Name USS Roanoke Commissioned 30 October 1976 Struck 6 October 1995 Launched 7 December 1974 | Laid down 19 January 1974 Decommissioned 6 October 1995 Construction started 19 January 1974 Length 201 m | |
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Fate Laid up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, Suisun Bay, California. Builder National Steel and Shipbuilding Company | ||
USS Roanoke (AOR-7) was a Wichita-class replenishment oiler of the United States Navy. She was named after the city of Roanoke, Virginia and the Roanoke River, in keeping with the naming convention of her class.
Built by the National Steel and Shipbuilding Company, of San Diego, California, she was launched on 7 December 1974, and commissioned on 30 October 1976.
Roanoke sailed for her first deployment to the western Pacific in January 1978, finally returning to her homeport in October. This set the pattern for the next twelve years, as she was deployed on a voyage to the western Pacific and Indian Ocean, each lasting six to eight months, every year.
Between January 1991 and August 1993 she sailed on two deployments to the Persian Gulf supporting Operation Desert Storm. She made one last deployment to the western Pacific in June to December 1994, before being decommissioned.
Roanoke was decommissioned on 6 October 1995, and struck from the Naval Vessel Register the same day.
Title to the ship was transferred to the United States Maritime Administration on 18 December 1998, and she was laid up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, at Suisun Bay, California.