USS ''Bryce Canyon'' (AD-36) was a , the only ship to be named for the

Bryce Canyon National Park Bryce Canyon National Park () is an American national park located in southwestern Utah. The major feature of the park is Bryce Canyon, which despite its name, is not a canyon, but a collection of giant natural amphitheaters along the eastern ...

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

. ''Bryce Canyon'' was launched 7 March 1946 by

Charleston Navy Yard Charleston Naval Shipyard (formerly known as the Charleston Navy Yard) was a U.S. Navy ship building and repair facility located along the west bank of the Cooper River, in North Charleston, South Carolina and part of Naval Base Charleston. H ...

and sponsored by Mrs. William J. Carter, wife of Rear Admiral Carter. Little additional work was done on her until after the outbreak of the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

. Charleston Naval Shipyard then completed the tender and she was commissioned 15 September 1950.

Service history

''Bryce Canyon'' transited the

Panama Canal The Panama Canal ( es, Canal de Panamá, link=no) is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean and divides North and South America. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a conduit ...

5 December and reported to the Pacific Fleet. On 26 March 1951 she got underway from

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

, California for the

Far East The ''Far East'' was a European term to refer to the geographical regions that includes East and Southeast Asia as well as the Russian Far East to a lesser extent. South Asia is sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons. The ter ...

. Arriving at

Yokosuka is a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city has a population of 409,478, and a population density of . The total area is . Yokosuka is the 11th most populous city in the Greater Tokyo Area, and the 12th in the Kantō region. The city ...

, Japan, 12 April 1951, she spent the next seven months in Japanese waters repairing and servicing vessels based at Yokosuka and

Sasebo is a core city located in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. It is also the second largest city in Nagasaki Prefecture, after its capital, Nagasaki. On 1 June 2019, the city had an estimated population of 247,739 and a population density of 581 persons p ...

. ''Bryce Canyon'' left Japan 4 November 1951 and arrived at San Diego 18 November 1951. She got underway, via

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Re ...

, for her second Western Pacific cruise in June, 1952. This cruise was completed 16 February 1953 when she arrived at

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

. On 26 September 1953 she again sailed for Sasebo where she arrived 16 October. ''Bryce Canyon'' provided tender service in Sasebo, Yokosuka,

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region, the fourth-most populous city and third most populous urban area in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020. Located on the Pacific coast in central Honshu, it is the capital and the most pop ...

, and

Kobe Kobe ( , ; officially , ) is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture Japan. With a population around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Tokyo and Yokohama. It is located in Kansai region, whic ...

during this tour. She returned to the United States 17 June 1954. Her fourth Western Pacific tour commenced 25 February 1955. She serviced vessels at

Subic Bay Subic Bay is a bay on the west coast of the island of Luzon in the Philippines, about northwest of Manila Bay. An extension of the South China Sea, its shores were formerly the site of a major United States Navy facility, U.S. Naval Base Subi ...

Luzon Luzon (; ) is the largest and most populous island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the Philippines archipelago, it is the economic and political center of the nation, being home to the country's capital city, Manila, as ...

, between 16 March and 28 April and then proceeded to Yokosuka, arriving 11 May 1955. ''Bryce Canyon'' returned to Long Beach 11 August 1955. On 9 December 1955 she departed California on her fifth Western Pacific tour which ended at Long Beach on 26 October 1956. Between Far Eastern cruises ''Bryce Canyon'' has operated along the West Coast. Home Port Long Beach, California 6-month duration with 6 months at Pearl Harbor. Cruises to Pacific theatre every 4 years. ''Bryce Canyon'' received one

battle star A service star is a miniature bronze or silver five-pointed star inch (4.8 mm) in diameter that is authorized to be worn by members of the eight uniformed services of the United States on medals and ribbons to denote an additional award or ser ...

for her services to the forces afloat in the Korean War. ''Bryce Canyon'' was decommissioned on 30 June 1981. She was sold for scrapping to National Metal and Steel, Terminal Island, Ca on 6 April 1982.

Notable former crew

* Stan Hitchcock, mid 1950s, leader of the ship's band, "The Bryce Canyon Troubadours"

References

* *

External links

USS ''Bryce Canyon'' at hazegray.org
* http://www.mlrsinc.com/brycecanyon/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Bryce Canyon (Ad-36) Shenandoah-class destroyer tenders Korean War auxiliary ships of the United States 1946 ships Tenders of the United States Navy Destroyer tenders of the United States