History
United States
Name	Sidney Howard Armadillo
Namesake	Sidney Howard The armadillo
Ordered	as a Type T1-S-C3 hull, MCE hull 1900[1]
Builder	California Shipbuilding Corporation, Terminal Island, Los Angeles, California
Yard number	T21[1]
Way number	3[1]
Laid down	24 September 1943
Launched	26 October 1943
Commissioned	18 November 1943
Decommissioned	29 May 1946
Stricken	19 June 1946
Identification	Hull symbol: IX-111 Code letters: NJGW
Honors and awards	1 × battle star
Fate	returned to MARCOM, 29 May 1946, laid up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, James River Group, Lee Hall, Virginia. Sold, 26 January 1948 , withdrawn, 3 February 1948
United States
Name	Dean H.
Owner	Windear Navigation Co
Acquired	14 April 1948
Fate	Sold, November 1954
Liberia
Name	Dean H.
Acquired	November 1954
Refit	1955, to a dry cargo ship
Fate	Sold, 2 March 1959
United States
Name	Chris H.
Owner	Winco Tankers Inc.
Acquired	2 March 1959
Fate	Exchanged to the Maritime Administration (MARAD), 26 December 1962, returned 7 February 1963
United States
Name	Dean H.
Owner	MARAD
Acquired	7 February 1963
Fate	Returned to MARCOM, 7 February 1963, sold for scrapping, 22 February 1972, withdrawn from fleet, 10 March 1972
General characteristics [2]
Class and type	Armadillo class tanker
Type	Type T1-S-C3
Displacement	14,500 long tons (14,700 t)
Length	441 ft 6 in (134.57 m)
Beam	56 ft 11 in (17.35 m)
Draught	28 ft 4 in (8.64 m)
Installed power	2 × Babcock & Wilcox header-type boilers, 215psi 450° 2,500 shp (1,900 kW)
Propulsion	1 × vertical triple-expansion reciprocating steam engine 1 × propeller
Speed	11 kn (20 km/h; 13 mph)
Complement	10 officers 69 enlisted
Armament	1 × 5 in (127 mm)/38 caliber dual purpose (DP) gun 1 × 3 in (76 mm)/50 caliber DP gun 8 × 20 mm (0.79 in) Oerlikon cannon anti-aircraft gun mounts

USS Armadillo (IX-111), the lead ship of her class of tanker was the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for the armadillo, an insect-eating mammal which has an armorlike shell encasing its back and head.

Construction

She was laid down 24 September 1943, under a Maritime Commission (MARCOM) contract, MC hull No. 1900, as the Type T1 tanker Sidney Howard, by California Shipbuilding Corporation, Terminal Island, Los Angeles, California; launched on 26 October 1943; sponsored by Mrs. S. Howard; renamed Armadillo and designated IX-111; acquired by the Navy on a bareboat basis, and simultaneously placed in commission at San Pedro, Los Angeles, on 18 November 1943.^[3]

Service history

Following her commissioning, the vessel began a period of final fitting out and shakedown training off the southern California coast. In January 1944, Armadillo was assigned to Service Force, US Pacific Fleet, and sailed for Pearl Harbor. From early February through early April 1944, the vessel carried personnel and petroleum products between Pearl Harbor and Tarawa, Gilbert Islands. On 22 April, she reported to Majuro Atoll, Marshall Islands, where she served as a station tanker through late August. Armadillo then shifted to Ulithi, Caroline Islands, to perform the same duty. This service was broken by trips to Guam and Saipan in the Mariana Islands and to Peleliu in the Palau Islands.^[3]

Armadillo left Ulithi on 10 April 1945, and shaped a course for Okinawa. She arrived there on 18 April, and began providing services to various ships of the Pacific Fleet. On 1 February 1946, the tanker departed Buckner Bay, Okinawa, and headed for the East Coast of the United States. She transited the Panama Canal on 13 March, and continued on to Norfolk, Virginia. The vessel reached that port on 23 March, and began preparations for her inactivation. Armadillo was decommissioned on 29 May 1946, and, on the same day, was delivered to MARCOM's War Shipping Administration (WSA) at Lee Hall, Virginia, and laid up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet's James River Group. Her name was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 19 June 1946.^[3]

Merchant service

Acquired by Hasler & Co., agents, for the Windsor Navigation Co., on 3 February 1948, the ship was delivered to her purchaser at Baltimore, Maryland, on 14 April 1948. Renamed Dean H. She was later sold to Liberian interests in November 1954, but returned to the US flag on 3 March 1959. Sold to Winco Tankers, Inc., on the same day, she was renamed Chris H., and carried that name until the title returned to the Maritime Administration (MARAD) the day after Christmas of 1962. Then operated by Winco Tankers, Inc., under a bareboat charter, Chris H. was deactivated on 7 February 1963, and returned to the James River Reserve Fleet where she remained until purchased by N. V. Intershitra on 22 February 1972. She was delivered to her purchaser on 10 March 1972, to be broken up for scrap in the Netherlands.^[3]

Awards

Armadillo earned one battle star for her World War II service.^[3]

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

External links

• Photo gallery of USS Armadillo (IX-111) at NavSource Naval History