USS Neches (AO-47) was a in the United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

 during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 and the Vietnam War

Vietnam War

The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...

. She was the second U.S. Navy ship named for the Neches River

Neches River

The Neches River flows for through east Texas to its mouth on Sabine Lake near the Rainbow Bridge. Two major reservoirs, Lake Palestine and B. A. Steinhagen Reservoir are located on the Neches. Several cities are located along the Neches River Basin, including Evadale, Tyler, Lufkin, Silsbee,...

 in eastern Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

.

The ship was laid down as type T2-A tanker

T2 tanker

The T2 tanker, or T2, was an oil tanker constructed and produced in large quantities in the United States during World War II. The largest "navy oilers" after the T3s at the time, nearly 500 of them were built between 1940 and the end of 1945....

 SS Aekay, M.C. hull 148 on 12 June 1941 by Sun Shipbuilding and Drydock Co. of Chester, Pennsylvania

Chester, Pennsylvania

Chester is a city in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States, with a population of 33,972 at the 2010 census. Chester is situated on the Delaware River, between the cities of Philadelphia and Wilmington, Delaware.- History :...

; launched on 11 October 1941; sponsored by Miss Barbara Vickery of Washington, D.C.; acquired by the Navy on 20 July 1941; and commissioned as Neches on 16 September 1942.

1942–1945

After shakedown

Shakedown (testing)

A shakedown is a period of testing or a trial journey undergone by a ship, aircraft or other craft and its crew before being declared operational. Statistically, a proportion of the components will fail after a relatively short period of use, and those that survive this period can be expected to...

 off the Atlantic Coast she steamed for San Pedro, California

San Pedro, Los Angeles, California

San Pedro is a port district of the city of Los Angeles, California, United States. It was annexed in 1909 and is a major seaport of the area...

 via the Panama Canal

Panama Canal

The Panama Canal is a ship canal in Panama that joins the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and is a key conduit for international maritime trade. Built from 1904 to 1914, the canal has seen annual traffic rise from about 1,000 ships early on to 14,702 vessels measuring a total of 309.6...

. Her first wartime operations took her to Guadalcanal

Guadalcanal

Guadalcanal is a tropical island in the South-Western Pacific. The largest island in the Solomons, it was discovered by the Spanish expedition of Alvaro de Mendaña in 1568...

, where she fueled various fleet units. From 28 November she serviced ships out of Nouméa

Nouméa

Nouméa is the capital city of the French territory of New Caledonia. It is situated on a peninsula in the south of New Caledonia's main island, Grande Terre, and is home to the majority of the island's European, Polynesian , Indonesian, and Vietnamese populations, as well as many Melanesians,...

, New Caledonia

New Caledonia

New Caledonia is a special collectivity of France located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, east of Australia and about from Metropolitan France. The archipelago, part of the Melanesia subregion, includes the main island of Grande Terre, the Loyalty Islands, the Belep archipelago, the Isle of...

. She shifted operations to Havannah Harbor

Havannah

Havannah is an abstract strategy board game invented by Christian Freeling. It is played on a base-10 hexagonal board, ten hexes to a side...

, Efate

Éfaté

Efate is an island in the Agean Ocean which is part of the Shefa Province in The Republic of Maliki. It is also known as Île Vate. It is the most populous island in Vanuatu. Efate's land area of makes it Vanuatu's third largest island. Most inhabitants of Efate live in Port Vila, the national...

 Island, New Hebrides

New Hebrides

New Hebrides was the colonial name for an island group in the South Pacific that now forms the nation of Vanuatu. The New Hebrides were colonized by both the British and French in the 18th century shortly after Captain James Cook visited the islands...

 on 22 January 1943, and then steamed for San Pedro, California on 6 March, arriving there the 21st.

Four days later she was en route to Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...

 to deliver fuel, arriving on 30 March. The next week she was back at San Pedro and, following a ten-day availability there she got underway with , , and six screening destroyers en route to Dutch Harbor, Alaska

Unalaska, Alaska

Unalaska is a city in the Aleutians West Census Area of the Unorganized Borough of the U.S. state of Alaska. Unalaska is located on Unalaska Island and neighboring Amaknak Island in the Aleutian Islands off of mainland Alaska....

. Arriving on 1 May, she fueled thirteen ships before she steamed to the Puget Sound Navy Yard on 9 May for two days of repairs. She then returned to Dutch Harbor.

The oiler operated in Alaskan waters until late December, when she returned to San Pedro to take on fuel for delivery to Pearl Harbor. After a four-day call at Pearl Harbor she steamed to Majuro Atoll, Marshall Islands

Marshall Islands

The Republic of the Marshall Islands , , is a Micronesian nation of atolls and islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, just west of the International Date Line and just north of the Equator. As of July 2011 the population was 67,182...

, where she provided fueling services for the next three months.

