USS Silver Cloud (IX-143)
ex
USS Alameda (AO-10) (1920 - 1922)
USS Alameda (Fuel Ship #10) (1919 - 1920)

http://www.navsource.org/archives/09/19/19010.htm

USS Silver Cloud Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - American Campaign Medal
Bottom Row - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal - World War II Victory Medal - Philippine Liberation Medal

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• Laid down, under a USSB contract, at William Crump & Sons, Ship and Engine Building Co., Philadelphia, PA.
• Launched, 15 July 1919
• Commissioned, USS Alameda (Fuel Ship #10), 17 October 1919, CDR. Malcolm P. Nash, USNRF, in command
• Designated Fleet Oiler (AO-10), 17 July 1920
• Damaged beyond economical repair by an engine fire, off Cape Henry, VA., 19 November 1921
• Decommissioned, 29 March 1922, at Norfolk, VA.
• Struck from the Naval Register, August 1922
• Sold, 9 August 1922, for commercial service,
• Entered merchant service in 1925 as SS Olean
• SS Olean was torpedoed, 15 March 1942 off Cape Lookout by the German U-158
• She was first declared a total loss, taken over by the War Shipping Administration (WSA) in April 1942
• Returned to service in April 1943 as SS Sweep
• Acquired by the Navy on a bare-boat basis at Eniwetok, Marshall Islands, 12 July 1944, for use as a Mobile Floating Storage Tanker
• Commissioned USS Silver Cloud (IX-143), 12 July 1944, LCDR. H. R. Will USNR, in command
• Decommissioned and delivered, 29 March 1946, to the War Shipping Administration (WSA) at Mobile, AL. for disposal
• Struck from the Navy Register, 17 April 1946
• Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, 21 January 1947, to Pinto Island Metals Co.

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  Specifications:
  Displacement 4,410 t.(lt) 14,450 t.(fl)
  Length 446'
  Beam 58' 2"'
  Draft 25' 6"
  Speed 11 kts.

  Complement

  Alameda - 252

  Silver Cloud - 132

  Armament

  Alameda - two 5" two 3", 2 .50 cal mgs.

  Silver Cloud - one 4" gun mount, one 3"/50 gun mount

  Propulsion

  one reciprocating steam engine

  single shaft, 2,800shp

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  Click On Image For Full Size Image	Size	Image Description		Source
  USS Alameda (AO-10)
  	38k	USS Alameda (AO-10) moored pierside at Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, VA., 7 March 1921. Panoramic photograph by Crosby, "Naval Photographer", 324 First Street, Portsmouth, Virginia. Donation of the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard Museum, 1970.. US Navy photo # NH 103100 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center.		US Naval Historical Center
  USS Silver Cloud (IX-143)
  	3417k	USS Silver Cloud (IX-143) is alongside of USS William P. Biddle (APA-8) as she discharges troops over the side at Mindoro Island, Philippines, 9 February 1945.		David C. Hoover

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  USS Alameda (AO-10)
  DANFS history entry located at the US Naval History and Heritage Command

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  USS Silver Cloud (IX-143)
  DANFS history entry located at the US Naval History and Heritage Command

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  Commanding Officers
  01	CDR. Nash, Malcolm P.	17 October 1919 - ?	Alameda
  01	LCDR. Will, Howard Robert	12 July 1944 - 12 March 1947	Silver Cloud

  Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves

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  Crew Contact And Reunion Information
  Fleet Tankers Association
  

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

http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-usn/usnsh-a/ao10.htm

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

USS Alameda (AO-10), 1919-1922.
Later USS Silver Cloud (IX-143), 1944-1946

USS Alameda, a 14,450 ton (displacement) tanker built at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was commissioned in October 1919. She was one of twelve "oil tank steamers" ordered by the Navy in October 1918 as part of the World War I emergency shipbuilding program, four at Philadelphia and eight at Newport News, Virginia. Assigned to the Naval Overseas Transportation Service, she operated primarily along the east coast, making periodic trips to Port Arthur, Texas, to load oil. Beginning in February 1920 Alameda also carried oil across the Atlantic to support American warships in European waters. On 19 November 1921, while about 30 miles off Cape Henry, Va., she suffered an explosion in her fireroom. The resulting fire forced her crew to abandon ship in stormy weather. Merchant ships rescued the entire crew, and naval tugs brought the damaged ship into Norfolk. Formally decommissioned in March 1922, Alameda was stricken from the Navy list and sold in August 1922.

Repaired by her new owner, she entered merchant service in 1925 as S.S. Olean. On 15 March 1942 the unescorted tanker was torpedoed twice in the engine room off Cape Lookout by the German U-158. Six of her crew were killed while abandoning ship. Olean was later towed to Hampton Roads and drydocked. She was first declared a total loss, but the War Shipping Administration (WSA) took her over in April, requisitioned her in June, and had her rebuilt at Baltimore. She returned to service in April 1943 as S.S. Sweep.

In October 1943 the Navy selected Sweep for use as a mobile floating storage tanker in the Pacific and in November chose the name Silver Cloud for her. The ship was accepted and commissioned at Eniwetok in July 1944 as USS Silver Cloud (IX-143). She moved to Manus Island in August 1944 and to Leyte in January 1945. At the end of December 1945 she sailed from Leyte to Mobile, Ala. for disposal. Silver Cloud was delivered to WSA there in March 1946, stricken from the Navy list in April 1946, and sold for scrapping in January 1947.

This page features the only view we have concerning USS Alameda (AO-10) and USS Silver Cloud (IX-143).

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

 

Photo #: NH 103100 USS Alameda (AO-10) At the Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, Virginia, 7 March 1921. Panoramic photograph by Crosby, "Naval Photographer", 324 First Street, Portsmouth, Virginia. Donation of the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard Museum, 1970. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 77KB; 1200 x 475 pixels