USS Wichita (AOR-1) (Non-retention)

The USS Wichita is the first ship of the Wichita class replenishment oilers and was named for the city of Wichita, Kansas, Kansas. General Dynamics Corporation in Quincy, Massachusetts built the ship in 1966. The ship was launched on March 16, 1968 and it was commissioned on June 7, 1969.   After fitting out in the Boston Naval Shipyard, Wichita sailed for the West coast on June 17, 1969 and arrived at its homeport of Long Beach, California, on July 19, 1969. On June 22, 1970, the ship began its first deployment to the western Pacific, arriving in Subic Bay, Philippines on July 11, 1970.  Wichita then supported ships operating off of the Vietnamese coast.  On December 10, 1971, it received orders to join a contingency force bound for the Indian Ocean in the wake of the Indo-Pakistani War.  Wichita would continue to support ships off of Vietnam until 1973. Wichita earned four battle stars for its service during the Vietnam War.   The Navy decommissioned Wichita in 1993 and transferred the ship to the Maritime Administration’s Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet in Benicia, CA.

Naval History and Heritage Command Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships