USS Virgo AE-30 : USS Mount Hood AE-29

• USS Virgo (AE-30) – Never Built: The ship designated as USS Virgo (AE-30) was planned as a Kilauea-class ammunition ship for the U.S. Navy, but the contract was cancelled before construction began. Thus, there is no active service history or stories directly associated with this hull number. • USS Mount Hood (AE-29) – Kilauea-Class Ammunition Ship: USS Mount Hood was the last of the eight Kilauea-class ammunition ships, commissioned on 22 May 1971, serving as a vital logistics support vessel for the U.S. Pacific Fleet. • Named After a Volcano: The ship was named after Mount Hood, a prominent stratovolcano in Oregon. This continued the tradition of naming ammunition ships after volcanoes. • Homeport in Concord, California: Mount Hood was homeported at Naval Weapons Station Concord, California, which was a major ammunition staging area for the Pacific Fleet. • Vietnam War Service: Although commissioned towards the end of the Vietnam War, Mount Hood supported U.S. operations by supplying ammunition to combat ships in the Western Pacific and Southeast Asia. • Replenishment at Sea: Mount Hood specialized in underway replenishment, delivering munitions to navy ships at sea through complex and hazardous transfer operations, often in rough waters and under tight schedules. • Cold War Operations: Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Mount Hood played a significant role in Cold War naval exercises and readiness patrols, supporting carrier battle groups and other task forces. • Persian Gulf Deployments: In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the ship supported U.S. naval operations in the Persian Gulf, including Operation Earnest Will and Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm. • Women at Sea: USS Mount Hood was among the early combat logistics ships to integrate female sailors into the crew, reflecting changing U.S. Navy policies in the 1980s. • Decommissioning and Fate: Mount Hood was decommissioned on 10 August 1999, struck from the Naval Vessel Register, and later scrapped. Her service spanned nearly three decades of significant naval history.