USS Kankakee
 | This article includes a improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (April 2023) ) |
_in_the_North_Atlantic_c1968.jpg) USS Kankakee during underway replenishment
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | USS Kankakee |
| Namesake | Kankakee River |
| Builder | Bethlehem Sparrows Point Shipyard |
| Launched | 24 January 1942 |
| Acquired | 31 March 1942 |
| Commissioned | 4 May 1942 |
| Decommissioned | 30 November 1955 |
| Recommissioned | 20 December 1956 |
| Decommissioned | 4 November 1957 |
| Reinstated | 1 September 1961 |
| Recommissioned | 29 November 1961 |
| Stricken | 1 January 1973 |
| Honors and awards |
|
| Fate | Scrapped May 1976 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Kennebec class oiler |
| Type | MARAD T2 |
| Tonnage | 15,910 DWT |
| Displacement | 21,077 tons |
| Length | 501 ft 8 in (152.91 m) |
| Beam | 68 ft (21 m) |
| Draft | 29 ft 8.5 in (9.055 m) |
| Depth | 37 ft (11 m) |
| Installed power | 12,000 shp (8,900 kW) |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 16.5 knots (30.6 km/h) |
| Range | 8,000 nmi (15,000 km; 9,200 mi) |
| Capacity | 130,000 bbl (~18,000 t) |
| Complement | 214–247 |
| Armament | |
USS Kankakee (AO-39) was a
Service history
1942–1943
Departing Norfolk on 1 June 1942, Kankakee transported a cargo of
_in_1942.jpg)
She cleared the
Reaching Nouméa on 8 July, she resumed refueling, cargo, and passenger runs, serving the 3rd Fleet between the New Hebrides and Solomon Islands. Sailing to the south of Guadalcanal on 1 November, she refueled Admiral Frederick C. Sherman's fast carriers, Saratoga (CV-3) and Princeton (CVL-23), on 3 to 4 November in preparation for a surprise air strike against Japanese shipping at Rabaul on the 5th.
1944
From 21 February to 2 March 1944 she replenished destroyers to the east of
Kankakee departed the West Coast on 24 August; she arrived at
1945
Throughout November and December 1944 and January 1945 she replenished
1946–1955
Assigned to the
Now assigned to the
Kankakee departed San Francisco on 1 April; after loading fuel oil at Houston, Texas, she sailed on 19 April for the Mediterranean, arriving Oran, Algeria, on 4 May to fuel 6th Fleet carriers. Completing this important duty on 21 November, she transported aviation gasoline from St. Rose, Louisiana, to the West Coast, arriving at Wilmington on 20 December. She conducted fueling operations along the Pacific coast and sailed from San Pedro on 26 August 1953 for deployment with the 6th Fleet. From her departure at Beaumont, Texas, on 12 September to her arrival at New York on 31 May 1955 she conducted two, seven-month deployments to the Mediterranean in support of 6th Fleet operations.
Placed in commission in reserve at
1956–1957
_in_Arctic_waters_c1958.jpg)
Kankakee recommissioned on 20 December 1956. Reassigned to MSTS, she departed Philadelphia on 26 December for eight months of Atlantic fuel-shuttle duty that carried her from the eastern seaboard and
1961–1973
Placed in reserve on 1 February 1959, Kankakee was reinstated on 1 September 1961 and recommissioned on 29 November at New Orleans. Assigned to ServRon 4, she departed New Orleans on 9 December, arriving Newport, Rhode Island, on 15 December. After a Caribbean cruise from 8 January to 8 March 1962, she operated along the Atlantic coast. On 24 October, two days after President Kennedy imposed a naval quarantine against the shipment of Russian offensive missiles into Cuba, Kankakee departed Newport to furnish logistic support for the fleet swiftly assembled there. Before returning to Newport on 5 December, she refueled 89 ships at sea.
Operating out of Newport, the oiler engaged in a variety of missions between 25 February 1963 and 5 June 1964. During June 1963 she participated in joint U.S.-French convoy exercises, and in August she supported Atlantic anti-submarine warfare exercises. Kankakee deployed to the Mediterranean on 3 July. While serving with the 6th Fleet, she refueled and serviced 269 ships and supplied them with more than 29 million US gallons (110,000 m3) of fuel oil and aviation gasoline. During August she supported the Fleet's Cyprus patrol as the United States continued its role of keeping the peace in the Middle East. Her deployment completed, Kankakee returned to Newport on 22 December.
Kankakee operated along the East Coast and in the Caribbean into 1967. One of the highlights of her service occurred in March 1965 when she acted as a recovery unit for NASA's Gemini 3 space flight. On this operation, besides her recovery duty, she refueled other ships of the recovery team. She was also one of the recovery ships for Gemini 12 in November 1966.[1]
Kankakee was decommissioned (date unknown), and stricken from the
Awards
Kankakee received six
References
- This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
External links
- Photo gallery of USS Kankakee at NavSource Naval History
- T2 tanker site