She was once again en route to San Pedro when, at 18:15 on 21 May 1944, she struck a mine

Naval mine

A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to destroy surface ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of, or contact with, an enemy vessel...

 off the California coast. The explosion tore a 22 feet (6.7 m) by 15 feet (4.6 m) hole in her port side, necessitating a week of drydock repairs at San Pedro. Final repairs were completed in two months, and she was back at Pearl Harbor on 27 July.

She then steamed in convoy

Convoy

A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support, though it may also be used in a non-military sense, for example when driving through remote areas.-Age of Sail:Naval...

 to Eniwetok Atoll, where she anchored on 10 August and commenced fueling operations. Through October she provided fueling services in the area of the Admiralty Islands

Admiralty Islands

The Admiralty Islands are a group of eighteen islands in the Bismarck Archipelago, to the north of New Guinea in the south Pacific Ocean. These are also sometimes called the Manus Islands, after the largest island. These rainforest-covered islands form part of Manus Province, the smallest and...

. The oiler anchored at Ulithi

Ulithi

Ulithi is an atoll in the Caroline Islands of the western Pacific Ocean, about 191 km east of Yap. It consists of 40 islets totalling , surrounding a lagoon about long and up to wide—at one of the largest in the world. It is administered by the state of Yap in the Federated States of...

 on 2 November and through that month provided services in the local at sea refueling areas. On 15 November 1944, she left Ulithi for Leyte Gulf

Leyte Gulf

Leyte Gulf is a body of water immediately east of the island of Leyte in the Philippines, adjoining the Philippine Sea of the Pacific Ocean, at . The Gulf is bounded on the north by the island of Samar, which is separated from Leyte on the west by the narrow San Juanico Strait, and on the south by...

, Luzon, and eventually, the South China Sea

South China Sea

The South China Sea is a marginal sea that is part of the Pacific Ocean, encompassing an area from the Singapore and Malacca Straits to the Strait of Taiwan of around...

s, passing between islands that were still held by the Japanese. When she returned in December, the crew learned of the fate of the . When the Neches left Ulithi on 15 November, the Mississinewa docked in her berth, and was hit by a Japanese Kaiten

Kaiten

The Kaiten were manned torpedos and suicide craft, they were used by the Imperial Japanese Navy in the final stages of World War II.-History:...

 torpedo.

By mid-January 1945 Neches was en route to again to Leyte Gulf and the South China Sea, where she fueled ships into February. She returned to Leyte on 18 March and fueled transports in preparation for the invasion of Okinawa

Battle of Okinawa

The Battle of Okinawa, codenamed Operation Iceberg, was fought on the Ryukyu Islands of Okinawa and was the largest amphibious assault in the Pacific War of World War II. The 82-day-long battle lasted from early April until mid-June 1945...

. Anchoring off Kerama Retto on 6 April, she set Condition I at 15:45. When Japanese air raiders came in at 16:30 her gunners opened fire, and after ten hours of intermittent air attack Neches gunners splashed a kamikaze

Kamikaze

The were suicide attacks by military aviators from the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, designed to destroy as many warships as possible....

 off the starboard quarter. By mid-April Neches was again fueling ships out of her Ulithi anchorage.

When fleet units first bombarded the Japanese home islands on 10 July, Neches was in waters off northern Japan. She steamed into Tokyo Bay

Tokyo Bay

is a bay in the southern Kantō region of Japan. Its old name was .-Geography:Tokyo Bay is surrounded by the Bōsō Peninsula to the east and the Miura Peninsula to the west. In a narrow sense, Tokyo Bay is the area north of the straight line formed by the on the Miura Peninsula on one end and on...

 on 29 August, becoming the first oiler on the scene. Assigned duties there as station tanker, she fueled 120 ships through September. Departing for San Pedro on 15 October, she arrived the 31st and underwent overhaul in the Naval Shipyard, Terminal Island

Terminal Island

Terminal Island is an island located in Los Angeles County, California between Los Angeles Harbor and Long Beach Harbor. Originally a mudflat known to the Spanish as Isla Raza de Buena Gente, and later called Rattlesnake Island, it has officially been Terminal Island since 1918...

, San Francisco, until the end of December.

1946–1955

Neches continued to operate with the Service Force, Pacific Fleet, for the next two years. She was placed under administrative control of the Naval Transport Service in July 1947 and was shifted to the Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS) two years later. During the post-war period she served as a point-to-point tanker, calling at Hawaii, the Philippine Islands, Japan, Southeast Asia, Arabia, Alaska, and the Canal Zone.

She decommissioned on 10 July 1950 and was placed in the Pacific Reserve Fleet, San Diego Group. Recommissioned on 3 January 1951 at Oakland, California

Oakland, California

Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...

