US Navy Auxiliary Ships: Kennebec (AO-36) Class

USS Kankakee (AO-39) on 23 August 1942
Click on this photograph for links to larger images of this class.

Class:        KENNEBEC (AO-36)
Design        MC Tanker (Beth.)
Displacement (tons)        6,013 light, 21,580 lim.
Dimensions (feet):        501.4' oa, 488.4' wl x 68.0' e x 30.75' lim.
Original Armament:        1-4"/50 2-3"/50 (1942: AO 36-38)
Later armaments:        1-4"/50 4-3"/50 12-20mm (1942: AO 36-39); 1-4"/50 4-3"/50 2-40mmT 12- 20mm (1943: AO 37-38);
1-5"/51 4-3"/50 12-20mm (1943: AO-40);
1-5"/38 4-3"/50 12-20mm (1942: AO-48); 1-5"/38 4-3"/50 2-40mmT 12-20mm (1943: all 6 ships); 1-5"/38 4-3"/50 4-40mmT 8-20mmS or 4-20mmT (1944-45: all 6); 1-5"/38 4-3"/50 2-40mmQ 2-40mmT 4-20mmT (1947-49: AO-37, 39);
no large, 2-20mmT (1951: AO-36); 4-40mmT 2-20mmT (1951-52: AO 36-37); no large, 2-40mmT 4-20mmT (1951: AO-39);
4-3"/50 4-40mmT 2-20mmT (1955: AO-36); 4-3"/50 2-40mmT 4-20mmT (1955: AO37); 4-3"/50 2-40mmQ 2-40mmT 4-20mmT (1955: AO-39); 4-3"/50 (1961: AO 36, 39)
Complement        202 (1944)
Speed (kts.):        16.7
Propulsion (HP):        12,000
Machinery:        1 screw, Westinghouse or G.E. turbine.

Construction:

AO	Name	Acq.	Builder	Keel	Launch	Commiss.
36	KENNEBEC	13 Jan 42	Bethlehem Sparrows Pt.	12 Aug 40	19 Apr 41	4 Feb 42
37	MERRIMACK	31 Dec 41	Bethlehem Sparrows Pt.	12 Sep 40	1 Jul 41	4 Feb 42
38	WINOOSKI	5 Jan 42	Bethlehem Sparrows Pt.	23 Apr 41	12 Nov 41	27 Jan 42
39	KANKAKEE	31 Mar 42	Bethlehem Sparrows Pt.	31 Jul 41	24 Jan 42	4 May 42
40	LACKAWANNA	20 Jun 42	Bethlehem Sparrows Pt.	27 Dec 41	16 May 42	10 Jul 42
48	NEOSHO	4 Aug 42	Bethlehem Sparrows Pt.	8 Jul 41	23 Dec 41	16 Sep 42

Disposition:

AO	Name	Decomm.	Strike	Disposal	Fate	MA Sale
36	KENNEBEC	1 Apr 70	15 Jul 76	1 Sep 71	MA/R	6 Apr 82
37	MERRIMACK	29 Nov 57	1 Feb 59	10 Dec 58	MA/R	19 Mar 82
38	WINOOSKI	30 Apr 46	8 Oct 46	1 Aug 46	MC/D	10 Mar 47
39	KANKAKEE	27 Jun 68	1 Jun 73	30 Jun 69	MA/R	16 Mar 76
40	LACKAWANNA	14 Feb 46	26 Feb 46	1 Jul 46	MC/D	1 Aug 47
48	NEOSHO	13 Dec 45	3 Jan 46	30 Jun 46	MC/D	23 Jun 47

Class Notes:
FY 1942. On 18 Feb 38 the Socony-Vacuum Oil Co. ordered two tankers, MOBILFUEL and MOBILUBE, from the Bethlehem Steel Co. yard at Sparrows Point (Baltimore), Md. These, delivered in early 1939, were designed by N. J. Pluymert, a designer at the shipyard, proved very economical to operate, and were regarded as very successful. Socony-Vacuum had wanted to participate in the high-speed national defense tanker program that led to the AO-22 class, but the size and twin screws of these ships made them unsuitable for use at the firm's primary facilities, located in the restricted waters of the Beaumont Canal in Texas. By the end of 1939, however, the Navy was asking the MC for a total of 24 national defense feature tankers, meaning the MC had to arrange for 12 more in addition to the AO-22's. On 9 Feb 40 the MC announced that it had reached agreement with Socony-Vacuum to build six high speed single-screw national defense tankers based on the MOBILFUEL design. The biggest change was in the engine room, where a 12,000 hp plant that produced the 16.5 knots required by the Navy was squeezed into the space occupied by the 4,000 hp, 13.5 knot plant of the earlier ships. Other changes included the addition of gun foundations, magazine spaces additional crew spaces, and finer underwater hull lines. Socony-Vacuum ordered the first four ships from the Sparrows Point yard on 1 Nov 39 and the other two on 10 Jan 40, all as sisters to MOBILFUEL. The contracts were then amended to include the increased speed and additional defense features that were to be subsidized by the government. As in the case of the AO-22 class, the MC paid only for the national defense features and Socony-Vacuum owned the ships. These were initially carried in MC records as simply "Tankers", sometimes followed by the name of their builder (the designation "T2 Tankers" appears later and may not have been official). However all of their design drawings were labeled "T3" in the title block, and the next, very similar, class of single-screw tankers from the Sparrows Point yard (see the AO-68 class) was designated T3-S-A1 by the MC even though the ships' length should have put them into the T2 category.

