US Navy Auxiliary Ships: Abarenda (IX-131) Class

S.S. Moskva, later USS Nausett (IX-190), circa 1944
Click on this photograph for links to larger images of this class.

Class:        ABARENDA (IX-131)
Design        Tanker, 1916 (EFC Design 1047)
Displacement (tons):        4,600 light, 14,493 full load
Dimensions (feet):        453.0' oa, 435.0' wl x 56.0' x 27.4' full load
Original Armament:        1-4"/50 1-3"/50 8-20mm (IX-131, 184, 185, 214)
Later armaments:        1-5"/51 8-20mm (IX-190); 1-5"/51 1-3"/50 8-20mm (IX-193)
Complement        70 (1944)
Speed (kts.):        10.5
Propulsion (HP):        2,800
Machinery:        1 screw, vertical triple expansion (De Laval turbine in IX-190)

Construction:

IX	Name	Acq.	Builder	Keel	Launch	Commiss.
131	ABARENDA	26 Feb 44	Union IW, San Francisco	--	29 Apr 16	18 Apr 44
184	CLIFTON	31 May 45	Bethlehem Steel, Alameda	--	30 Jun 19	2 Jun 45
185	STONEWALL	16 Sep 44	Bethlehem Steel, Alameda	--	18 Feb 21	18 Sep 44
190	NAUSETT	8 Jan 45	Bethlehem Steel, Alameda	--	30 Dec 17	8 Jan 45
193	MEREDOSIA	16 Feb 45	Union Const., Oakland	--	ca. 1921	16 Feb 45
214	YUCCA	9 Jul 45	Bethlehem Steel, Alameda	12 Mar 19	31 Jul 19	9 Jul 45

Disposition:

IX	Name	Decomm.	Strike	Disposal	Fate	MA Sale
131	ABARENDA	28 Feb 46	20 Mar 46	28 Feb 46	MC/D	2 Feb 48
184	CLIFTON	21 Feb 46	12 Mar 46	21 Feb 46	MC/D	12 Dec 46
185	STONEWALL	17 Jan 46	7 Feb 46	17 Jan 46	RTO	--
190	NAUSETT	12 Oct 45	24 Oct 45	12 Oct 45	MC/D	4 Mar 46
193	MEREDOSIA	2 Feb 46	25 Feb 46	2 Feb 46	MC/D	12 Dec 46
214	YUCCA	19 Feb 46	12 Mar 46	19 Feb 46	MC/D	12 Dec 46

Class Notes:
FY 1943 (IX 131), 1944 (others). The Union Iron Works in San Francisco began building what became a series of fifteen 453-foot tankers in 1916. ACME was one of the earliest of these, and W. M. IRISH followed after the yard was renamed the Bethlehem Steel Co., San Francisco, in 1917. Another San Francisco-built ship was GEORGE G. HENRY, which later became USS VICTORIA (AO-46). The firm absorbed the yard of the United Engineering Works across the bay in Alameda in 1916 and subsequently built many of its tankers there. An EFC order for tankers of the same 453-foot type, which it designated EFC Design 1047, followed at Alameda, and DILWORTH and UTACARBON were among the 18 EFC ships completed there in 1919-21. Seven more privately ordered ships of this type including FRANK G. DRUM followed in 1920-21. LIEBRE was built by another San Francisco Bay yard, the Union Construction Co. of Oakland, a World War I emergency shipyard that took a few commercial orders before closing in 1922. Between November 1920 and April 1921 this yard delivered one 453-foot tanker to Standard Oil of California and one, LIEBRE, to Socony-Vacuum Oil.

-- IX 131: On 12 Oct 43 the Auxiliary Vessels Board recommended that 15 old tankers be acquired for use as floating storage at advanced bases. See the IX-132 class for full details on this directive, which covered IX 131-145.

