USS Schuylkill (AO-76), originally named the SS Louisburg, was a Type T2-SE-A1

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....

 Suamico-class fleet oiler of 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...

.

The ship was laid down under a Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 306) on 24 September 1943 by the Sun Shipbuilding & Drydock Co.

Sun Shipbuilding & Drydock Co.

Sun Shipbuilding & Drydock Company was a major shipbuilding company in Chester, Pennsylvania, about 15 miles south of Philadelphia on the Delaware River. Its primary product was tankers, but the company built many types of ships over its 70-year history. During World War II, it participated in the...

 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 :...

 and launched on 16 February 1943, sponsored by Mrs. H. Fisher. Delivered on 27 February 1943, converted to Navy use, and commissioned at Baltimore, Maryland, on 9 April 1943, Capt. Fred A. Hardesty in command.

World War II, 1943–1945

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...

 operations off the east coast, Schuylkill departed Norfolk on 20 May 1943, picked up her first cargo of fuel at Baytown, Texas

Baytown, Texas

Baytown is a city within Harris County and partially in Chambers County in the Gulf Coast region of the U.S. state of Texas. Located within the Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown metropolitan area, it lies along both State Highway 146 and Interstate 10. As of 2010, Baytown had an population of 71,802...

, and arrived at 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...

 on 1 June. Leaving Balboa

Balboa, Panama

Balboa is a district of Panama City, located at the Pacific entrance to the Panama Canal.- History :The town of Balboa, founded by the United States during the construction of the Panama Canal, was named after Vasco Núñez de Balboa, the Spanish conquistador credited with discovering the Pacific Ocean...

 on 4 June, Schuylkill sailed for Seattle, and thence proceeded to San Pedro

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...

, to load oil for the Aleutian Islands. Schuylkill got underway on 27 June and arrived via Unimak Pass

Unimak Pass

Unimak Pass is a wide strait between the Bering Sea and the North Pacific Ocean southwest of Unimak Island in the Aleutian Islands in Alaska.-References:...

 at Dutch Harbor, Unalaska

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....

, on 5 July. She completed her first fueling at sea en route, when she replenished USCG Haida in the Gulf of Alaska

Gulf of Alaska

The Gulf of Alaska is an arm of the Pacific Ocean defined by the curve of the southern coast of Alaska, stretching from the Alaska Peninsula and Kodiak Island in the west to the Alexander Archipelago in the east, where Glacier Bay and the Inside Passage are found.The entire shoreline of the Gulf is...

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Schuylkill departed Aleutian waters on 20 July and, from 1 to 10 September, fueled ships of a task group preparing to attack the Gilbert Islands

Gilbert Islands

The Gilbert Islands are a chain of sixteen atolls and coral islands in the Pacific Ocean. They are the main part of Republic of Kiribati and include Tarawa, the site of the country's capital and residence of almost half of the population.-Geography:The atolls and islands of the Gilbert Islands...

. She operated in support of the Gilbert Islands campaign from 15 November until 14 December and of the Marshall Islands campaign from 4 to 25 February 1944. From 17 to 22 May, Schuylkill operated with a task group which made strikes on Marcus Island and Wake Island

Wake Island

Wake Island is a coral atoll having a coastline of in the North Pacific Ocean, located about two-thirds of the way from Honolulu west to Guam east. It is an unorganized, unincorporated territory of the United States, administered by the Office of Insular Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior...

. Next, the oiler participated in the conquest of the Marianas

Mariana Islands

The Mariana Islands are an arc-shaped archipelago made up by the summits of 15 volcanic mountains in the north-western Pacific Ocean between the 12th and 21st parallels north and along the 145th meridian east...

, fueling ships fighting for that strategic island group from 15 to 27 June, from 2 to 25 July, and from 3 to 12 August, before turning to the western Carolines

Caroline Islands

The Caroline Islands are a widely scattered archipelago of tiny islands in the western Pacific Ocean, to the north of New Guinea. Politically they are divided between the Federated States of Micronesia in the eastern part of the group, and Palau at the extreme western end...

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At 0434 on 10 September, while maneuvering in a hazy half-light, Schuylkills bow struck her sister ship

Sister ship

A sister ship is a ship of the same class as, or of virtually identical design to, another ship. Such vessels share a near-identical hull and superstructure layout, similar displacement, and roughly comparable features and equipment...

  on her quarter. Schuylkill received a large V-shaped hole on her starboard side. She immediately pumped about 25000 gallons (94,635.3 l) of fresh water from the fore peak tank and transferred cargo oil from forward to after tanks to raise her bow. Unable to proceed until her bulkheads were shored up, the oiler fueled five ships while stopped. After temporary repair, she was able to get underway at 4 knots; and, as the fueling of more vessels raised the hole further above her water line, she doubled her speed. In all, Schuylkill delivered 30748 barrels (4,888.5 m³) of fuel oil on that day, earning a "well done" from the task group commander. Schuylkill carried out her scheduled fuel replenishment duty until relief tankers arrived three days later. Then, her task done, she and Millicoma, with destroyer escorts, and , steamed toward the Admiralties

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...

