MV Louden

Last updated

History
Name
  • Louden
  • Piscataqua
Namesake Piscataqua River
Orderedas type (T1-M-BT1) hull, MC hull 2630
Awarded26 July 1944
Builder St. Johns River Shipbuilding Company, Jacksonville, Florida [1]
Cost$1,022,203.48 [2]
Yard number89
Way number3
Laid down24 March 1945
Launched26 May 1945
Completed16 July 1947
AcquiredAcquisition canceled, 26 August 1945
RenamedPiscataqua
Identification Hull symbol: AOG-70
FateSold for commercial use, 16 July 1947
Flag of the United States.svgUnited States
NameLouden
Owner International Tankers
FateSold, 1948
Flag of the United States.svgUnited States
NameTranswel
FateSold 1950
Flag of Mexico.svgMexico
NameSalamanca
OwnerPetroleos Mexicanos SA
FateScrapped, 1972
General characteristics [3]
Class and type Klickitat-class gasoline tanker
TypeType T1-MT-BT1 tanker
Displacement
  • 1,980 long tons (2,012 t) (light)
  • 5,970 long tons (6,066 t) (full load)
Length325 ft 2 in (99.11 m)
Beam48 ft 2 in (14.68 m)
Draft19 ft (5.8 m)
Installed power
Propulsion
Speed10  kn (19  km/h; 12  mph)
Capacity
  • 10,465  bbl (1,663.8  m3) (Diesel)
  • 871,332 US gal (3,298,350 l; 725,536 imp gal) (Gasoline)
Complement80
Armament

MV Louden was acquired by the Maritime Commission (MARCOM) on a loan charter basis and renamed USS Piscataqua (AOG-70), she was to be a type T1 Klickitat-class gasoline tanker built for the US Navy during World War II. She was named after the Piscataqua River, between New Hampshire and Maine. Piscataqua (AOG-70) was never commissioned into the US Navy.

Contents

Construction

Louden (AOG-70) was laid down on 24 March 1945, under a Maritime Commission (MARCOM) contract, MC hull 2630, by the St. Johns River Shipbuilding Company, Jacksonville, Florida; she was renamed Piscataqua, but acquisition by the US Navy was cancelled 26 August 1945. [1] [2]

Piscataqua was launched on 26 May 1945, and was about 80.3% complete when, due to the end of World War II, the ship's US Navy reassignment was canceled. She reverted to her original name of Louden. The unfinished ship was completed by the Maryland Drydock Company, Baltimore, Maryland, in 1947, and sold to the International Tankers, 16 July 1947. [4] [3]

Career

Louden was resold in 1948, and renamed Transwel. Transwel was resold in 1950, and renamed Salamanca. Salamanca was scrapped in 1972. [3]

Related Research Articles

USS Nanticoke (AOG-66), was a type T1 Klickitat-class gasoline tanker built for the US Navy during World War II. She was named after the Nanticoke River, in Delaware and Maryland.

USS Piscataqua may refer to:

USS Armadillo (IX-111), the lead ship of her class of tanker was the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for the armadillo, an insect-eating mammal which has an armorlike shell encasing its back and head.

USS <i>Baham</i> Liberty ship of WWII

USS Baham (AK-122/AG-71) was a Basilan-class auxiliary ship, converted from a Liberty Ship, commissioned by the US Navy for service in World War II. She was first named after former Florida, resident Elizabeth C. Bellamy, the daughter of General William Croom, and wife of Doctor Samuel C. Bellamy. According to legend she died on her wedding night when her dress caught fire, but she actually died three years after her wedding from malaria. She was renamed and commissioned after Baham, a star in constellation Pegasus. She was responsible for delivering troops, goods and equipment to locations in the war zone.

USS <i>Picket</i> (YAGR-7)

USS Picket (YAGR/AGR-7) was a Guardian-class radar picket ship, converted from a Liberty Ship, acquired by the US Navy in 1955. She was obtained from the National Defense Reserve Fleet and reconfigured as a radar picket ship and assigned to radar picket duty in the North Pacific Ocean as part of the Distant Early Warning Line.

USS Alkaid (AK-114) was a Crater-class cargo ship, converted from a Liberty Ship, commissioned by the US Navy for service in World War II. She was first named after William G. Sumner, a classical liberal American social scientist. She was renamed and commissioned after Alkaid, a star in the Big Dipper asterism or constellation Ursa Major. She was responsible for delivering troops, goods and equipment to locations in the war zone.

USS <i>Crux</i> (AK-115) Liberty ship of WWII

USS Crux (AK-115) was a Crater-class cargo ship, converted from a Liberty Ship, commissioned by the US Navy for service in World War II. She was first named after Peter Stuyvesant, a Dutch politician that served as the last Dutch director-general of the colony of New Netherland from 1647 until it was ceded provisionally to the English in 1664. She was renamed and commissioned after Crux, a constellation centered on four stars in the southern sky in a bright portion of the Milky Way. She was responsible for delivering troops, goods and equipment to locations in the war zone.

USS <i>Shaula</i> (AK-118) Liberty ship of WWII

USS Shaula (AK-118) was a Crater-class cargo ship, converted from a Liberty Ship, commissioned by the US Navy for service in World War II. She was first named after James Screven, an American general during the American Revolutionary War. She was renamed and commissioned after Shaula, the second-brightest star system in the constellation of Scorpius. She was responsible for delivering troops, goods and equipment to locations in the war zone.

