USS Haleakala AE 25 – History of the U.S. Navy's Ammunition Ship & Navy Decals
USS Haleakala AE 25 – History, Service Record & Navy Decals
The USS Haleakala (AE-25) was a Kilauea-class ammunition ship that served the United States Navy for over two decades, delivering ordnance, missiles, and ammunition to fleet units operating across the Pacific and beyond. Named for Haleakalā — the massive dormant volcano that dominates the island of Maui, Hawaii, whose name means "House of the Sun" in Hawaiian — she carried a name of majestic natural power throughout a career of essential and demanding logistical service.
Keel, Launch & Commissioning
Haleakala's keel was laid down on March 1, 1966, at the Bethlehem Steel Company shipyard in Sparrows Point, Maryland. She was launched on October 17, 1966, and commissioned into the U.S. Navy on November 3, 1967, under hull designation AE-25 as a member of the Kilauea class.
Class & Design
USS Haleakala was part of the Kilauea class of ammunition ships, a significant advancement over earlier AE designs that incorporated modern replenishment-at-sea technology and expanded ordnance handling capabilities. At 564 feet in length and displacing approximately 20,500 tons fully loaded, she was larger and more capable than her predecessors — able to carry and transfer a wider array of ordnance including advanced missiles, nuclear-capable weapons, and the full range of conventional naval ordnance required by the late Cold War fleet.
The Kilauea class introduced improved replenishment-at-sea systems that allowed faster and safer transfer of ordnance, and her crew mastered those systems through constant training and operational experience.
Pacific Fleet Service & Vietnam War Support
Homeported at Concord, California, USS Haleakala served as a frontline ordnance resupply ship for Pacific Fleet combatants during the most intense years of the Vietnam War and throughout the Cold War. She deployed to the Western Pacific, delivering ordnance to carriers conducting air strikes and surface combatants providing gunfire support along the Vietnamese coast.
The sustained pace of combat operations in Vietnam placed extraordinary demands on the ammunition supply chain, and Haleakala met that challenge — delivering millions of pounds of ordnance to fleet units in theater and keeping the Navy's combat power sustained through one of the longest naval wars in American history.
Post-Vietnam Cold War Service
Following the Vietnam War, USS Haleakala continued to serve the Pacific Fleet through the late 1970s and 1980s, supporting the evolving Cold War fleet as it transitioned to a new generation of surface combatants and carrier air wings. Her replenishment operations kept Pacific Fleet strike groups armed and ready through the final decades of the Cold War competition with the Soviet Pacific Fleet.
Decommissioning
USS Haleakala was decommissioned on March 31, 1994, after more than 26 years of commissioned service — one of the longest careers of any ammunition ship in the Cold War Navy. She had served from the height of the Vietnam War through the end of the Cold War, delivering ordnance across the Pacific for over a quarter century.
Legacy
For the sailors who served aboard Haleakala — the boatswain's mates, gunner's mates, and logistics specialists who transferred ordnance to fleet units at sea across 26 years of operations — she represents a career of dangerous, demanding, and utterly essential work. Named for the volcanic crown of Maui, USS Haleakala burned with the same steady, enduring power as the mountain that inspired her name.
Shop USS Haleakala AE 25 Navy Gifts & Decals
Honor your service or give a meaningful gift to a USS Haleakala veteran with our full line of USS Haleakala AE 25 products:
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All products ship from the USA. Custom options available — contact us for details.
