, Orkney Islands, for the North Sea mine sweep.

USS Black Hawk (AD-9) Anchored in Philippine waters, 19 December 1935. She serviced Destroyer Squadron Five

She returned to New York in November 1919 and served as flagship and tender for the Atlantic Fleet destroyers in reserve at Philadelphia. After the installation of a torpedo workshop and other equipment she was designated a destroyer tender (AD-9) in November 1920 and reported as flagship of the Operative Squadron, Destroyer Flotillas, Atlantic Fleet. She served mainly in Caribbean and Panamanian waters until June 1922 when she left Newport, Rhode Island, via the Suez Canal, for the Asiatic Fleet. Black Hawk remained in the Far East for twenty years during which she tended Destroyer Squadrons 5 (1922–40) and 29 (1940–42).

World War II

On 7 December 1941 Black Hawk was at Balikpapan, Borneo. She operated as a tender and repair ship at Java until 31 December 1941; at Darwin, Australia (January-3 February 1942); Java (3–20 February); and in Australian waters (26 February-29 May). Leaving Australia she steamed to Pearl Harbor, arriving 15 June 1942. She was assigned tender duty in Alaskan waters and arrived at Kodiak on 29 July 1942. Remaining there until 4 November 1942 she then returned to San Francisco, California, for repairs and overhaul.

Completing her overhaul 16 March 1943, Black Hawk returned to Alaskan waters, arriving 10 April 1943. Except for a short stay at Pearl Harbor (30 September 1943 – 1 February 1944), she remained at Adak until 21 March 1945. Following repairs at Alameda, California, she arrived at Pearl Harbor 30 May 1945; remained there until 11 September; and then proceeded to Okinawa. Black Hawk served in the Far East tending vessels at Okinawa and in China (specifically at Tsingtao)[2] until 20 May 1946 when she headed home for the last time.

Decommissioned on 15 August 1946, she was transferred to Maritime Commission on 4 September 1947.

Awards

References
  1. "Table 21 – Ships on Navy List June 30, 1919". Congressional Serial Set. U.S. Government Printing Office: 762. 1921.
  2. My father, Sherwin "Buddy" Eller, served as communications officer aboard the Black Hawk in 1946. I have a picture from an old photo album notated "Aboard the USS Blackhawk at Tsingtao, China in Spring, 1946
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