USS <i>Matar</i> (AK-119) Liberty ship of WWII

USS Matar (AK-119) was a Crater-class cargo ship, converted from a Liberty Ship, commissioned by the US Navy for service in World War II. She was first named after Napoleon B. Broward, an American river pilot, captain, and politician; he was elected as the 19th Governor of the US state of Florida. She was renamed and commissioned after Matar, a binary star in the constellation of Pegasus. She was responsible for delivering troops, goods and equipment to locations in the war zone.

USS <i>Menkar</i> (AK-123) Liberty ship of WWII

USS Menkar (AK-123) was a Crater-class cargo ship, converted from a Liberty Ship, commissioned by the U.S. Navy for service in World War II. She was first named after John White, a settler among those who sailed with Richard Grenville, to present-day North Carolina, in 1585, to found the Roanoke Colony. White acted as artist and mapmaker to the expedition. He became the governor, in 1587, of the colony, and his granddaughter, Virginia Dare, was the first English child born in the Americas. She was renamed and commissioned after Menkar, the second-brightest star in the constellation of Cetus. She was responsible for delivering troops, goods and equipment to locations in the war zone.

USS <i>Melucta</i> (AK-131) Liberty ship of WWII

USS Melucta (AK-131) was a Crater-class cargo ship, converted from a Liberty Ship, commissioned by the US Navy for service in World War II. She was first named after Thomas A. McGinley, the president of the Duff-Norton Manufacturing Co., and inventor of an improved high-speed screw jack and lifting machinery. She was renamed and commissioned after Melucta, a star in the constellation Gemini. She was responsible for delivering troops, goods and equipment to locations in the war zone.

USS Propus (AK-132) was a Crater-class cargo ship, converted from a Liberty Ship, commissioned by the US Navy for service in World War II. She was first named after Frederick Tresca, a French-born lighthouse keeper, sea captain, pioneer shipping man, and Union blockade runner in Florida. She was renamed and commissioned after Propus, a star in the constellation Gemini. She was responsible for delivering troops, goods and equipment to locations in the war zone.

USS Pitkin (AK-204) was an Alamosa-class cargo ship that was constructed for the US Navy during the closing period of World War II. By the time she was scheduled for commissioning, the war’s end caused her to be declared “excess to needs” and she was returned to the US Government and struck by the Navy.

USS Tipton (AK-215) was an Alamosa-class cargo ship that was constructed for the US Navy during the closing period of World War II. She was commissioned; however, the war ended and she was declared "excess to needs." She was then transferred to the US Coast Guard in 1946.

MS Transpet was a tanker of United States and Panamanian registry. Laid down as MV Avoca and acquired by the Maritime Commission (MARCOM) on a loan charter basis and renamed USS Petaluma (AOG-69), she was to be a type T1 Klickitat-class gasoline tanker built for the US Navy during World War II. She was named after the Petaluma River, in California. Petaluma (AOG-69) was never commissioned into the US Navy.

T1 tanker

The T1 tanker or T1 are a class of sea worthy small tanker ships used to transport fuel oil before and during World War II, Korean War and Vietnam War. The T1 tanker classification is still in use today. T1 tankers are about 200 to 250 feet in length and are able to sustain a top speed of about 12 knots. The hull designation AO is used by the US Navy to denote the ship is a T1 oil tanker and AOG that the T1 is a gasoline tanker. The small size allows the T1 to enter just about any sea port or to anchor around a small island, this was very useful during the Pacific War. The T1 tanker can carry about 48,000 to 280,000 bbls. Some T1 tankers were used to transport goods other than oil, a few were used for black oil-crude oil, diesel, chemicals and rarely bulk cargo like grain. T1 tankers are also called liquid cargo carriers. The T1 tanker has about a 6,000 to 35,000 deadweight tonnage (DWT) of cargo. The small size also gives the ships short turn around time for repair, cleaning, loading and unloading. A T1 tanker carrying dirty cargo, like crude oil needs a few weeks of labor to clean before carrying clean cargo. Most T1 ships during World War II were named after major oil fields. T1 tankers are operated by the US Navy, War Shipping Administration and United States Maritime Commission. Some T1s were loaned to England in the Lend-Lease program for World War II, after the war most were returned to the US. After World War II many of the T1 ships were sold to for civilian use. Each T1 had emergency life rafts on the boat deck. The ships had cargo booms and piping to load and unload fuel. During war time the T1 are armed for protection with deck guns. A typical ship may have one single 3"/50 dual purpose gun, two 40 mm guns and three single Oerlikon 20 mm cannon. A T1 at war time normally had a crew of 38 and up to 130. If operating as a United States Merchant Marine ship, the crew would be a mix of civilian Merchant Marines and United States Navy Armed Guards to man the guns.

USS <i>Klickitat</i> (AOG-64)

USS Klickitat (AOG-64), was the lead ship of the type T1 Klickitat-class gasoline tanker built for the US Navy during World War II. She was named after the Klickitat River, in Washington.

USS Michigamme (AOG-64), was a type T1 Klickitat-class gasoline tanker built for the US Navy during World War II. She was named after the Michigamme River, in Michigan.

USS Nodaway (AOG-67), was a type T1 Klickitat-class gasoline tanker built for the US Navy during World War II. She was named after the Nodaway River, in Iowa. Nodaway (AOG-67) was never commissioned into the US Navy.

USS <i>Peconic</i> (AOG-68)

USS Peconic (AOG-68), was a type T1 Klickitat-class gasoline tanker built for the US Navy during World War II. She was named after the Peconic River, in New York.

References

Bibliography

Photo gallery of USS Piscataqua (AOG-70) at NavSource Naval History