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U.S.S. KENNEBEC
(AO-36)SERVICE TO GOD COUNTRY AND FLEET
Click to view crew list
USS KENNEBEC (AO-36) - a Kennebec-class fleet oiler
In Commission 1942 to 1970AO-36 Deployments - Major Events
Add a AO-36 Shellback Initiation | Add a AO-36 Deployment - Major Event | ||||
Month | Year | to | Month | Year | Deployment / Event |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
AUG | 1940 | - | Keel Date: 12 AUG 1940 at Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation San Francisco CA | ||
APR | 1941 | - | Launch Date: 19 APR 1941 | ||
FEB | 1942 | - | Commissioned: 4 FEB 1942 | ||
NOV | 1961 | - | NOV | 1961 | Recommisioning |
JAN | 1962 | - | FEB | 1962 | Panama Canal |
FEB | 1963 | - | AUG | 1963 | West Pac |
FEB | 1963 | - | AUG | 1963 | West Pac |
MAR | 1964 | - | OCT | 1964 | West Pac-Viet Nam |
DEC | 1965 | - | AUG | 1967 | West Pac-Viet Nam |
JAN | 1966 | - | SEP | 1966 | West Pac-Viet Nam |
JAN | 1967 | - | DEC | 1967 | West Pac-Viet Nam |
JAN | 1967 | - | DEC | 1967 | West Pac-Viet Nam |
JAN | 1967 | - | DEC | 1967 | West Pac-Viet Nam |
JUN | 1967 | - | JAN | 1968 | West Pac-Viet Nam |
APR | 1969 | - | OCT | 1969 | West Pac-Viet Nam |
JUN | 1970 | - | Decommissioned: 29 JUN 1970 |
AO-36 General Specifications
Class: Kennebec-class fleet oiler
Named for: Kennebec River
Complement: 214 Officers and Enlisted
Displacement: 21100 tons
Length: 501 feet 6 inches
Beam: 68 feet
Flank Speed: 16 Knots
Final Disposition: Scrapped 1982
USS KENNEBEC (AO-36)
The second Kennebec (AO-36) was launched as Corsicana 19 April 1941 by Bethlehem Steel Shipbuilding
Corp.
Sparrows Point
Md.; sponsored by Mrs. Rolfe Brown; renamed Kennebec 9 January 1942; acquired by
the Navy from the Maritime Commission 13 January 1942; and commissioned 4 February 1942. Comdr. S. S. Reynolds
in command.
Kennebec departed 11 February 1942 and joined the Service Force of the Atlantic Fleet. the fleet oiler arrived
New Orleans 27 February and commenced oil runs from Gulf ports to depots along the Atlantic coast and supplying
the fleet from Brazil to Newfoundland with vital fuel oil
kerosene
diesel oil
and aviation gasoline. She departed
Norfolk 4 May for fueling operations in the Caribbean
then resumed coastal oil runs throughout the summer.
Kennebec cleared Hampton Roads
Va.
24 October to provide logistic support to the American invasion fleet
in the North African campaign. The fleet oiler arrived off French Morocco 7 November and operated with a carrier
formation near the coast
remaining there until the landings were completed. She sailed for Norfolk 14 November
arriving there 12 days later to continue her coastal fuel runs. She made another cruise to Casablanca in January
1943 with a cargo of gasoline for the continuing operations in North Africa.
Upon her return to Norfolk 14 February
Kennebec resumed fuel runs from Port Arthur
Tex.
to various ports
along the Atlantic coast. She continued these operations for 11 months
including another cruise to Casablanca
in October. On 18 January 1944
she cleared Bayonne
N.J.
to fuel ships of convoys bound to and from the Untied
Kingdom. The fleet oiler returned to New York 13 February and commenced regular runs from Gulf and Atlantic ports
to North Africa and the Caribbean. She made a total of four cruises to the submarine-infested waters of the Mediterranean
during the year carrying oil and gasoline to support the fleet in that area.
