After many years of delay, I have finally compiled details on the Calvert’s history following her decommissioning in late June of 1966. The information below is also available permanently at this page.
An eight-page document containing additional detailed research notes is available for download via the link/button here:
After decommissioning on June 30, 1966 at Hunters Point Naval Shipyard, San Francisco, the Calvert was moved the Naval Supply Center, Oakland, Traffic Management School for use as a training hulk until 1976.
Supply Corps Takes Command of USS Calvert. Navy Supply Corps Newsletter. November, 1966. p27
Photographs and full article online at:
https://books.google.com/books?id=xK14fJTDXB4C&pg=RA10-PA27&dq=%22uss+calvert%22&hl=en&ppis=_c&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjmnbu98cDnAhX1kHIEHaCvCToQ6AEwAnoECAMQAg#v=onepage&q=%22uss%20calvert%22&f=false
The ex-USS Calvert was sold to Levin Metals Corp (LMC), Richmand, CA on February 14, 1977 (contract # MA-8617) and physically delivered to LMC on March 11, 1977.
Source: Calversion-Vol-No-33-1995 – provided by Tom Glickman
In the summer of 1990 the Levin Metals Corp contacted John L. Cole for purposes of safely delivering the Calvert’s brass and wood name board, thus being saved from disposal.
USS Calvert name board – Saved “It is now 1991 … Back in 1978 the Levin Metals Co. of Richmond, Ca. scrapped out the Calvert, they sent me parts of the ship. Last summer (1990) I received a call from them again. They wanted to know if I was interested in the ship’s nameboard that hung on either side of the bridge. I said I was interested and they said that they would ship it to me. Well it came, and I am happy. The board is seven feet long and nine inches high. The words U.S.S. Calvert APA 32, are made of brass and are six inches high. It seems that Levin kept these boards from all the ships that they scrapped and since someone had just bought them out, they wanted to clean house. Since I had been sending them a newsletter since day one, they thought I might want it. Levin, thank you very much.” John L. Cole – Calversion V24, p1
The living history of the USS Calvert, and her crew, continues.
With the Calvert Marine Museum’s commitment to preserve and share the Calvert’s story, former crew members and their families willingness to keep the Calvert’s story alive, and this website, the Calvert will not soon be forgotten. She was a respected and capable ship, celebrated by her crew, and she continues to earn respect for those who learn of her and her crews’ story.
I was having trouble identifying the purpose and behind the flag and linen item shown below. These are in the collection of Robert Hile, son of Robert B. Hile, BM3, 1950 – 1954. Full details on BM3 Hile’s time aboard the Calvert was previously published here.
Thank you for everyone’s help in identifying these artifacts!
Per W. Calvert, 2002-10-15: “WW2 era USN Ships Jack. Flown forward on the Bow. 48 stars flew from 1912 to 1953” From Robert B. Hile’s Navy and USS Calvert memorabilia collection.Per W. Calvert, 2002-10-15: “This item is not a flag, it’s got no lanyard holes, is wrong shape for the size to be a flag or pennant. I’ve checked with navy buddies and searched the net. We believe it to be officer / chiefs mess table cloth. The blue pipping is too decorative for general mess based on experience.” From Robert B. Hile’s Navy and USS Calvert memorabilia collection.Answered: “Not of The Line Vice Admiral Flag” and was likely used aboard BM3 Hile’s boat, and not the Calvert itself.
Further explanation regarding Not of the Line for us non-Navy folks: “Those not eligible for command at sea include officers of the staff corps (medical, supply, chaplain, civil engineer, judge advocate general, dental, medical service, and nurse corps) as well as line officers restricted to engineering or special duties are not of the line officers. These flags are never flown aboard ship, but may be flown in boats and are used ashore to designate the headquarters of such entities.”
The Calvert Marine Museum, Solomons Island, MD, is nearing completion of a permanent exhibit featuring the USS Calvert. Part of the plan and investment for the exhibit was the commissioning of a display model of the USS Calvert.
If you plan to visit, helpful information is available on the museum’s website, here.
Museum location is 14200 Solomons Island Rd S, Solomons, MD 20688. Google map view here.
