Columbia (T-AO 182) Class: Photographs
| These photographs were selected to show the original configuration of this class and major subsequent modifications. For more views see the former NHHC (now Hyperwar) Online Library of Selected Images and the NavSource Photo Archive. |
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MV Falcon Lady Operating under consecutive voyage charter to MSC between 1971 and 1974 with the stack markings of her owner, Falcon Tankers Inc., and the owner's crew. She was renamed USNS Columbia (T-AO 182) in 1976. Photo No. Unknown Source: U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command (L-file) |
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MV Falcon Princess Because of problems associated with the Arab Oil Embargo of 1973, USS Blue Ridge (LCC 19) during a transit from Singapore to Okinawa between 29 August and 4 September 1973 became the first Seventh Fleet combatant ship to refuel at sea with a commercial tanker, taking on some 158,000 gallons of Navy distillate from MV Falcon Princess. The tanker is wearing Falcon Tankers stack markings. She was renamed USNS Hudson (T-AO 184) in 1976. Photo No. Unknown Source: U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command (MSC) |
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MV Falcon Princess (?) This view may show the rig used in the 1973 refueling of USS Blue Ridge (LCC 19) depicted above. In this improvised operation a single hose was passed between a deck connection on the tanker and a fueling connection in a starboard boat sponson on the command ship. The rig at mid-span appears uncomfortably close to the agitated water between the ships because neither ship had the capability to raise it. Photo No. Unknown Source: U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command (MSC) |
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USNS Falcon Lady (T-AO 182) Conducting an underway fuel transfer with USNS Taluga (T-AO 62) circa 1974-75, possibly as a test or exercise for consolidating cargo between a commercial-type tanker and a Navy replenishment oiler. Falcon Lady is now wearing the MSC seal and colors on her stack but retains her commercial name on her stern. She was then under bareboat charter to MSC manned by Civil Service Marine personnel. She became USNS Columbia in 1976. Note the helicopter platform forward on Taluga. Photo No. Unknown Source: U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command (MSC) |
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USNS Falcon Lady (T-AO 182) Conducting an underway fuel transfer with the oiler USNS Taluga (T-AO 62) circa 1974-75. As in the refueling of Blue Ridge in 1973 the rig, here a single hose pair, originates in connections on the low deck of the tanker amidships with its spanwire handled by a equally low winch behind the connections. However the tall rig of the oiler helps raise the rig higher above the water between the ships than was possible in 1973. Taluga had been decommissioned and transferred to MSTS on 4 May 1972. Photo No. Unknown Source: U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command (MSC) |
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USNS Falcon Lady (T-AO 182) Conducting an underway fuel transfer with USNS Taluga (T-AO 62) circa 1974-75. Photo No. Unknown Source: U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command (MSC) |
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USNS Columbia (T-AOT 182) Photographed circa 1980. The stern is now inscribed "U.S. Naval Ship Columbia." Photo No. NH 92956 Source: U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command |
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USNS Neches (T-AO 183) In the Kiel Canal, West Germany, in March 1980 as a U.S. Naval Ship. Until 1976 her name was Falcon Dutchess. Photo No. None. Photo by Gerhard Mueller-Debus Source: NavSource |
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USNS Susquehanna (T-AO 185) At Leyte pier, Naval Air Station, Cubi Point, Phillipines, in January 1993. Until 1976 her name was Falcon Countess. Photo No. DN-ST-93-00945 Source: RG 330 |
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SS Mission Capistrano (AOT 5005) The former USNS Columbia (T-AO 182) ex MV Falcon Lady as a Ready Reserve Fleet ship between 1987 and 2004. Her activation was ordered at the very end of Operation Desert Storm in 1991 but was quickly cancelled. She is wearing MARAD RRF stack markings (red, white, and blue bands). Photo No. None Source: vesselhistory.marad.dot.gov/ShipHistory/Detail/3395 |
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