. She arrived at Manus

Manus Island

Manus Island is part of Manus Province in northern Papua New Guinea and is the largest island of the Admiralty Islands. It is the fifth largest island in Papua New Guinea with an area of 2,100 km², measuring around 100 km × 30 km. According to the 2000 census, Manus Island had a...

 on 15 September for repairs.

From 4 to 25 October and from 12 to 21 November, Schuylkill supported the 3rd Fleet during attacks on northern Luzon

Luzon

Luzon is the largest island in the Philippines. It is located in the northernmost region of the archipelago, and is also the name for one of the three primary island groups in the country centered on the Island of Luzon...

 and Formosa

Taiwan

Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...

. She operated in the Lingayen Gulf

Lingayen Gulf

The Lingayen Gulf is an extension of the South China Sea on Luzon in the Philippines stretching . It is framed by the provinces of Pangasinan and La Union and sits between the Zambales Mountains and the Cordillera Central...

 during the Luzon landings from 28 December 1944 to 28 January 1945, and participated in the Iwo Jima

Iwo Jima

Iwo Jima, officially , is an island of the Japanese Volcano Islands chain, which lie south of the Ogasawara Islands and together with them form the Ogasawara Archipelago. The island is located south of mainland Tokyo and administered as part of Ogasawara, one of eight villages of Tokyo...

 campaign from 16 February to 3 March.

On 29 April, Schuylkill got underway from 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...

 toward the California coast. Steaming singly, she zigzagged her way across the Pacific and arrived at San Pedro on the morning of 17 May for an overhaul, repairs, and alterations. On 13 July, during post-repair sea trials, the replenisher oiler suffered an engine breakdown and was towed back to the harbor for repairs which were completed on 23 July.

Schuylkill departed San Pedro on 25 July, picked up cargo oil at 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...

 on 1 August, got underway for the western Carolines on the 3d and arrived at Ulithi on the 15th. Five days later, Schuylkill got underway as part of a unit of the 3rd Fleet and entered 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 10 September.

On the 16th, she got underway for the Marshalls, arriving at Eniwetok on 23 September. Schuylkill remained there, replenishing ships with fuel oil

Fuel oil

Fuel oil is a fraction obtained from petroleum distillation, either as a distillate or a residue. Broadly speaking, fuel oil is any liquid petroleum product that is burned in a furnace or boiler for the generation of heat or used in an engine for the generation of power, except oils having a flash...

, diesel, and aviation gasoline

Avgas

Avgas is an aviation fuel used to power piston-engine aircraft. Avgas is distinguished from mogas , which is the everyday gasoline used in cars and some non-commercial light aircraft...

 until 1 November when she headed for the west coast. She arrived at San Francisco on 13 November.

1946–1986

Schuylkill was decommissioned on 14 February 1946 and turned over to the Maritime Commission on 27 April. Reacquired by the Navy on 30 January 1948 and assigned to the Military Sea Transport Service on 1 October 1949, the replenisher oiler served in waters ranging from the northern Pacific to the Persian Gulf

Persian Gulf

The Persian Gulf, in Southwest Asia, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.The Persian Gulf was the focus of the 1980–1988 Iran-Iraq War, in which each side attacked the other's oil tankers...

, and from Baltimore

Baltimore

Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...

 to Bremerhaven

Bremerhaven

Bremerhaven is a city at the seaport of the free city-state of Bremen, a state of the Federal Republic of Germany. It forms an enclave in the state of Lower Saxony and is located at the mouth of the River Weser on its eastern bank, opposite the town of Nordenham...

. She saw active service in the western Pacific during the Korean War

Korean War

The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...

, making several voyages to Pusan. After hostilities ended, Schuylkill remained in the Pacific except for transiting the Panama Canal in June 1955 for service in the Gulf of Mexico

Gulf of Mexico

The Gulf of Mexico is a partially landlocked ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. In...

 until 22 October. She then departed for San Diego.

Schuylkill continued her service to the nation by her participation in the Arctic resupply operations in 1957. The replenisher oiler also served off Vietnam

Vietnam

Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...

, and along both coasts of the United States. In 1974, Schuylkill was anchored at Savannah, Georgia

Savannah, Georgia

Savannah is the largest city and the county seat of Chatham County, in the U.S. state of Georgia. Established in 1733, the city of Savannah was the colonial capital of the Province of Georgia and later the first state capital of Georgia. Today Savannah is an industrial center and an important...

, continuing her support of Naval forces worldwide.

Schuylkill was struck from the Naval Vessel Register

Naval Vessel Register

The Naval Vessel Register is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from the time a vessel is authorized through its life cycle and...

 on 31 March 1986, and was disposed of by Maritime Administration (MARAD

Marad

Marad was an ancient Sumerian city. Marad was situated on the west bank of the then western branch of the Upper Euphrates River west of Nippur in modern day Iraq and roughly 50 km southeast of Kish, on the Arahtu River.The city's ziggurat E-igi-kalama was dedicated to Ninurta the god of...

) sale on 4 March 1988.

External links

• The T2 Tanker Page