USS Chehalis (AOG-48)

Last updated
USS Chehalis (AOG-48) at anchor, circa in 1944 (NH 83319).jpg
USS Chehalis (AOG-48) Photographed c. 1944, while wearing Camouflage Measure 32, Design 3D
History
US flag 48 stars.svgUnited States
NameUSS Chehalis
Namesake Chehalis River in Washington
Orderedas T1-MT-M1 tanker hull
BuilderCargill, Inc., Savage, Minnesota
Laid down23 November 1943
Launched15 April 1944
Commissioned5 December 1944
Stricken27 October 1949
FateSunk by explosion, with the loss of 6 lives, 7 October 1949
General characteristics
Class and type Patapsco-class gasoline tanker
Tonnage2,120 long tons deadweight (DWT)
Displacement
  • 1,846 long tons (1,876 t) light
  • 4,130 long tons (4,196 t) full load
Length310 ft 9 in (94.72 m)
Beam48 ft 6 in (14.78 m)
Draft15 ft 8 in (4.78 m)
Propulsion4 × General Electric diesel engines, electric drive, twin shafts, 3,300 hp (2,461 kW)
Speed14 knots (16 mph; 26 km/h)
Complement131
Armament

USS Chehalis (AOG-48) was a Patapsco-class gasoline tanker acquired by the United States Navy for the dangerous task of transporting gasoline to warships in the fleet, and to remote Navy stations. The vessel was named after the Chehalis River located in Washington state. [1]

Contents

Chehalis was laid down on 6 November 1943 at Savage, Minnesota, by Cargill, Inc.; launched on 15 April 1944; sponsored by Mrs. John H. MacMillan, Sr.; and commissioned on 5 December 1944.

World War II service

Following her shakedown, Chehalis cleared Galveston, Texas, on 5 January 1945 to call at San Diego, California, en route to Pearl Harbor, which she reached on 6 February. Until 14 April, she carried out fueling operations in the Hawaiian Islands and at Canton in the Phoenix group, aiding the many ships conducting their training in these areas. Sailing west, she put into Kossol Roads, Palaus, before arriving in San Pedro Bay, Philippine Islands, on 5 May with a cargo of aviation gasoline and lubricants for forces in the Philippines. For the next three months, she fueled motor torpedo boats and U.S. Army crash boats operating along the Leyte coast, and from 6 August to 23 November provided similar service to motor torpedo boats at Okinawa, her crew developing "a fine sense of familiarity with their battle stations" despite never being a direct target of Japanese aircraft during the course of hostilities.

Surviving typhoons

Thrice during Chehalis's time at Okinawa, twice in September and once in October, typhoons forced a suspension of normal operations and compelled the ship to get underway to ride out the storms. Having finished her task in the western Pacific Ocean, the ship departed Buckner Bay on 26 November for Olympia, Washington, reaching her destination on 19 December to receive the "warm welcome of the people of the city of Chehalis...who had paid for the ship with their war bonds [and who] expressed their thanks to the Navy in the hospitality shown her crew."

Post-war activity

After overhaul at Puget Sound, Chehalis returned to the Hawaiian Islands on 23 March 1946, and for the next three and a half years carried aviation gasoline, airplane lubricating oil, and diesel oil among the Hawaiian group and to the Pacific islands to the westward, calling at Johnston Island, Palmyra Island, Samoa, Canton Island, Kwajalein, Midway Island, Saipan, Truk, Manus, Iwo Jima, and Eniwetok.

Disaster in Samoa

At 01:23 (Samoan time) on 7 October 1949, as Chehalis lay alongside the navy dock at Tutuila, American Samoa, one of her gasoline tanks exploded, killing six of her 75-man crew.

The ship burst into flames, capsized, and sank in 45 feet of water. She later slid off the ledge, atop of which she had originally sunk, into 150 feet of water. She was stricken from the Naval Register on 27 October 1949. Her salvaged hulk was later sold to the government of American Samoa in a contract entered into on 21 October 1955.

Chehalis was carrying a cargo of ammunition and petroleum when it sank. After evidence of significant leakage of fuel from the wrecked ship, environmental risk assessments indicated that the remaining fuel aboard needed to be removed. The fuel was removed by April 2010, but no steps were taken to remove the ammunition aboard the wreck as it was not considered to be necessary. [2]

Military awards and honors

Chehalis’ crew was eligible for the following medals:

Related Research Articles

USS <i>New Orleans</i> (CA-32) New Orleans class heavy cruiser

USS New Orleans (CL/CA-32) was the lead New Orleans-class cruiser in service with the United States Navy. The New Orleans-class cruisers were the last U.S. cruisers built to the specifications and standards of the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922. Such ships, with a limit of 10,000 long tons (10,160 t) standard displacement and 8-inch (203-millimetre) calibre main guns may be referred to as "treaty cruisers." Originally classified a light cruiser, because of her thin armor, she was reclassified, soon after being laid down, a heavy cruiser, because of her 8-inch guns. The term "heavy cruiser" was not defined until the London Naval Treaty in 1930.

USS <i>Houston</i> (CA-30) Northampton-class heavy cruiser of the United States Navy

USS Houston (CL/CA-30), was a Northampton-class cruiser of the United States Navy. She was the second Navy ship to bear the name "Houston".

