Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all readers of wwiiafterwwii.

(The stores ship USS Zelima (AF-49) supplying food to the destroyers USS Sproston (DD-577) and USS Nicholas (DD-449) after WWII.)

USS Zelima had been launched as a merchant ship during WWII but completed as a stores ship, commissioning 16 July 1945. After WWII, USS Zelima participated in the Korean War and then the Vietnam War, including the 1969 Tet Offensive. USS Zelima decommissioned in 1969 and was mothballed at the Suisun Bay, CA reserve fleet anchorage. The WWII veteran was never recalled to duty and was sold to Levin Metals in November 1981.

USS Sproston commissioned on 19 May 1943 and fought in WWII. After the war, the destroyer continued in service and was finally decommissioned on 30 September 1968. The WWII veteran was sold as scrap in December 1971 and towed to Taiwan for dismantling in 1972.

USS Nicholas commissioned on 4 June 1942 and fought in WWII including the 1943 Solomon Islands campaign, where the destroyer won a Presidential Unit Citation. In 1944 USS Nicholas sank the Japanese submarine IJN I-38 which itself was carrying Kaiten suicide-attack manned torpedoes. After WWII, USS Nicholas fought in the Korean War where the destroyer earned a South Korean Presidential Citation; making the ship decorated by heads-of-state of two nations. USS Nicholas received a FRAM II upgrade and fought in the Vietnam War, and finally served in NASA Apollo spacecraft recovery missions. The WWII veteran USS Nicholas finally decommissioned 30 January 1970 and was scrapped in Portland, OR later that year.

Below is USS Zelima‘s Christmas 1953 menu.

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