, she operated as an MSTS tanker and served with the 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean. She again returned to the Pacific Reserve Fleet for inactivation at Stockton, California

Stockton, California

Stockton, California, the seat of San Joaquin County, is the fourth-largest city in the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California. With a population of 291,707 at the 2010 census, Stockton ranks as this state's 13th largest city...

, in June 1955.

1961–1970

After extensive alterations to electronic and dock equipment, including the addition of five rigs for underway replenishment, Neches recommissioned on 24 November 1961 at the Naval Supply Depot, Seattle, Capt. John R. Zullinger in command. She then rejoined the Service Force, Pacific Fleet, and was homeported in San Francisco.

The oiler commenced regular overhaul 6 May 1963, and through 1967 she deployed annually to WESTPAC and maintained herself in a state of readiness during training, upkeep, and leave periods in home waters. Her homeport remained at Hunters Point, San Francisco

San Francisco Naval Shipyard

The San Francisco Naval Shipyard was a United States Navy shipyard in San Francisco, California, located on of waterfront at Hunters Point in the southeast corner of the city...

.

She steamed on 21 September 1967 for underway replenishment service in WESTPAC, operating on "Yankee Station

Yankee Station

Yankee Station was a point in the Gulf of Tonkin off the coast of Vietnam used by the U.S. Navy aircraft carriers of Task Force 77 to launch strikes in the Vietnam War. While its official designation was "Point Yankee," it was universally referred to as Yankee Station...

" and servicing "Operation Market Time

Operation Market Time

Operation Market Time was the United States Navy’s effort to stop troops and supplies from flowing by sea from North Vietnam to South Vietnam during the Vietnam War...

" craft in Southeast Asia. Her deployment lasted through 30 March 1968, when she tied up once again at San Francisco. Neches’ Yankee Station and Market Time operations had been punctuated by calls at Subic Bay

Subic Bay

Subic Bay is a bay forming part of Luzon Sea on the west coast of the island of Luzon in Zambales, Philippines, about 100 kilometers northwest of Manila Bay. Its shores were formerly the site of a major United States Navy facility named U.S...

, Sasebo

United States Fleet Activities Sasebo

U.S. Fleet Activities Sasebo is a United States Navy naval base, in Sasebo, Japan, on the island of Kyūshū. It provides facilities for the logistic support of forward-deployed units and visiting operating forces of the United States Pacific Fleet and designated tenant activities.- History :Sasebo...

, Kaohsiung

Kaohsiung

Kaohsiung is a city located in southwestern Taiwan, facing the Taiwan Strait on the west. Kaohsiung, officially named Kaohsiung City, is divided into thirty-eight districts. The city is one of five special municipalities of the Republic of China...

, and Hong Kong

Hong Kong

Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...

.

Through September 1968 Neches operated off the West Coast, with a summer call at Portland, Oregon

Portland, Oregon

Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...

, for the Rose Festival

Portland Rose Festival

The Portland Rose Festival is an annual civic festival held during the month of June in Portland, Oregon. It is organized by the volunteer non-profit Portland Rose Festival Association with the purpose of promoting the Portland region...

. By the end of the first week of September she was underway for yet another seven-month deployment to WESTPAC.

Neches began her last deployment on 1 January 1970 from Hunter's Point Naval Shipyard. She arrived at Subic Bay later that month. From Subic Bay she left for the coast of Vietnam to support operations there. Off the coast of Vietnam she conducted a number of underway replenishment

Underway replenishment

Underway replenishment or replenishment at sea is a method of transferring fuel, munitions, and stores from one ship to another while under way.-History:...

s with ships of the U.S. and Australian navies, including the . One item of note occurred on 19 March 1970 during an underway replenishment with the , in somewhat heavy seas. The replenishment began smoothly. Suddenly the Orleck closed with the Neches until the Orlecks bow struck the Neches aft of the Neches starboard midsection, and then continued to scrape along the side of the Neches further aft. Orleck dropped astern, leaving her port anchor on the tank deck of the Neches. There were no casualties on board the Neches. After repairs and an investigation at Subic Bay, Neches continued to fulfill her mission in support of 7th Fleet

United States Seventh Fleet

The Seventh Fleet is the United States Navy's permanent forward projection force based in Yokosuka, Japan, with units positioned near Japan and South Korea. It is a component fleet force under the United States Pacific Fleet. At present, it is the largest of the forward-deployed U.S. fleets, with...

 ships. She returned to Hunters Point in July 1970, and was moved up the San Francisco Bay

San Francisco Bay

San Francisco Bay is a shallow, productive estuary through which water draining from approximately forty percent of California, flowing in the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers from the Sierra Nevada mountains, enters the Pacific Ocean...

 to Vallejo, California

Vallejo, California

Vallejo is the largest city in Solano County, California, United States. The population was 115,942 at the 2010 census. It is located in the San Francisco Bay Area on the northeastern shore of San Pablo Bay...

for decommissioning soon after that. Her crew departed her for the last time at Vallejo on 1 October 1970.