USS Chiwawa

USS Chiwawa at anchor off Okinawa on 7 September 1945
History
United States
Name	USS Chiwawa
Namesake	Chiwawa River in Washington
Port of registry	Cleveland, Ohio
Ordered	as T3-S-A1 tanker hull, MC hull 516
Builder	Bethlehem Hingham Shipyard
Laid down	as SS Samoset
Launched	25 June 1942
Sponsored by	Mrs. H. G. Smith
Commissioned	24 December 1942
Decommissioned	6 May 1946
Stricken	date unknown
Identification	IMO number:  5385625 MMSI number: 366904950 Callsign: WUR8857
Honors and awards	Two battle stars for her World War II patrols
Fate	Sold by the MARAD in 1961, currently in service as the MV Lee A. Tregurtha, a Great Lakes freighter for the Interlake Steamship Company
General characteristics
Class and type	Chiwawa-class oiler
Type	MARAD T3-S-A1
Tonnage	16,543 DWT
Displacement	21,077 tons
Length	501 ft 7.75 in (152.9017 m)
Beam	68 ft (21 m)
Draft	29 ft 10.5 in (9.106 m)
Depth	37 ft (11 m)
Installed power	7,000  shp (5,200 kW)
Propulsion	geared steam turbine single screw
Speed	15.3 knots (28.3 km/h)
Range	14,500 nmi (26,900 km; 16,700 mi)
Capacity	133,800  bbl (~18,250  t)
Complement	13 officers 200 enlisted
Armament	one 5 in (130 mm) dual purpose gun mount, four 3 in (76 mm) guns, four twin 40 mm gun mounts, four twin 20 mm gun mounts

USS Chiwawa (AO-68) is a former T3-S-A1 Kennebec-class oiler constructed for the United States Navy during World War II. She was the only U.S. Navy ship named for the Chiwawa River in Washington.

Chiwawa was launched 25 June 1942 by Bethlehem Steel Co., Sparrows Point, Maryland, under a Maritime Commission contract as SS Samoset, sponsored by Mrs. H. G. Smith, acquired by the Navy 24 December 1942 and commissioned the same day, reporting to the Atlantic Fleet.

Chiwawa was designated a T3-S-A1 design, where "T" stood for tanker, "3" meant longer than 500 feet (150 m), "S" stood for single-screw steam propulsion, and "A1" meant first design of its kind. ^{[1] [2]}

History

Military service

Aerial view of USS Chiwawa (AO-68), circa. 1943

Chiwawa cleared Norfolk, Virginia, 13 February 1943 to load oil at Aruba, and returned to New York 25 February to join a convoy for Casablanca, Morocco, which sailed 4 March. Attacked by a wolfpack east of the Azores, the convoy lost four ships, but aircraft from Port Lyautey, Morocco, drove the U-boats away, and the remainder of the convoy arrived safely 21 March. Chiwawa put out of Casablanca in convoy 11 April for Norfolk, arriving 28 April after a quiet passage. Between 4 May and 17 July she ferried oil on the east coast, loading at Aruba, Netherlands West Indies, and Port Arthur, Texas, and discharging her cargo at Bermuda, Argentia, Newfoundland and Norfolk. She made three convoy crossings, to Scotland, Wales, and Casablanca, between 17 July and 4 December, then resumed operations to Port Arthur and Aruba, except for the period 25 January-8 March 1944, when she again crossed to North Africa.

After two convoy crossings to the British Isles in May and July 1944, Chiwawa sailed 14 July from Norfolk for Mers el Kebir, Algeria, and Naples, Italy, arriving 5 August. From Naples, Chiwawa fueled the ships carrying out the invasion of southern France until she retired to Oran, Algeria, on 2 September. She returned to New York 14 September to resume coastal oil runs until her next convoy to Casablanca in November.

A series of runs between Aruba and New York, then to Guantánamo Bay and Bermuda, and later to Argentia occupied Chiwawa until 31 May 1945, when she entered Norfolk Navy Yard for overhaul until 1 July. She cleared Norfolk to load oil at Baytown, Texas, and on 1 August reached Pearl Harbor. Five days later she sailed for Ulithi and Okinawa, where from 30 August to 29 November she served as station tanker, making one voyage in September to fuel the U.S. 7th Fleet at sea. Homeward bound, Chiwawa put in at San Francisco, California, and Balboa, arriving at New York 7 January 1946.

She sailed 19 January 1946 from Melville, Rhode Island, for ports in England, Germany, and France, called at Casco Bay and Argentia, and put back to Iceland before her arrival in New York 18 March. Chiwawa was decommissioned 6 May 1946 and transferred to the Maritime Commission 23 August 1946.

Civilian service

MV Lee A. Tregurtha leaving the upper harbor at Marquette, Michigan. after loading iron ore.

She was then rebuilt as a straight-decked bulk freighter for Great Lakes service, at American Shipbuilding, Lorain, Ohio, renamed SS Walter A. Sterling sailing for the Cleveland Cliffs Steamship Company and launched, 15 July 1961. That conversion included the integration of a 510 ft (155 m) midbody cargo section constructed in Germany and towed across the Atlantic Ocean. ^[3] She was sold in 1985 to Ford Motor Company, renamed SS William Clay Ford (II). In 1989, she was sold again, this time to Lakes Shipping Co. and renamed SS Lee A. Tregurtha. Now owned by Interlake Steamship Company, MV Lee A. Tregurtha had her steam turbine replaced with two 3000 kW (4050 HP) Rolls-Royce Bergen B32:40-L6A diesel engines during the 2005-2006 lay-up. Throughout the summer of 2020 she was docked at Fraser Shipyards in Superior, Wisconsin, due to the downturn of shipping demand caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. She rejoined the lakes fleet in March 2021 and is currently active.

As a civilian vessel, MV Lee A. Tregurtha has a crew of 21, comprising 7 officers and 14 crew, compared to the Chiwawa's wartime complement of about 225 officers and enlisted men. ^[4]

Awards and honors

World War II campaign ribbons on the MV Lee A. Tregurtha.

Chiwawa received two battle stars for World War II service.

She was authorized:

American Campaign Medal
European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal (Two)	Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal	World War II Victory Medal	Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp)

References

1. Strupp, Jon L. (2007). King of the Oilers: The Story of the U.S.S. Chiwawa A0-68. Edina, Minnesota: Beaver's Pond Press. pp. 5–6.
2. The Chiwawas were in fact near duplicates of SS Mobilfuel, the basis of the T2 design, but waterline length had crept over 500 feet (150 m).
3. "MV Lee A. Tregurtha". www.interlake-steamship.com. Retrieved 27 February 2016.
4. Strupp, Jon L. (2007). King of the Oilers: The Story of the U.S.S. Chiwawa A0-68. Edina, Minnesota: Beaver's Pond Press. p. 149.

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

External links

• Photo gallery of Chiwawa 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. Retrieved 28 April 2009.
• Official M/V Lee A. Tregurtha Webpage