Xenia (AKA-51)
1945-1946
Minor planet number 625, discovered by August Kopff in Heidelburg, Germany, on 11 February 1907. The word Xenia is a Greek term for hospitality or present. Shortly after the ship was commissioned, the town of Xenia, in Greene County, Ohio, demonstrated how well it deserved the name which it shares with the planet and the warship by offering to adopt the attack cargo ship.
(AKA-51: displacement 4,087; length 426'0"; beam 58'0"; draft 15'6"; speed 16.9 knots; complement 303; armament 1 5-inch, 8 40 millimeter, 10 20 millimeter; class Artemis; type S4-SE2-BE1)
Xenia (AKA-51) was laid down under Maritime Commission contract (M.C. Hull 1912) on 4 May 1945 at Providence, R.I., by the Walsh-Kaiser Co., Inc.; launched on 27 June 1945; sponsored by Mrs. Roger W. Armstrong; and commissioned at the building yard on 28 July 1945, Lt. Cmdr. George B. Service, USNR, in command.
Following shakedown, Xenia operated off the east coast with Service Force, Atlantic Fleet, from September 1945 until 17 April 1946, when she reported to the Commandant, Third Naval District, New York, N.Y., for disposal. Decommissioned on 13 May 1946, Xenia was struck from the Navy List on 30 November 1946 and subsequently transferred to the government of Chile.
Renamed Presidente Errazuriz, she served the Chilean Navy, for a time serving as fleet flagship, until decommissioned on 19 December 1966. Ultimately, the ship was partially dismantled by Agencias Metalurgicas S.A.C. of Chile with a remnant serving as a floating jetty..
Updated, Robert J. Cressman
23 November 2021
