| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Ordered | asSS Esso Columbia |
| Laid down | 30 April 1942 |
| Launched | 7 September 1942 |
| Acquired | 12 October 1942 |
| Commissioned | 9 November 1942 |
| Decommissioned | 21 January 1946 |
| Stricken | 7 February 1946 |
| Fate | Scrapped (date unknown) |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement | 5,730 t.(lt) 24,660 t.(fl) |
| Length | 547 ft 3 in (166.80 m) |
| Beam | 70 ft (21 m) |
| Draught | 31 ft (9.4 m) |
| Propulsion | GEturbo-electric, single propeller, 6,000 shp |
| Speed | 15.5 knots (28.7 km/h). |
| Capacity | 156,000 barrels (24,800 m3) |
| Complement | 281 |
| Armament | one single5 in (130 mm) dual purposegun mount, four single3 in (76 mm) dual purpose gun mounts, four twin40 mm gun mounts, four twin20 mm gun mounts |
USS Atascosa (AO-66) was anAtascosa-classfleet oiler acquired by theUnited States Navy for use inWorld War II. She had the dangerous task of supplying fuel and ammunition to ships in and near, combat areas in both theAtlantic Ocean and thePacific Ocean.
SS Esso Columbia II was built atChester, Pennsylvania, by theSun Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co. for theStandard Oil Company of New Jersey; launched on 7 September 1942; sponsored by Mrs. Harold G. McAvenia; renamed by the NavyAtascosa and designated AO-66 on 16 September 1942; purchased by the Navy on 12 October 1942: and commissioned on 9 November 1942.
Following her commissioning atBaltimore, Maryland, the oiler sailed toHampton Roads, Virginia, where she arrived on 19 November. At the conclusion of a month of trials, she got underway on 19 December forPort Arthur, Texas, where she took on a cargo of fuel oil and gasoline and then returned toNorfolk, Virginia, on 3 January 1943.
After a two-day respite,Atascosa left theEast Coast of the United States, bound forBermuda. She spent one week there before sailing back into Norfolk on 16 January.Atascosa made another run to Port Arthur for more oil and discharged that cargo at Norfolk before entering adrydock at theNorfolk Navy Yard for a brief period of repairs. When the oiler was refloated, she began preparations for a deployment to the Pacific.
Atascosa left Norfolk on 19 March and, after stops atGalveston, Texas, andBaytown, Texas, transited thePanama Canal on 4 April. Her ultimate destination wasNouméa,New Caledonia, which she reached on 28 April. The oiler discharged her cargo and then loaded more fuel oil andaviation gasoline to be taken toSamoa. She arrived atPago Pago on 4 May, but left the next day, bound for theUnited States, and reachedSan Pedro, Los Angeles, on 28 May. There, she took on a cargo ofpetroleum and aircraft for transportation toSuva,Fiji Islands, and Nouméa, New Caledonia. More shuttling between theWest Coast of the United States and these ports and the west coast occupied June, July, and August. In early September,Atascosa leftNouméa and set course forEspiritu Santo,New Hebrides. She arrived there on 9 September and began her duties fueling various ships of the fleet. In October, the oiler addedTulagi andGuadalcanal in theSolomon Islands to her fueling stops. She broke this routine somewhat by a trip toNandi Bay in theFiji Islands, where she arrived onChristmas Eve 1943. After delivering fuel and supplies, she again got underway on 11 January 1944 to return toEspiritu Santo.
Atascosa put to sea on 15 February to rendezvous with Rear Admiral Merrill'sTask Force (TF) 39. She fueled threecruisers and fourdestroyers at sea before returning toPurvis Bay. A second fueling rendezvous with TF 39 took place on 6 March. The oiler stopped briefly atPurvis Bay, then went toEspiritu Santo on 15 March to begin preparations to rendezvous with a part of TF 58. The meeting occurred at sea on 26 March. Shortly after midnight on the morning of 28 March,Atascosa was informed that aLiberator bomber had gone down in the vicinity of the fueling group, and she began a search for its crew. Observers on the oiler spotted a life raft, but it proved to be unoccupied, andAtascosa soon terminated her rescue efforts.
