US Navy Auxiliary Ships: Klickitat (AOG-64) Class

USS Klickitat (AOG-64) on 28 July 1945
Click on this photograph for links to larger images of this class.

Class:        KLICKITAT (AOG-64)
Design        MC T1-M-BT1
Displacement (tons):        1,988 light, 5,970 lim.
Dimensions (feet):        325.2' oa, 309.0' wl x 48.2' e x 19.0 lim.
Original Armament:        1-3"/50 2-40mmS 8-20mm
Later armaments:        --
Complement        91
Speed (kts.):        10
Propulsion (HP):        800
Machinery:        1 screw, Enterprise geared diesel

Construction:

AOG	Name	Acq.	Builder	Keel	Launch	Commiss.
64	KLICKITAT	14 Jul 45	St. John's River SB	16 Dec 44	24 Mar 45	14 Jul 45
65	MICHIGAMME	10 Aug 45	St. John's River SB	30 Dec 44	31 Mar 45	10 Aug 45
66	NANTICOKE	31 Aug 45	St. John's River SB	16 Jan 45	7 Apr 45	1 Sep 45
67	NODAWAY	--	St. John's River SB	22 Jan 45	14 Apr 45	--
68	PECONIC	29 Sep 45	St. John's River SB	31 Jan 45	14 May 45	29 Sep 45
69	PETALUMA	--	St. John's River SB	14 Feb 45	5 May 45	--
70	PISCATAQUA	--	St. John's River SB	24 Mar 45	26 May 45	--
71	QUINNEBAUG	--	St. John's River SB	2 Apr 45	6 Aug 45	--
72	SEBASTICOOK	--	St. John's River SB	9 Apr 45	11 Aug 45	--
73	KIAMICHI	--	St. John's River SB	16 Apr 45	17 Aug 45	--
74	TELLICO	--	St. John's River SB	15 May 45	23 Aug 45	--
75	TRUCKEE	--	St. John's River SB	28 May 45	30 Aug 45	--

Disposition:

AOG	Name	Decomm.	Strike	Disposal	Fate	MA Sale
64	KLICKITAT	23 Jan 46	7 Feb 46	24 Jan 46	MC	20 Aug 48
65	MICHIGAMME	23 Jan 46	7 Feb 46	24 Jan 46	MC	22 Mar 48
66	NANTICOKE	4 Jan 46	21 Jan 46	12 Jan 46	MC	8 Jun 48
67	NODAWAY	--	--	29 Aug 45	Canc.	5 Mar 46
68	PECONIC	4 Jan 46	12 Nov 57	12 Nov 57	MA	26 May 82
69	PETALUMA	--	--	29 Aug 45	Canc.	31 Mar 47
70	PISCATAQUA	--	--	29 Aug 45	Canc.	18 Jun 47
71	QUINNEBAUG	--	--	29 Aug 45	Canc.	31 Mar 47
72	SEBASTICOOK	--	--	29 Aug 45	Canc.	18 Jun 47
73	KIAMICHI	--	--	29 Aug 45	Canc.	18 Jun 47
74	TELLICO	--	--	29 Aug 45	Canc.	18 Jun 47
75	TRUCKEE	--	--	29 Aug 45	Canc.	18 Jun 47

Class Notes:
FY 1944. On 6 Jun 1944 the JCS asked the MC to modify its building program for the first half of 1945 to include the construction of 56 merchant type vessels as Naval auxiliaries The list included 12 "special type tankers" or AOG's that were to be operated in the Pacific area for inter-island shuttle of light petroleum products. The MC informed the JCS on 22 Jun 44 that it was able to provide for all but two of the requested 56 ships. On 3 Jul 44 the Auxiliary Vessels Board recommended acquiring the 54 ships including the 12 AOG's. The MC and BuShips mutually developed the plans and specifications for the AOG's, and the MC ordered them on 26 Jul 44 under its Military Program.

The new T1-M-BT1 design had its engines aft and bridge amidships. It had six main cargo tanks (divided port and starboard): #1 and 2 for aviation gas, #3 and 4 for commercial gas, and #5 and 6 for diesel oil. There was a cofferdam between #2 and 3 tanks and abaft #6 tank. Heating coils with shore steam connections were in #5 and 6 tanks only. Each group of tanks had a separate filling and discharge piping system and pump. The pumps were cross connected. Separate piping and pump were provided for the alternative use of #1 and 2 tanks to carry potable water. The approximate total cubic capacity was 30,000 barrels.

Only two of the twelve ships were in commission at the time of the Japanese surrender on 14 Aug 45. On 29 Aug 45 CNO instructed the Bureaus and other interested commands that the acquisition of AOG 67 and AOG 69-75 was cancelled. AOG-66 and AOG-68 were to be acquired and commissioned, and AOG 64-65 already had been. Two days previously he had cancelled 24 other auxiliaries that were to have been acquired from the MC: 10 AK's of the AK-156 class, AKA 109-111, AO 102-104, and APA 240-247. The MC took delivery of the cancelled AOGs in incomplete condition and sold them to private operators who had them completed to suit their needs.

In August 1944 the MC followed its order for the twelve T1-M-BT1s with orders from two shipyards for twenty ships of the slightly modified T1-M-BT2 design. In 1948 one of these found its way into the Navy as AOG-76, and in 1950 four others that had been under Army control were transferred to the Navy as AOG 77-80. In 1948 one of the original T1-M-BT1s, PECONIC (AOG-68), also rejoined the Navy under her original name and hull number.

Ship Notes:

AOG	Name	MC	Notes
64	KLICKITAT	2624	Merc. CAPITAN (MC) 1946. Sold to Manuel Rodruguez Trading Corp. 1948, resold to Argentine Naval Commission 1948-9. Broke in two during bad weather off Cape Hatteras while in tow from Savannah to Baltimore, both sections recovered and ship repaired 1949 by Bethlehem Steel, Baltimore. To Argentine Navy as PUNTA LOYOLA. Merc. ALKENE 1968. Wrecked 9 Jan 74 in the Philippines.
65	MICHIGAMME	2625	Merc. BLACK BAYOU (MC) 1946. Sold to Manuel Rodruguez Trading Corp. 1948, resold to Argentine Naval Commission 1948- 9, to Argentine Navy as PUNTA NINFAS. Merc. MOISES 1968. Scrapped in Colombia 1976.
66	NANTICOKE	2626	Merc. SUGARLAND (MC) 1946. Sold to Manuel Rodruguez Trading Corp. 1948, resold to Argentine Naval Commission Dec. 1948, to Argentine Navy as PUNTA DELGADA. Burned and capsized at anchor off La Plata 4 Mar 85.
67	NODAWAY	2627	Suspended by MC 26 Aug 45, delivered 85.7% complete 18 Sep 45 as merc. WEST RANCH. Sold incomplete to Sun Oil Co. 5 Mar 46, completed by Merrill-Stevens, Jacksonville, Fla., in June 1946 as merc. DYNAFUEL. In collision 14 Nov 63 in Buzzards Bay and sank the next day.
68	PECONIC	2628	To MC 7 Jan 46, stk. 21 Jan 46. Merc. VOSHELL (MC) 1946. Operated by Marine Transport Lines, Inc., for MC under General Agency Agreement. From MC 4 Apr 48 as U.S. Naval Tanker (USNT), renamed PECONIC, and "temporarily classified AOG-68 for BuShips accounting purposes." To MSTS 1 Oct 49, redesignated USNS PECONIC (T-AOG-68), reinstated on list 28 Apr 50. To MA and stk. 12 Nov 57. To buyer 7 Dec 82.
69	PETALUMA	2629	Suspended by MC 26 Aug 45, delivered 82.4% complete 18 Sep 45 as merc. AVOCA. Sold incomplete to National Petroleum Transport Corp. (US) 31 Mar 47 (to buyer 30 Apr 47), completed by Maryland DD, Baltimore in Oct. 1947 as merc. TRANSPET (Panamanian). Sank after fire and explosion off the Magdalen Islands in the Gulf of St. Lawrence on 29 Oct 51.
70	PISCATAQUA	2630	Suspended by MC 26 Aug 45, delivered 80.3% complete 18 Sep 45 as merc. LOUDEN. Sold incomplete to International Tankers (Panamanian) 18 Jun 47 (to buyer 16 Jul 47), completed by Maryland DD, Baltimore, in June 1948 as merc. TRANSWEL (Panamanian). Merc. SALAMANCA 1950, scrapped 1972 in Mexico.
71	QUINNEBAUG	2631	Suspended by MC 26 Aug 45, delivered 79.9% complete 18 Sep 45 as merc. LAFITTE. Sold incomplete to National Petroleum Transport Corp. (US) 31 Mar 47 (to buyer 30 Apr 47), completed by Maryland DD, Baltimore in Sept. 1947 as merc. TRANSPAN (Panamanian). Merc. RIVER TRANSPORT 1960, DON ERNESTO 1975, scrapped 1998 in Ecuador.
72	SEBASTICOOK	2632	Suspended by MC 26 Aug 45, delivered 78.6% complete 18 Sep 45 as merc. MEXIA. Sold incomplete to International Tankers (Panamanian) 18 Jun 47 (to buyer 16 Jul 47), completed by Maryland DD, Baltimore, in June 1948 as merc. TRANSPAR (Panamanian). Merc. KWANG LUNG 1958. Scrapped 1961 in Taiwan after explosion and fire there on 5 Apr 61.
73	KIAMICHI	2633	Suspended by MC 26 Aug 45, delivered 77.3% complete 18 Sep 45 as merc. WHITE CASTLE. Sold incomplete to International Tankers (Panamanian) 18 Jun 47 (to buyer 16 Jul 47), completed by Rickmers, Bremerhaven, in Sept. 1951 as merc. TRANSMERE (Panamanian). To Colombian Navy 1952 as SANCHO JIMENO, stricken 1974.
74	TELLICO	2634	Suspended by MC 26 Aug 45, delivered 74.7% complete 18 Sep 45 as merc. VILLE PLATTE. Sold incomplete to International Tankers (Panamanian) 18 Jun 47 (to buyer 16 Jul 47), completed by Todd SY, Brooklyn, in Aug. 1951 as merc. TRANSEA (Liberian). Merc. SEA TRANSPORTER 1956, SEA TRANSPORT 1959, LSCO PETROPARCEL 1971, PNOC PETROPARCEL 1983, deleted 2007/8.
75	TRUCKEE	2635	Suspended by MC 26 Aug 45, delivered 64.7% complete 18 Sep 45 as merc. EOLA. Sold incomplete to International Tankers (Panamanian) 18 Jun 47 (to buyer 16 Jul 47), completed by Maryland DD, Baltimore, in July 1951 as merc. CALIFORNIA STANDARD. Merc. LSCO TRANSPACIFIC 1970, scrapped 1977 in the Philippines.