USS Elokomin (AO-55)

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Career
Name:	USS Elokomin
Builder:	Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation, Bethlehem Sparrows Point Shipyard, Sparrows Point, Maryland
Launched:	19 October 1943
Sponsored by:	Mrs. C. M. Marcey
Acquired:	30 January 1943
Commissioned:	30 November 1943
Fate:	Sold for scrap, 1970
General characteristics
Class and type:	Cimarron-class oiler
Type:	T3-S2-A1 tanker hull
Displacement:	7,236 long tons (7,352 t) light 25,440 long tons (25,848 t) full load
Length:	553 ft (169 m)
Beam:	75 ft (23 m)
Draft:	32 ft (9.8 m)
Propulsion:	Geared turbines, twin screws, 30,400 shp (22,669 kW)
Speed:	18 knots (21 mph; 33 km/h)
Capacity:	146,000 barrels
Complement:	314
Armament:	• 1 × 5 in (130 mm)/38 cal. gun • 4 × 3 in (76 mm)/50 cal. guns (4×1) • 4 × twin 40 mm AA guns • 4 × twin 20 mm AA guns

USS Elokomin (AO-55) was a Cimarron-class fleet oiler acquired by the U.S. Navy during World War II. She served her country primarily in the Pacific Ocean Theatre of Operations, and provided petroleum products where needed to combat ships.

Elokomin was launched 19 October 1943 by Bethlehem Sparrows Point Shipyard, Sparrows Point, Maryland, under a Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 721); sponsored by Mrs. C. M. Marcey; transferred to the Navy 30 January 1943; and commissioned 30 November 1943, Commander J. A. Ivaldi, USNR, in command.

World War II Atlantic Ocean operations

From January to August 1944 Elokomin was almost constantly at sea transporting fuel oil, diesel oil, and gasoline from Gulf ports to Norfolk, Virginia, New York, Argentia, Newfoundland, and Bermuda. On 2 September she sailed with a convoy for Oran, Algeria, refueling the convoy escorts during the passage and discharging fuel oil to the dock at Oran upon arrival. She reached Bermuda 14 October, and after discharging the remainder of her cargo, returned to Norfolk 4 days later. Two similar voyages were made to Casablanca after which she served as station tanker at Bermuda in March and April 1945.

Elokomin returned to coastwise and Caribbean duty until the end of the war. She continued on active service and from her base at Norfolk, operated mainly along the east coast and on fleet exercises. She alternated this duty with U.S. 6th Fleet tours in the Mediterranean and North Atlantic Treaty Organization exercises in European waters through 1962.

Decommissioning

She was decommissioned and struck from the Naval Register on unknown dates. She was transferred to the Maritime Administration for lay up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet at another unknown date. Her final disposition was that she was scrapped in 1970.

References

This article includes text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.

External links

• NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive - AO-55 Elokomin
• 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.