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AO-51 Ashtabula AO-98 Caloosahatchee 

Overview  

Specifications
Ships
Sources and Resources

The mission of the fleet oiler is to operate as a unit of an underway replenishment group, furnishing replenishment of petroleum products to the fleet at sea. Oilers transport bulk petroleum and lubricants from depots to battle group station ships effecting delivery and consolidation underway. In addition, they are capable of delivering petroleum and cargo to combatants and support forces by alongside and vertical replenishment. The number of Navy-manned fleet oilers has diminished as more and more Military Sealift Command ships, all civilian manned, have assumed responsibilities for supplying ships of the fleet. The Caloosahatchee and her sister ship the Canisteo were the two surviving members of the World War II Ashtabula-Class (AO 51), the majority of which units were retired in the 1970s. Some of these vessels were retained until the early 1990s in the National Defense Reserve Fleet prior to disposal and sale by the Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service (DRMS) for scrapping.

Specifications  Return to Top
Displacement Light Displacement: 10847 tons
Full Displacement: 34750 tons
Dead Weight: 23903 tons
Length Overall Length: 644 ft
Waterline Length: 616 ft
Beam Extreme Beam: 75 ft
Waterline Beam: 75 ft
Draft 35 feet
Speed 18 knots
Power Plant Steam turbine, four boilers, two shafts, 13,500 shaft horsepower
Armament Two 3-inch/50-caliber anti-aircraft weapons
Aircraft None; a small area for vertical replenishment is provided
Complement Officers: 22
Enlisted: 362

Ships  Return to Top
Name Number Builder Homeport Ordered Commissioned Decommissioned
             
Ashtabula AO-51     ~ 1943 07 Aug 1943 30 Sep 1982
Caliente AO-53     ~ 1943 ~ 1943 ~ 1973
Chikaskia AO-54     ~ 1943 ~ 1943 ~ 1976
Aucilla AO-56 Bethlehem   ~ 1943 22 Dec 1943 ~ 1976
Marias AO-57     ~ 1943 ~ 1944 15 Aug 1982
Nantahala AO-60     ~ 1943 ~ 1944 ~ 1973
Severn AO-61     ~ 1943 ~ 1944 ~ 1974
Taluga AO-62 Bethlehem   ~ 1943 25 Aug 1944 29 Aug 1983
Chipola AO-63     ~ 1944 ~ 1944 ~ 1973
Tolovana AO-64     ~ 1944 ~ 1944 ~ 197?
Allagash AO-97     ~ 1944 ~ 1944 ~ 1973
Caloosahatchee AO-98 Bethlehem Norfolk 02 May 1944 10 Oct 1945 28 Feb 1990
Canisteo AO-99 Bethlehem Norfolk 02 May 1944 03 Dec 1945 02 Oct 1989
NOTES:
Not all sequential hull numbers were assigned.
AO 65, AO 72, AO 77 and AO 93 were units of other classes.

Sources and Resources  Return to Top