USS Patuxent (AO-44)
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History | |
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Name | USS Patuxent |
Namesake | Patuxent River |
Builder | Sun Shipbuilding & Drydock Co., Chester, Pennsylvania |
Laid down | 5 March 1942 |
Launched | 25 July 1942 |
Sponsored by | Mrs. W. H. Blanchard |
Acquired | 28 September 1942 |
Commissioned | 22 October 1942 |
Decommissioned | 21 February 1946 |
Stricken | 12 March 1946 |
Identification | IMO number: 5086877 |
Honors and awards | 8 battle stars (World War II) |
Fate | Sold into commercial service, 1947 |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Mattaponi-class oiler |
Type | MARAD T2-A |
Tonnage | 16,400 DWT |
Displacement | 21,750 tons |
Length | 520 ft (160 m) |
Beam | 68 ft (21 m) |
Draft | 29 ft 11.5 in (9.131 m) |
Depth | 37 ft (11 m) |
Installed power | 12,000 shp (8,900 kW) |
Propulsion |
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Speed | 16.5 knots (30.6 km/h) |
Range | 7,200 nmi (13,300 km; 8,300 mi) |
Capacity | 133,000 bbl (~18,100 t) |
Complement | 352 |
Armament |
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USS Patuxent (AO-44) was a
The
Service history
1942–1944
On 12 November 1942, Patuxent reported to the
She next sailed for the United States via the
During these runs she fueled the fleet in Purvis Bay and Tulagi Harbor, Florida Island, and pumped aviation gasoline to Henderson Field and other fighter strips on Guadalcanal. She departed Nouméa on 20 November and carried gasoline to Wellington, New Zealand. Patuxent next made fueling runs which lasted throughout the month of December. On 30 December she got underway from Purvis Bay for her first rendezvous with major ships of the fleet for fueling-at-sea operations. Supporting strikes off Kavieng, New Ireland on 31 December 1943 to 1 January 1944, she fueled two carriers and three destroyers. She sailed to Espiritu Santo on 10 January 1944 and steamed between Guadalcanal and the New Hebrides until 9 March.
On 8 April 1944, Patuxent proceeded to her second refueling-at-sea rendezvous. She then returned via Purvis Bay, to the States, reaching
She returned to
Departing Manus on 6 September, Patuxent steamed with the logistic support group for the Palau Island campaign. After a week fueling-at-sea, she returned to Seeadler Harbor. On the 18th she returned to the Palau area, fueled, and headed to rendezvous east of the Philippine Islands to fuel the fast carrier task force striking there on 9–24 September. She returned to Seeadler Harbor on 8 October.
On 13 October she followed the Philippine invading forces out of Seeadler Harbor and proceeded to the Philippine area once more, participating in the logistic support operations off the east coast. Patuxent was with the task group off Luzon when the Japanese sent their fleet to wipe out the Leyte beachhead. Orders arrived to head east at flank speed. The task group raced to the Western Carolines, arriving at Ulithi on 30 October, Patuxent's home port for the next ten months.
Returning to the Philippine area again 2 November, she operated with the logistic support group.
1945–1946
Patuxent departed Ulithi on 7 January 1945. She joined the Fast Carrier Task Group, then preparing for a sortie into the South China Sea. During this period the fleet struck the China coast and Formosa, and also supported operations at Lingayen Gulf, Luzon. Under the cover of night, the oilers entered the South China Sea and fueled the 3rd Fleet. Japanese Army camps were in sight on the shore, and unidentified aircraft passed overhead during the night. This cruise into the South China Sea ended Patuxent's part in the recapture and liberation of the Philippine Islands.
Patuxent departed Ulithi on 8 February, for the Volcano Islands area and the Iwo Jima campaign. The task group swung southwest to stand by while the combat ships went in to support the beachheads.
After an explosion and fire forward, Patuxent steamed to
Patuxent supported strikes against Japan from 10 July until 5 August. After replenishing at Ulithi the oiler was steaming to rejoin the support group off
On 16 September she headed home via Eniwetok, arrived at
On 18 January 1946, she was moved to the Graham Shipyards, Oakland, and decommissioned there on 21 February 1946. She was struck from the Navy List on 12 March 1946, and transferred to the War Shipping Administration for disposal on 1 July 1946. She was subsequently sold to the Pure Oil Co., Chicago, Illinois, and operated out of Baltimore as SS David D. Irwin.
Awards
Patuxent received eight
References
This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
- T2 Tanker site
External links
- Photo gallery of USS Patuxent 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 2009-04-28.