On 23 December 1941 the Auxiliary Vessels Board recommended the immediate acquisition of five tankers of the 16.5 to 17 knot (T2) type recently constructed by the Maritime Commission to replace the four AO-22 class type tankers that the President and Secretary of the Navy had just ordered converted to auxiliary aircraft carriers. The Board noted that a fifth ship was necessary because the T2 type ships were slower than the 18-knot T3 type vessels they were replacing. The Board was informed that 11 vessels of the T2 type had been completed and were operating, and it selected three of these, CORSICANA, CADDO, and CALUSA, to be acquired as AO 36-38. On 28 Feb 42 CominCh recommended to CNO that steps be taken to acquire and man at least six tankers completing subsequent to March 1942. On 4 Mar 42 the Board recommended that two of these, COLINA and CONESTOGA, be acquired AO 39-40. On 9 Jun 42 CinCPac stated that he had an immediate need for four more fleet oilers. A representative of CinCUS recommended to the Auxiliary Vessels Board the acquisition of two ships already in operation in the Pacific and two under construction on the East Coast. A representative of the War Shipping Administration stated that there would be no objection to the transaction, and on 19 Jun 42 the Board recommended acquiring one of the two ships in the Pacific, CATAWBA, as AO-48.

AO-38 carried 1-5"/51 and two .50 cal. machine guns as a merchant ship and did not receive her original Navy armament (1-4", 2-3") until late June 1942 at Norfolk. AO-48 had 1-4"50 gun as a merchant ship. After World War II the Navy returned three of the ships to the merchant marine while retaining the other three for postwar naval service.

Ship Notes:

AO	Name	MC	Notes
36	KENNEBEC	142	Ex merc. CORSICANA (completed 18 Aug 41). Conversion completed 9 Feb 42. From NTS to MSTS as "Commissioned Naval Vessel" 1 Oct 49. Assigned to reserve fleet 5 Jun 50, decomm. 4 Sep 50. To MSTS 28 Nov 50, recomm. 12 Jan 51. In USN reserve 1954-56 (decomm. 25 Sep 54). To MSTS 19 Nov 56, recomm. 14 Dec 56. Decomm. 31 Oct 57, to NDRF 23 Nov 57, to MA 10 Dec 58, stk. 1 Feb 59. From MA 9 Aug 61, on list 1 Sep 61, recomm 16 Dec 61. To NDRF 17 Aug 70. To buyer 14 May 82.
37	MERRIMACK	143	Ex merc. CADDO (completed 9 Oct 41). Conversion completed 14 Feb 42 by Bethlehem Steel, Staten Is., N.Y. From NTS to MSTS as "Commissioned Naval Vessel" 1 Oct 49. In USN reserve 1949-50 (decomm. 19 May 50). To MSTS 28 Nov 50 (custody 6 Dec 50), recomm. 12 Feb 51. In USN reserve 1955-56 (decomm. 20 Dec 54). To MSTS 26 Nov 56, recomm. 17 Dec 56. To NDRF 13 Dec 57. To buyer 29 Mar 82.
38	WINOOSKI	144	Ex merc. CALUSA (completed 5 Jan 42). Conversion completed 6 Feb 42 by Bethlehem Steel, Key Highway, Baltimore, Md. Merc. CALUSA (MC) 1946, SAMUEL L. FULLER 1947. Scrapped 1965 as MERACOULOSA.
39	KANKAKEE	146	Ex merc. COLINA (completed 31 Mar 42). Converted by Maryland DD, Baltimore (possible ferry commission 24 Apr 42, completed 9 May 42). From NTS to MSTS as "Commissioned Naval Vessel" 1 Oct 49. In USN reserve 1955-56 (decomm. 2 Dec 55). To MSTS 9 Nov 56, recomm. 20 Dec 56. Decomm. 5 Nov 57, to NDRF 21 Nov 57, to MA 10 Dec 58, stk. 1 Feb 59. From MA 6 Aug 61, on list 1 Sep 61, recomm 29 Nov 61. To NDRF 27 Nov 68.
40	LACKAWANNA	147	Ex merc. CONASTOGA (completed 20 Jun 42). Conversion completed 13 Jul 42 by Bethlehem Steel, Key Highway, Baltimore, Md. Merc. CONASTOGA (MC) 1946, TATARRAX 1947. Scrapped 1966 as PADRE ISLAND.
48	NEOSHO	145	Ex merc. CATAWBA (completed 12 Feb 42). Converted by Bethlehem Steel, Union Plant, San Francisco, 4 Aug 42 to 19 Sep 42. Merc. CATAWBA (MC) 1946, TASCALUSA 1947. Scrapped 1963 as ASCALUSA.