Permanent exhibit, as of September, 2020
Display model. Shows the Calvert’s configuration following the ship’s overhaul in 1958 which took place at Hunter’s Point Shipyard, San Francisco. “The ship spent the several months undergoing overhaul. It resulted in a good overhaul of the engineering plant: On our sea trials toward the end of the period she made over 18 knots. We also had installed a high smoke pipe on the large false stack. It ruined the handsome appearance of the ship but it did wonders for the atmosphere on the bridge, which for years before had been miserable. The ship also underwent communications alterations and installation of electronic countermeasures equipment.” Captain Harry B. Stark, Commanding Officer, November 1957 to August 1958.There are plans for a 4-to-6 minute video to be displayed in the unfinished cabinet at the bottom left area of this photograph. The video will likely show portions of the color 1944 film footage and selected sections of the 1962 and 1965-66 WestPac cruise movie footage.
Appreciation to Mark Wilkins, Curator of Maritime History, Calvert Marine Museum, for these photographs. And appreciation to Robert Hurry, Museum Registrar, for the close-up photograph of the completed display model.
Temporary exhibit, late 2018 to early-2019
This photograph shows a temporary exhibit, circa early-2019, before the larger permanent exhibit, pictured above, was completed.
About the USS Calvert exhibit
The article below was published in the Fall 2019 edition of the Calvert Marine Museum’s Bugeye Times newsletter. The full newsletter is available here.
About the Calvert Marine Museum, Solomon Islands, MD
The Calvert Marine Museum has a sizable collection of artifacts, documents and photographs related to the USS Calvert, her crew, Calvert reunions and the Calvert Associates.
Most of these materials donated to the museum were provided by John Cole, the original author, compiler, and publisher of the Calversion as well as the original organizer for the USS Calvert reunions. At the 1981 USS Calvert reunion, Atlanta, GA, the Calvert Associates approved the Calvert Marine Museum as the official repository for USS Calvert materials.
The museum manages the USS Calvert archive as a “dynamic collection” with volunteers actively cataloging, digitizing and archiving the thousands of photographs and documents.
If you have USS Calvert related materials, and you don’t know what to do with it, please consider sending your materials to the Museum and they will care for it for future generations. Contact me with questions and I will connect you with the appropriate staff contacts at the museum.
USS Calvert Associates reunion group’s visit to the Museum, October 2015
As part of the 2015 Baltimore reunion event, attendees were welcomed by the Calvert Marine Museum staff and Calvert County officials at the Calvert County Library. At the museum we were able to get close up to selected items from the museum’s ever growing collection of USS Calvert memorabilia. The library hosted a temporary exhibit of the USS Calvert in advance of the Museum’s long-term plans for the permanent exhibit as shown above.
Here are several photos from the 2015 visit to the Museum and library.
USS Calvert name board – Saved “It is now 1991 … Back in 1978 the Levin Metals Co. of Richmond, Ca. scrapped out the Calvert, they sent me parts of the ship. Last summer (1990) I received a call from them again. They wanted to know if I was interested in the ship’s nameboard that hung on either side of the bridge. I said I was interested and they said that they would ship it to me. Well it came, and I am happy. The board is seven feet long and nine inches high. The words U.S.S. Calvert APA 32, are made of brass and are six inches high. It seems that Levin kept these boards from all the ships that they scrapped and since someone had just bought them out, they wanted to clean house. Since I had been sending them a newsletter since day one, they thought I might want it. Levin, thank you very much.” Calversion V24, p1 John L. Cole
Temporary exhibit, Calvert County Library. October, 2015
The following letter was sent, via air mail, to family and friends contacts of the Calvert’s crew members in early February 1966. Written and signed by Captain Ward, the Calvert’s Commanding Officer at that time, it is a fitting and warmhearted message as the Calvert neared the end of her final Far East Cruise, her return to San Diego, and eventual decommissioning later that spring.
Each image below is viewable as a larger version by clicking on the image.
Thank you to an anonymous donor for sharing this letter for inclusion on the website and historical record of the USS Calvert.