-- IX 184-185, plus IX 186-187: On 12 Aug 44 the Auxiliary Vessels Board reported that CNO had been asked to assign four tankers to the Southwest Pacific Area for carrying clean products, each having a capacity of about 70,000 barrels. These were to be used primarily for shuttle service between Hollandia-Finschhafen terminals and forward areas. The Board recommended that four operating tankers suitable for this use be acquired, either in U.S. continental ports or in the Southwest Pacific area. They were to be assigned to Service Force, Seventh Fleet. IX 184-187 were delivered to the Navy at Brisbane, Australia or at Los Angeles (IX-185) to fill this requirement.

The ship originally designated IX-184 was the tanker EDWARD L. DOHENY, a 427-foot vessel built in England in 1913. On 6 Sep 44 a Navy board inspected her while she was being repaired at Galveston, Texas, and found her not suited to Naval service, and on 7 Sep 44 CNO cancelled her acquisition. DILWORTH was substituted for her on 14 Oct 44. On 17 Mar 45, while again rejecting EDWARD L. DOHENY, this time for possible acquisition as IX-219 or IX-220, VCNO explained that she could not be used in the forward area without strengthening the hull to allow vessels to come alongside for refueling, the cost of which would have been prohibitive. EDWARD L. DOHENY was finally accepted by the Navy on 27 Aug 45 as a non-self-propelled fuel oil barge, YON-234.

-- IX-190 and 193: On 12 Aug 44 the Auxiliary Vessels Board recommended that 6 tankers suitable for use as mobile storage tankers be acquired at a rate of one a month beginning in September. See the IX-137 class for full details on this directive, which covered IX 188-193.

-- IX-214: On 23 Feb 45 the Auxiliary Vessels Board recommended that the three commercial tankers that became IX-210, 213, and 214 be acquired for use as storage tankers and that three other similar vessels also be acquired. See the IX-179 class for full details on this directive.

On 11 Oct 44 CNO elaborated on the concept behind the station tankers. He indicated that vessels of this type were not expected to meet Navy standards nor to be converted or repaired to make them do so. They were expected to be in good enough operating condition to make the voyage to the forward area and on arrival be capable of receiving cargoes from trans-Pacific tankers and discharging such cargo to other craft as required at anchorage. If necessary they would be sustained by base facilities or other naval vessels present. They would be manned with a minimum of personnel consistent with carrying out their mission at anchor, and their crews would utilize existing berthing, messing, and sanitary facilities.

Ship Notes:

IX	Name	Notes
131	ABARENDA	Ex merc. ACME (ID-2103, completed Jun 16). Badly damaged by torpedo 17 Mar 42, repaired. Acquired at Noumea, New Caledonia and placed in service. To MC at Subic Bay as ACME 1946. To buyer there 3 Mar 48 as ABARENDA, either scrapped in the Far East or sunk 1951 off Taiwan.
184	CLIFTON	Ex merc. DILWORTH (ID-4631, completed Jan 20). Acquired at Brisbane, Australia. Merc. DILWORTH (MC) 1946. To buyer 28 Jan 47, scrapped by 11 Sep 47.
185	STONEWALL	Ex merc. FRANK G. DRUM (completed Apr 21). Acquired at Los Angeles. Merc. FRANK G. DRUM 1946. Scrapped 1953.
190	NAUSETT	Ex merc. W. M. IRISH, ex MOSKVA (USSR) 1944, ex W. M. IRISH 1943 (ID-2690, completed Apr 18). Acquired at Pearl Harbor. Found uneconomical to fit out after commissioning and sent back to the West Coast circa April 1945. Merc. W. M. IRISH (MC) 1945. To buyer 27 Nov 46 as NAUSETT, scrapped by 4 Feb 47.
193	MEREDOSIA	Ex merc. LIEBRE (ID-4657, completed Feb 21). Acquired at Pearl Harbor. Merc LIEBRE (MC) 1946. To buyer 8 Feb 47, scrapped by 6 Nov 47.
214	YUCCA	Ex merc. UTACARBON, ex VARLAAM AVANESOV (USSR) 1945, ex UTACARBON 1943 (completed Mar 20). Acquired at Pearl Harbor, sailed 3 Sep 45 for brief duty in Okinawa and Japan. Merc. UTACARBON (MC) 1946. To buyer 24 Jan 47, scrapped by 3 Nov 47.