USS Enoree (AO-69)

Career (US)
Ordered:	as T3-S-A1 tanker hull; MC hull 517
Laid down:	as SS Sachem
Launched:	29 August 1942
Commissioned:	USS Enoree (AO-69), 23 January 1943
Decommissioned:	27 March 1947
In service:	18 October 1950
Out of service:	22 October 1957
Struck:	1 February 1959
Fate:	sold for scrapping
General characteristics
Displacement:	5,650 t.(lt) 21,077 t.(fl)
Length:	502 ft 6 in (153.16 m)
Beam:	68 ft (21 m)
Draught:	31 ft (9.4 m)
Propulsion:	geared turbine, single screw. 12,000hp
Speed:	17 kts
Capacity:	134,000 barrels
Complement:	13 officers 200 enlisted
Armament:	one 5"/38 dual purpose gun mount, four 3"/50 guns, four twin 40mm gun mounts, four twin 20mm gun mounts

USS Enoree (AO-69) was a Chiwawa-class oiler constructed for the United States Navy during World War II. She was the only U.S. Navy ship named for the Enoree River in South Carolina.

History

Enoree (AO-69), formerly SS Sachem, was built for the Maritime Commission by the Bethlehem Steel Co., Sparrows Point, Maryland. She was acquired by the Navy and commissioned on 23 January 1943, Commander W. S. Campbell in command.

From 1 April 1943 to 15 March 1944 she made several transatlantic convoy crossings to ports in Northern Ireland and North Africa as well as trips between Norfolk, Virginia, and Texas ports.

On 15 April 1944 Enoree completed a yard overhaul during which she had installed a 160-ton crane. Proceeding to Pearl Harbor on 19 May, she departed thence to begin her important role in fueling and supplying ammunition to the ships which operated against the Marianas, during the summer months. In September she fueled the naval forces involved in the western Caroline Islands offensive.

Arriving at Ulithi on 13 October she was assigned as station tanker and designated to assist in salvage operations. For the remainder of the war she used this as home port, radiating out to fuel elements of the U.S. 3rd Fleet and the U.S. 5th Fleet in support of drives against Luzon and Okinawa. In October 1945 she joined the occupation forces in Japan, remaining there until March 1946.

Following a stay in Buckner Bay, she set sail for San Francisco, California, arriving on 4 October 1946. Returning to the U.S. East Coast she was decommissioned on 27 March 1947 and placed in reserve.

Enoree was recalled to active duty in 1950 and placed in commission on 18 October of that year, with Commander Samuel H. Pattie, in command. She engaged in training exercises and coastal operations until early 1951 when she steamed to Pearl Harbor. On 25 February she returned to San Francisco, California, and on 30 March 1951 was transferred to MSTS under whose command she served until 10 December 1954 when she was decommissioned and placed in the San Diego Group of the Pacific Reserve Fleet.

She was commissioned for the third time on 10 December 1956 but remained so only until 22 October 1957. She was stricken from the Navy List on 1 February 1959 and transferred to the National Defense Reserve Fleet.

Awards and honors

Enoree received six battle stars for World War II service.

She was also authorized:

• American Campaign Medal
• European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal (1)
• Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (5)
• World War II Victory Medal
• Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia and Europe clasps)
• National Defense Service Medal
• Philippines Presidential Unit Citation

References

• This article includes text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.

External links

• Photo gallery of Enoree 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. http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/GSBO/index.html. Retrieved 2009-04-28.