Cimarron class fleet replenishment oiler (1939)
_off_the_Norfolk_Naval_Shipyard_on_6_February_1942_(19-N-30121).jpg)
USS Cimarron (AO-22), lead ship of the class in February 1942
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| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Operators: |
 United States Navy
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| Built: | 1938–1945 |
| In commission: | 1939–1992 |
| Completed: | 35, later 4 converted to escort carriers |
| Lost: | 2 |
| Retired: | 29 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Cimarron-class oiler |
| Displacement: |
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| Length: | 553 ft (169 m) |
| Beam: | 75 ft (23 m) |
| Draft: | 32 ft 4 in (9.86 m) |
| Propulsion: | Geared turbines, twin screws, 13,500 shp (10,067 kW) |
| Speed: | 18 knots (21 mph; 33 km/h) |
| Range: | 12,100 nmi (22,400 km; 13,900 mi) |
| Capacity: | 146,000 barrels (23,200 m3) |
| Complement: | 304 |
| Armament: |
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| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Ashtabula-class oiler (Jumboized Cimarron) |
| Displacement: |
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| Length: | 644 ft (196 m) |
| Beam: | 75 ft (23 m) |
| Draft: | 34 ft 9 in (10.59 m) |
| Installed power: | 13,500 hp (10,100 kW) |
| Propulsion: | geared turbines, four boilers, twin screws |
| Speed: | 16 knots (30 km/h) |
| Capacity: | 180,000 barrels (29,000 m3) of fuel oil |
| Complement: | 304 (as USS) |
| Crew: | 108 civilians plus U.S. Navy detachment (as USNS) |
| Notes: | "Jumboization" involved the lengthening of the hull and installation of additional cargo capacity during 1965–66 |
The Cimarron class oilers were an underway replenishment class of oil tankers which were first built in 1939 as "National Defense Tankers," United States Maritime Commission Type T3-S2-A1, designed "to conform to the approved characteristics for naval auxiliaries in speed, radius and structural strength", anticipating their militarization in the event of war. "Tentative plans had been reached with the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey to build ten high-speed tankers with the government paying the cost of the larger engines needed for increased speed. By the first week in December [1937], Standard Oil had solicited and received bids from a number of yards providing for the construction of a number of 16,300-ton (deadweight) capacity tankers. Bids were requested for two versions: a single-screw design of 13 knots and a twin-screw design of 18 knots. The price difference between the two would be used to establish the government's cost subsidy for greater speed. Plans and specifications for both designs were prepared for Standard Oil by naval architect E. L. Stewart. It seems certain that the design for the 18-knot tanker (Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey Design No. 652 NDF) evolved out of the bureau's (C&R) design for a fleet oiler."
Three of the original twelve ships were commissioned directly into the Navy at launch in 1939; the remainder entered merchant service with Standard Oil of New Jersey and Keystone Tankships before being acquired under the Two-Ocean Navy Act of July 1940. A further eighteen were built for the Navy between 1943 and 1946, with five additional units, sometimes called the Mispillion class, built to the slightly larger Type T3-S2-A3 design.
Four of the Cimarrons were converted to escort carriers (CVE) in 1942; two others were sunk by enemy action.
Converted to Sangamon-class escort carriers in 1942:
There is some controversy about the MARAD Type T3-S2-A3 oilers being a class of their own, the Mispillion-class. This is further complicated by the fact that these ships were jumboized in the 1960s, together with Ashtabula (AO-51), Caloosahatchee (AO-98), and Canisteo (AO-99), for some then comprising the Ashtabula-class - sometimes with or without the Mispillions. Adding to the confusion, some sources refer to the 18 war-construction repeat Cimarrons as the Ashtabula-class.
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