On 29 March, she was servicing units of Destroyer Divisions 93 and 94 when a Japanese plane closed the group. AfterAtascosa fired two rounds at the intruder, the plane quickly departed. The rest of her mission passed without incident, andAtascosa retired toEspiritu Santo on 5 April.
On 21 May,Atascosa leftNew Caledonia, bound for the west coast. She arrived atTerminal Island, California, on 7 June to undergo a routine overhaul and repairs. The yard work was completed on 22 July, and the ship got underway to return to her wartime duties. She touched briefly atPearl Harbor before finally arriving atEniwetok on 11 August. There, she unloaded her deck cargo and serviced a number of destroyers. Standing out to sea on the 17th, the ship fueledbattleshipsIowa (BB-61),Indiana (BB-58), andAlabama (BB-60). At a rendezvous with the fast carrier task force betweenRota andGuam on 4 September,Atascosa serviced severaldestroyers andaircraft carrierEnterprise (CV-6).
Air alerts interrupted the oiler's routine atSaipan between the 5th and the 9th, before she steamed toGuam. During SeptemberAtascosa fueled many units oftask force TF 38. She made stops atSaipan andEniwetok before arriving atUlithi on 13 October. She got underway again on 21 October to rendezvous with TG 30.8 in an area east ofLuzon. The oiler was fueling task force TF 38.3 in early November when she encountered high, seas and increasingly strong winds. During the operation, hose lines between ships were carried away several times. On 7 November, while fuelingLangley (CVL-27), the steel manifold on the after port 6-inch connection was carried away, forcing the suspension of operations. Six members ofAtascosa's crew were injured while making and tending gasoline connections. The weather abated on 9 November, allowing the oiler's crew to make temporary repairs so that fueling could be resumed.Atascosa put into port atUlithi on 17 November. She sailed on 10 December to meet fast carrier forces offCape Engaño and again encountered heavy seas. This soon developed into atyphoon; and, by 18 December, visibility was reduced to zero. The next day, the weather had improved enough to allow fueling to resume.Atascosa returned toUlithi on 23 December for theChristmas holidays.
During January and February 1945,Atascosa supported the operations of TG 30.8 and made several meetings with TF 58. She dropped anchor atUlithi on 3 March for repair work. The ships of TF 58 left Ulithi several days beforeAtascosa departed on 19 March to support their attacks on the Japanese homeland. Her next assignment was to fuel the ships of TG 50.8, which were anchored offOkinawa.Atascosa returned toUlithi on 1 May to undergo repairs and to replenish supplies. In mid-June,Atascosa set her course forOkinawa, where she remained for a month. After a brief supply stop atUlithi, the oiler put to sea on 8 August to rendezvous with TF 38 off southernHonshū. While engaged in this mission, she received word of Japan's capitulation.
Atascosa returned toUlithi on 31 August. However, her service in the Pacific had not yet ended, as she left on 8 September to steam toTokyo Bay. She remained in Japan until 24 September, then sailed toSan Pedro, Los Angeles. The oiler arrived back in the United States on 8 October.
Atascosa was decommissioned on 21 January 1946 atMare Island, California; her name was struck from theNavy list on 7 February; and she was transferred to theUnited States Maritime Commission on 1 July 1946.
Sold to the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey in 1947 and renamedSSEsso Syracuse, she transferred toPanamanian registry in 1950 but continued serving as SSEsso Syracuse until scrapped at Genoa 1960. 329-foot (100 m) forward part grafted to 274-foot (84 m) after part of SSEsso Buffalo which became bulk carrier SSSpitfire and was scrapped 1973.
Atascosa was authorized the following campaign medals:
This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be foundhere.