USS <i>Arided</i>

USS Arided (AK-73), a Crater-class cargo ship, is the only ship of the US Navy to have this name. She was named after Arided, the other name of Deneb, the alpha star of constellation Cygnus.

USS <i>Southard</i> (DD-207)

USS Southard (DD-207/DMS-10) was a Clemson-class destroyer in the United States Navy during World War II. She was the second Navy ship named for Secretary of the Navy Samuel L. Southard (1787–1842).

USS <i>Namakagon</i> (AOG-53) Patapsco-class gasoline tanker

USS Namakagon (AOG-53) was a Patapsco-class gasoline tanker built for the United States Navy during World War II. In some sources, the ship's name is also spelled Namakogon. After her decommissioning from the U.S. Navy in 1957, the former Namakagon served as Antarctic supply vessel HMNZS Endeavour (A814) for the Royal New Zealand Navy (1962–1971), and as ROCS Lung Chuan for the Republic of China Navy. Lung Chuan ended active service when she was decommissioned from the Republic of China Navy in 2005.

USS <i>Tucker</i> (DD-374) Mahan-class destroyer

USS Tucker (DD-374) was one of 18 Mahan-class destroyers built for the United States Navy and was commissioned in 1936. Tucker's main battery consisted of five dual-purpose 38 caliber 5-inch guns.

USS <i>Wabash</i> (AOG-4) Patapsco-class gasoline tanker

USS Wabash (AOG-4) was a Patapsco-class gasoline tanker acquired by the U.S. Navy for the dangerous task of transporting gasoline to warships in the fleet, and to remote Navy stations.

USS <i>Turkey</i> (AM-13)

USS Turkey (AM-13) was an Lapwing-class minesweeper acquired by the U.S. Navy for the dangerous task of removing mines from minefields laid in the water to prevent ships from passing.

USS <i>Ashtabula</i>

USS Ashtabula (AO-51) was a Cimarron-class fleet oiler of the United States Navy in service from 1943 to 1991. She survived three wars and was awarded eight battle stars for World War II service, four battle stars for Korean War service, and eight campaign stars for Vietnam War service. In the mid-1960s Ashtabula became the lead ship of her class, when she and seven other Cimarron-class oilers were lengthened ("jumboized"). She has been the only U.S. Navy ship to bear the name Ashtabula, after the City of Ashtabula which was named after the Ashtabula River in northeast Ohio.

USS <i>Agawam</i> (AOG-6) Patapsco-class gasoline tanker

USS Agawam (AOG-6) was a Patapsco-class gasoline tanker acquired by the U.S. Navy for the dangerous task of transporting gasoline to warships in the fleet, and to remote Navy stations.

USS <i>Genesee</i> (AOG-8) Patapsco-class gasoline tanker

USS Genesee (AOG-8) was a Patapsco-class gasoline tanker acquired by the U.S. Navy for the dangerous task of transporting gasoline to warships in the fleet, and to remote Navy stations.

USS <i>Kishwaukee</i> (AOG-9) Patapsco-class gasoline tanker

USS Kishwaukee (AOG-9) was a Patapsco-class gasoline tanker acquired by the U.S. Navy for the task of transporting gasoline to warships in the fleet, and to remote Navy stations.

USS <i>Nemasket</i> (AOG-10) Patapsco-class gasoline tanker

USS Nemasket (AOG-10) was a Patapsco-class gasoline tanker in service with the U.S. Navy from 1944 to 1959. She was scrapped in 2006.

USS Kaloli (AOG-13) was a gasoline tanker acquired by the U.S. Navy for the dangerous task of transporting gasoline to warships in the fleet, and to remote Navy stations.

USS <i>Calamus</i> (AOG-25)

USS Calamus (AOG-25) was a Mettawee-class gasoline tanker acquired by the U.S. Navy for the dangerous task of transporting gasoline to warships in the fleet, and to remote Navy stations.

USS <i>Escatawpa</i> (AOG-27)

USS Escatawpa (AOG-27) was a Mettawee-class gasoline tanker in service with the United States Navy from 1944 to 1946. In 1947, she was sold to Standard Oil tanker where she served as M/T Esso Porto Alegre until she sank in 1970.

USS Ochlockonee (AOG-33) was a Mettawee-class gasoline tanker acquired by the U.S. Navy for the dangerous task of transporting gasoline to warships in the fleet, and to remote Navy stations.

USS <i>Maquoketa</i> (AOG-51) Patapsco-class gasoline tanker

USS Maquoketa (AOG-51) was a Patapsco-class gasoline tanker in service with the United States Navy from 1945 to 1947 and with the Military Sea Transportation Service from 1952 to 1957. She was sold for scrap in 1975.

USS <i>Vireo</i> (AM-52)

USS Vireo (AM-52) was a U.S. Navy Lapwing-class minesweeper, No. 52, reclassified on 1 June 1942 as a fleet tug. The bulk of her combat career was served in this capacity.

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.

References

  1. Cressman, Robert J. "Chehalis I (AOG-48)". Naval History and Heritage Command. U.S. Navy - Director of Naval History. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
  2. "U.S. Naval Station Tutuila (USS Chehalis)" (PDF). American Samoa Environmental Protection Agency. Retrieved 24 August 2020.