USS Kennebec (AO-36)
| USS Kennebec | |
| Career (US) |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | USS Kennebec |
| Namesake: | Kennebec River |
| Ordered: | 1 November 1939 |
| Builder: | Bethlehem Sparrows Point Shipyard |
| Laid down: | 12 August 1940 |
| Launched: | 19 April 1941 |
| Acquired: | 13 January 1942 |
| Commissioned: | 4 February 1942 |
| Decommissioned: | 29 June 1970 |
| Struck: | 15 July 1976 |
| Motto: | Service God, Country, Fleet |
| Honors and awards: |
1 battle star (World War II) 7 campaign stars (Vietnam) |
| Fate: | Scrapped, 1982 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Kennebec-class fleet oiler |
| Displacement: | 21,100 long tons (21,439 t) |
| Length: | 501 ft 6 in (152.86 m) |
| Beam: | 68 ft (21 m) |
| Draft: | 30 ft 2 in (9.19 m) |
| Propulsion: | Geared turbine, single screw, 12,000 hp (8,948 kW) |
| Speed: | 16.5 kn (30.6 km/h) |
| Capacity: | 134,000 barrels |
| Complement: | 214 |
| Armament: |
• 1 × single 5"/38 caliber dual purpose gun • 4 × single 3"/50 caliber dual purpose guns • 4 × twin Bofors 40 mm guns • 4 × twin 20 mm Oerlikons |
USS Kennebec (AO-36) was originally the SS Corsicana, a T2 tanker that was built by Bethlehem Sparrows Point Shipyard in Sparrows Point, Maryland. It was delivered to Socony-Vacuum Oil Company on August 8, 1941. It was purchased by the United States Navy on 13 January 1942 and renamed Kennebec.
Service history
The fleet oiler later had an eventful career, in so far as it was decommissioned four times and struck twice from the Naval Vessel Register. Kennebec was decommissioned on 4 September 1950 at San Diego, California, and laid up in the Pacific Reserve Fleet for only four months. It was already recommissioned on 11 January 1951, at Oakland, California, with Commander A.G. Beckman in command. On 25 September 1954 it was decommissioned, again at San Diego and laid up in the Pacific Reserve Fleet, San Diego Group. The next time it was recommissioned on 14 December 1956, Cdr. Naden F. Stimac commanding the ship, only to be decommissioned again on 31 October 1957. This time the ship was struck from the Naval Register on 14 January 1959 and transferred to the Maritime Administration (MARAD) for lay up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet. However, Kennebec was reacquired by the U.S. Navy and recommissioned on 16 December 1961. It served the Pacific Fleet during the Vietnam War up to 1970.
The ship decommissioned for the last time on 29 June 1970 at the Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility, Mare Island, Vallejo, California, and transferred to the Maritime Administration (MARAD) for lay up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet. Kennebec was then struck from the Naval Register on 15 July 1976. On 6 April 1982 it was sold by MARAD to Levin Metals Corporation for $180,077.00, and subsequently scrapped.
References
- T2 Tanker site
- 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.
External links
- Photo gallery of USS Kennebec at NavSource Naval History
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