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U.S.S. NEOSHO
(AO-143)WITH HONOR WE SERVE
Click to view crew list
USS NEOSHO (AO-143) - a Neosho-class oiler
In Commission 1954 to 1978AO-143 Deployments - Major Events
Add a AO-143 Shellback Initiation | Add a AO-143 Deployment - Major Event | ||||
Month | Year | to | Month | Year | Deployment / Event |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
SEP | 1952 | - | Keel Date: 2 SEP 1952 at Fore River Shipyard Quincy MA | ||
NOV | 1953 | - | Launch Date: 10 NOV 1953 | ||
JAN | 1954 | - | JAN | 1956 | RUN AGROUND |
SEP | 1954 | - | Commissioned: 24 SEP 1954 | ||
SEP | 1957 | - | Shellback Initiation - 20 SEP 1957 - Atlantic Ocean | ||
SEP | 1957 | - | Shellback Initiation - 20 SEP 1957 - Atlantic Ocean | ||
SEP | 1957 | - | Shellback Initiation - 20 SEP 1957 - Atlantic Ocean | ||
AUG | 1958 | - | OCT | 1958 | Project ARGUS |
AUG | 1958 | - | Shellback Initiation - 16 AUG 1958 - Atlantic Ocean | ||
JAN | 1960 | - | JAN | 1965 | Mediterranean |
JUL | 1960 | - | JAN | 1961 | Mediterranean |
JAN | 1962 | - | JUL | 1962 | Mediterranean |
OCT | 1962 | - | OCT | 1962 | Cuban Missle Blockade |
APR | 1964 | - | JUL | 1964 | Major overhaul, dry dock in Baltimore, MD |
MAY | 1966 | - | DEC | 1966 | Mediterranean |
MAR | 1968 | - | SEP | 1968 | Mrditeranean Cruise |
MAR | 1968 | - | SEP | 1968 | Mediterranean |
OCT | 1969 | - | APR | 1970 | Mediterranean |
APR | 1971 | - | OCT | 1971 | Mediterranean |
JUL | 1972 | - | AUG | 1972 | refueling dd808 dennis j buckley |
SEP | 1972 | - | MAR | 1973 | Mediterranean |
DEC | 1973 | - | MAY | 1974 | Mediterranean |
JAN | 1975 | - | JUN | 1975 | Mediterranean |
OCT | 1975 | - | APR | 1976 | Mediterranean |
JUN | 1976 | - | JUL | 1976 | Bicentennial Cruise |
JUN | 1977 | - | Shellback Initiation - 19 JUN 1977 - Atlantic Ocean | ||
JUN | 1977 | - | Shellback Initiation - 17 JUN 1977 - Atlantic Ocean | ||
MAY | 1978 | - | Decommissioned: 25 MAY 1978 |
AO-143 General Specifications
Class: Neosho-class oiler
Complement: 324 USNS
Displacement: 11600 tons
Length: 655 feet
Beam: 86 feet
Draft: 35 feet
Final Disposition: Sold for scrapping 2 February 2005
USS NEOSHO (AO-143)
The fourth Neosho (AO-143) was laid down 15 August 1952 by the Fore River
Shipyard, Bethlehem Steel Co., Quincy, Mass.; named Neosho 29 September 1953; launched 10 November 1953; sponsored by
Mrs. John S. Phillips, wife of Rear Admiral John S. Phillips, the last
commanding officer of Neosho (AO-23);
and commissioned 24 September 1954, Captain Norman E. Smith in command.
Neosho,
first of a class designed to combine speed and large cargo
capacity for underway replenishment, reported at Norfolk for duty in the
Atlantic Fleet 8 December 1954. A unit of SERVLANT, she operated along the East
Coast and in the Caribbean until 7 September 1955, when she got underway for
her first Mediterranean deployment. Since that initial deployment, Neosho has rotated regularly between the
6th and 2nd Fleets. By 1967 she had taken part in over 2,500 replenishments to
transfer more than 640 million gallons of petroleum products under both normal
and crisis operational conditions. In the fall of 1956, during her second 6th
Fleet deployment, she supported units of that fleet as they stood by in case
they were called on to intervene in the Suez War and the tense period which
followed. In the fall of 1962 she provided logistical support to the ships
enforcing the Naval Quarantine of Cuba, and, less than three years later, in
1965, serviced Atlantic Fleet ships as they stood by off Hispanola during the
political turmoil festering in the Dominican Republic.
In January 1968, Neosho emerged from overhaul at the Naval Shipyard at Portsmouth,
Va., to commence another three year employment cycle beginning with refresher
training and local operations, followed by two seven month Mediterranean tours
sandwiching duty with the 2nd Fleet, and ending, in late 1970, with another overhaul.
[Note: The above USS NEOSHO (AO-143) history may, or may not, contain text provided by crew members of the USS NEOSHO (AO-143), or by other non-crew members, and text from the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships]