USS Ogeechee

USS Ogeechee (AOG-35) was a Mettawee-class gasoline tanker acquired by the U.S. Navy for the dangerous task of transporting gasoline to warships in the fleet, and to remote Navy stations.

History
United States
Name	USS Ogeechee
Namesake	Ogeechee River in Georgia
Ordered	as T1-M-A2) tanker hull
Laid down	7 May 1944
Commissioned	6 September 1944
Decommissioned	18 February 1946
Stricken	12 March 1946
Fate	Scrapped in 1964
General characteristics
Tonnage	1,228 long tons deadweight (DWT)
Displacement	846 tons(lt) 2,270 tons(fl)
Length	220 ft 6 in
Beam	37 ft
Draught	17 ft
Propulsion	Diesel direct drive, single screw, 720 hp
Speed	10 knots (19 km/h)
Complement	62
Armament	one single 3 in (76 mm) dual purpose gun mount, two 40 mm guns, three single 20 mm gun mounts

Ogeechee was laid down 7 May 1944 by the East Coast Ship Yard, Inc., Bayonne, New Jersey. under a Maritime Commission contract; acquired by the Navy 31 August 1944; commissioned 6 September 1944.

World War II service

Manned by U.S. Coast Guard personnel, Ogeechee conducted shakedown operations in Chesapeake Bay, then departed for Aruba, Netherlands West Indies, where she took on a full cargo of diesel oil 6 November.

Pacific Ocean Alaskan operations

Transiting the Panama Canal 13 November, she proceeded via San Diego, California, to Seattle, Washington, where she discharged her cargo and where she underwent alterations and repairs for operations in the turbulent weather of the Aleutian Chain. After taking on her first cargo of gasoline, she departed Seattle 17 January 1945 for Adak, Alaska via the inland passage, Kodiak Island, and Dutch Harbor. She delivered her cargo to Attu Island then for the next several months continued to shuttle gasoline from the major tank farm facilities at Sand Bay, Alaska to Army and Navy bases west of Dutch Harbor.

End-of-war decommissioning

Ogeechee departed Kodiak 10 November for San Francisco, California, where she arrived 19 November to begin the procedure that resulted in decommissioning 18 February 1946. She was stricken from the Naval Register 12 March then transferred to the Maritime Commission and sold 1 July. She was scrapped in 1964.

References

•  This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.

External links

• Photo gallery of USS Ogeechee (AOG-35) at NavSource Naval History