| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | USS Gemsbok |
| Namesake | Gemsbok antelope |
| Owner | United States Navy |
| Builder | California Shipbuilding Corporation |
| Laid down | 1943 |
| Launched | 9 November 1943 (1943-11-09) |
| Acquired | 3 December 1943 (1943-12-03) |
| Commissioned | 3 December 1943 (1943-12-03) |
| Decommissioned | 30 April 1946 (1946-04-30) |
| In service | 12 January 1944 (1944-01-12) |
| Out of service | 2 March 1944 (1944-03-02) |
| Reclassified | 11 May 1946 (1946-05-11) as the SS Carl R. Gray |
| Stricken | 10 March 1966 (1966-03-10) |
| Fate | Sold commercial 1946, scrapped 1966 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Armadillo-class tanker |
| Type | IX |
| Displacement | 14,500 t (14,300 long tons; 16,000 short tons) |
| Length | 441 ft 6 in (134.57 m) |
| Beam | 56 ft 11 in (17.35 m) |
| Draft | 28 ft 4 in (8.64 m) |
| Speed | 11.8 knots |
| Complement | 110 officers and men |
| Armament |
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USSGemsbok (IX-117), anArmadillo-class tanker designated anunclassified miscellaneous vessel, was the second ship of theUnited States Navy to be named for thegemsbok, a large, handsome species of straight-horned Africanantelope. Her keel was laid down asCarl R. Gray by theCalifornia Shipbuilding Corporation, inWilmington, Los Angeles. She waslaunched on 9 November 1943 sponsored by Miss E. Jeffers, acquired and simultaneouslycommissioned on 3 December 1943. She was renamedGemsbok upon acquisition.
Gemsbok sailed 12 January 1944 for theMarshall Islands and until May 1945 deliveredfuel oil,aviation gasoline, andlube oil to warships in thatarchipelago and in theMariana Islands. Her principal base of operations wasEniwetok but in additionGemsbok supplied fuel atMajuro andKwajalein, and from 5 July to 16 September 1944 was atSaipan servicing ships engaged in the capture and occupation of bases in the Marianas.
She sailed fromEniwetok on 11 May 1945 withfuel oil forLeyte, arriving 25 May viaUlithi. After Ulithi, she sailed from Leyte on 29 September forOkinawa andHiro Wan, Japan, where she put in 16 October.Gemsbok continued her fueling duties atNagoya and subsequently sailed for the United States on 20 December, reachingNorfolk, Virginia, on 28 February 1946 viaSan Diego, California, andMobile, Alabama.Decommissioned there 30 April 1946,Gemsbok was stricken from theNaval Vessel Register on 8 May 1946 and subsequently sold to Maris Transportation System Inc. and in 1948 renamedAlpha operated byT. J. Stevenson & Company, Inc.
This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.