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DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER
805 KIDDER BREESE SE -- WASHINGTON NAVY YARD
WASHINGTON DC 20374-5060

Photo # NH 104075:  USS Oberon at anchor, circa the later 1940s

Online Library of Selected Images:
-- U.S. NAVY SHIPS --

USS Oberon (AK-56, later AKA-14), 1942-1970

USS Oberon, a 7371 gross ton Libra class cargo ship, was built at Kearny, New Jersey. Begun as the commercial freighter Delalba, she was renamed Oberon before launching, formally acquired by the Navy upon completion and placed in commission in mid-June 1942. In November of that year she participated in the invasion of Morocco. Oberon carried cargo to the south Pacific during the first two months of 1943, then returned to the Atlantic. In July and September 1943 she took part in landings on Sicily and at Salerno, Italy. Following several months of logistics operations, she was part of the fleet that conducted the August 1944 amphibious assault on Southern France. She then resumed supply service in the Mediterranean until returning to the U.S. in October 1944.

Transferring to the Pacific Fleet, in April 1945 Oberon participated in landings in the Kerama Retto and Okinawa. Once Japan's capitulation brought the long war to an end, she supported occupation activities until steaming back to the United States late in 1945.

As part of the post war fleet, Oberon served with the Navy Transportation Service during the last half of the 1940s, and with the Military Sea Transportation Service during the early 1950s. In 1951 and 1952, she provided ammunition and other supplies to Naval forces engaged in Korean War operations. USS Oberon was decommissioned in late June 1955. She was stricken from the Navy List at the beginning of July 1960 and transferred to the U.S. Maritime Administration. The ship remained inactive at Olympia, Washington, until sold for scrapping in December 1970.

This page features all the views we have concerning USS Oberon (AK-56, later AKA-14).


If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."

Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.

Photo #: NH 83229

USS Oberon
(AK-56, later AKA-14)

Underway off Kearny, New Jersey, 15 June 1942.
She is painted in the splotch patterns of Camouflage Measure 12 (Modified).

Courtesy of Donald M. McPherson, 1975.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.

Online Image: 82KB; 740 x 610 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 92295

USS Oberon
(AKA-14)

Underway off the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Pennsylvania, 7 February 1944.

Courtesy of Frank Jankowski, 1981.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.

Online Image: 65KB; 740 x 620 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 104075

USS Oberon
(AKA-14)

At anchor, circa the later 1940s.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.

Online Image: 93KB; 740 x 620 pixels

Note:
This image was received by the Naval Photographic Center in 1959, but was taken at least a decade earlier.

 
Photo #: NH 104076

USS Oberon
(AKA-14)

Photographed circa the late 1940s or early 1950s, probably while entering San Diego Harbor, California.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.

Online Image: 83KB; 740 x 610 pixels

Note:
This image was received by the Naval Photographic Center in 1959, but was taken many years earlier.

 


The following photographs show USS Oberon (AKA-14) in the background of a view of another subject, or show boats belonging to her:

Photo #: NH 90847

USS Cusk
(SSG-348)

Off the Mare Island Naval Shipyard, California, 7 December 1950.
USS Oberon (AKA-14) is in the background.

Courtesy of Jack Howland, 1980.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.

Online Image: 47KB; 740 x 610 pixels

 
Photo #: SC 181041

Sicily Invasion, July 1943


An LCVP landing craft suspended from a transport's davits, off the Gela invasion beaches on "D-Day", 10 July 1943. This craft appears to have water in its bilges, indicating that it has just been hoisted up.
The LCM approaching in the background is from USS Oberon (AKA-14).

Photograph from the Army Signal Corps Collection in the U.S. National Archives.

Online Image: 88KB; 740 x 600 pixels

Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

 
Photo #: SC 192818

Mediterranean Invasion Rehersals, July 1944


Allied soldiers and vehicles wait to be loaded prior to a practice landing held near Mondragone, Italy, 31 July 1944.
Note the waterproofing installed on the "Sherman" tanks in the foreground. LCVPs in the center are from USS Oberon (AKA-14). USS LCT-452 is beyond them, in the left center middle distance.

Photograph from the Army Signal Corps Collection in the U.S. National Archives.

Online Image: 84KB; 740 x 605 pixels

Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

 


In addition to the images presented above, the National Archives appears to hold other views of USS Oberon (AK-56, later AKA-14). The following list features some of these photographs:

The images listed below are NOT in the Naval Historical Center's collections.
DO NOT try to obtain them using the procedures described in our page "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions".


  • Photo #: 80-G-33705
    USS Oberon (AK-56) getting underway at Balboa, Panama Canal Zone, 6 January 1943.
    Port bow surface view, showing the ship in a well-worn horizontal two-tone camouflage scheme (either Measure 12 or Measure 22).

  • Photo #: 80-G-62416
    USS Oberon (AKA-14) underway in the Hampton Roads area, 18 April 1943. Photographed from an aircraft based at Naval Air Station Norfolk, Virginia.
    Aerial view, taken from almost directly ahead. The ship is painted in what appears to be Measure 22 camouflage.

  • Photo #: 80-G-62417
    As 80-G-62416, but taken from astern and slightly to starboard.

  • Photo #: 80-G-62418
    As 80-G-62416, but starboard bow aerial view.

  • Photo #: 80-G-62419
    As 80-G-62416, but starboard broadside (slightly toward the bow) aerial view, with port facilities in the background.


    Reproductions of these images should be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system for pictures not held by the Naval Historical Center.

    The images listed in this box are NOT in the Naval Historical Center's collections. DO NOT try to obtain them using the procedures described in our page "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions".


  • If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."


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    Page made 21 December 2006