Following an overhaul at Norfolk in January 1945
Kennebec cleared Norfolk 5 February for fueling operations
in the West Indies. She sailed 28 March for another cruise to Oran and after discharging her cargo reported for
duty in the Azores 15 April. The oiler returned to Norfolk 18 May and resumed coastal fuel runs until 20 July when
she departed Galveston
Tex.
for the Pacific. She arrived in Japan 9 September via Pearl Harbor and Adak
Alaska
for duty as a station tanker supporting the occupation forces in the Far East. She remained there for 10 months
replenishing the fleet in China and Japan with oil from Bahrein
Saudi Arabia. She cleared Shanghai
China
8 July
1946 and put into Bremerton
Wash.
29 July for much needed overhaul.
>From 1947 to 1950 Kennebec was assigned to the Naval Transport Service
and circled the globe providing
fuel to American ships from oil deposits in Saudi Arabia
Aruba
and Texas. She operated both in the Atlantic and
Pacific during this period
acting as the "lifeline" in the era of mobile seapower. Following coastal
operations between California and Alaska
the oiler decommissioned at San Diego 4 September 1950.
Kennebec was recommissioned at Oakland 11 January 1951
Comdr. A. G. Beckman in command. Assigned to MSTS
she cleared San Pedro 9 March on the first of four fuel runs to the Hawaiian Islands that year. The oiler also
replenished coastal ports in Washington
Oregon
and Alaska. For the next 3 years Kennebec shuttled oil
to Hawaii and Alaska staging areas for the supply runs to the Korean battle zone. In addition to the increased
activity in the Pacific because of the Communist aggression in Korea
Kennebec also made two cruises to
the Caribbean before decommissioning at San Diego 25 September 1954.
Kennebec (T-AO-36) recommissioned 14 December 1956 at San Diego
Comdr. Naden F. Stimac in command. Following
a cruise to Pearl Harbor 1-15 January
the oiler transited the Panama Canal and arrived Norfolk 10 February. She
made six logistics cruises between Aruba in the Dutch Antilles to Norfolk before departing Bermuda 11 May for the
Mediterranean. After supplying ports in Spain and Italy
she transited the Suez Canal to pick up fuel cargo in
Arabia. She unloaded her cargo at Japan
then returned to the Atlantic to participate in the NATO exercise "Stirkeback"
during September. Kennebec returned to New York 12 October and decommissioned 31 October 1957. She was struck
from the Navy List 14 January 1959.
As a result of the Berlin crisis
President Kennedy ordered an augmentation of military forces. Kennebec
was reacquired by the Navy and recommissioned 16 December 1961. She cleared New York 19 January
picked up cargo
at Aruba and arrived at her new home port of San Francisco 15 February. The oiler engaged in replenishment operations
until June when she put into Hunter's Point for an extensive overhaul.
The overhaul was completed 5 January 1963
and Kennebec departed San Francisco 25 February 1963 for the
Far East. She arrived Sasebo 1 April and commenced operations with the 7th Fleet peacekeeping force. The oilers
played an important role of increasing the mobility of the fleet
a powerful factor helping to prevent crises from
exploding into war. She returned to San Francisco 7 August and operated along the West Coast for the rest of the
year. Kennebec departed San Francisco 21 March 1964 for another Far East deploymentent to replenish units
of the mighty 7th Fleet. During the summer
the North Vietnamese Communist Navy decided to test the determination
of the United States by firing on U.S. destroyers international waters off the coast of Vietnam. On 4 August
President
Johnson ordered the Navy to retaliate by destroying North Vietnamese naval bases and oil depots. Kennebec
remained in the South China Sea through August until the crisis eased
and she returned to San Francisco 21 October.
During the ensuing years
Kennebec continued to alternate operations along the West Coast with Far Eastern
deployment. For example
she returned from the Orient 18 June 1966 after a cruise in which she fueled many of the
Navy's ships fighting off Vietnam. Then she operated out of San Francisco until heading back to the Far East 10
January 1967. She operated out of Subic Bay supporting the effort to thwart Communist aggression in southeast Asia
until returning to San Francisco 8 September.
Kennebec received on battle star for World War II service.
[Note: The above USS KENNEBEC (AO-36) history may or may not contain text provided by crew members of the USS KENNEBEC (AO-36) or by other non-crew members and text from the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships]