USS Neshanic
_at_San_Francisco_in_November_1945.jpg) USS Neshanic at San Francisco in November 1945
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | Neshanic |
| Namesake | Neshanic River |
| Laid down | 11 June 1942 |
| Launched | 31 October 1942 |
| Commissioned | 20 February 1943 |
| Decommissioned | 19 December 1945 |
| Stricken | 8 January 1946 |
| Identification |
|
| Honours and awards | 9 battle stars for World War II service |
| Fate | In private service since 1946, Scrapped in Turkey, December 2018 |
| General characteristics In US Navy service | |
| Class and type | oiler |
| Type | MARAD T3-S-A1 |
| Tonnage | 16,543 DWT |
| Displacement | 21,077 tons |
| Length | 501 ft 7.75 in (152.9017 m) |
| Beam | 68 ft (21 m) |
| Draft | 29 ft 10.5 in (9.106 m) |
| Depth | 37 ft (11 m) |
| Installed power | 7,000 shp (5,200 kW) |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 15.3 knots (28.3 km/h; 17.6 mph) |
| Range | 14,500 nmi (26,900 km; 16,700 mi) |
| Capacity | 133,800 bbl (~18,250 t) |
| Complement | 13 officers, 200 enlisted |
| Armament |
|
USS Neshanic (AO-71) is a former
History
Neshanic was built as the SS Marquette, ex MC hull 519 under
Following shakedown, Neshanic cleared
In October, the tanker returned to duty in the Central Pacific. Sailing from San Pedro on the 2nd, she arrived at
After a brief respite at San Pedro, Neshanic returned to
Off Saipan on 18 June, her support force was subjected to almost continuous Japanese air attacks from 1640 to 1830. At 1641, several bombs landed close aboard Neshanic, with no damage to the tanker. A minute later, however, a 100 lb (45 kg) bomb landed on her cargo deck, aft on the starboard side, amongst drums containing lube oil. The bomb, without piercing the deck and the fuel oil tanks below, set off fires and blew fragments which cut fuel hoses and destroyed fueling station rigs and bridge fittings. The fires, which were brought under immediate control, caused 1st, 2nd and 3rd degree burns to 33 of the
Neshanic sailed to Eniwetok for repairs and then returned to the Marianas to support the Guam offensive, retiring to Eniwetok again on 26 July. Proceeding from there to San Pedro, she underwent overhaul and returned to the Admiralties on 24 October to serve as station tanker at Manus until 29 January 1945. On that date she sailed for Ulithi, proceeding from there to Saipan, from which she sortied on 21 February to resupply the forces engaged in fighting in the Iwo Jima area.
She returned to Ulithi on 7 March, departing again on the 26th to rendezvous with the forces preparing the way for the
At Ulithi when the war ended, on 14 August she conducted one more underway replenishment mission from that base before departing for Tokyo Bay on 21 September. Arriving in the Japanese home islands on the 26th, she remained until 24 October when she got underway for the United States. She arrived at Norfolk, Virginia on 28 November and decommissioned on 19 December. On 8 January 1946, she was struck from the Navy List.
Post-war
On 28 June 1946, was transferred to the custody of the Maritime Commission. Later sold by that agency, she was placed in service as SS Gulfoil by the Gulf Oil Corporation, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Gulfoil hauled oil until 7 August 1958, when the ship collided with the gasoline tanker S. E. Graham near Newport, Rhode Island. S. E. Graham sank and most of Gulfoil's crew died but the heavily damaged Gulfoil was taken to Baltimore.
The ship was rebuilt as a straight deck
She was sold in 2006, to Liberty Steamship Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of American Steamship, and renamed SS American Victory.[2] She was still operational on the Great Lakes in 2008, but was subsequently in long-term lay-up.
In December 2017 Algoma Central was reported to have purchased her and three others from American Steamship Company. However in May, she has reportedly sold for scrap, and was being towed through the Great Lakes on her way to a Turkish scrapyard as of June 2018.
Awards and honors
Neshanic (AO-71) was awarded 9
References
This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
- ^ American Victory, Great Lakes and Seaway Shipping, Boatnerd
- ^ Colton Company: Maritime News
External links
- Photo gallery of Neshanic at NavSource Naval History
- Wildenberg, Thomas (1996). Gray Steel and Black Oil: Fast Tankers and Replenishment at Sea in the U.S. Navy, 1912–1995. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. Retrieved 28 April 2009.