USS Ashtabula (AO-51)
USS Ashtabula after the jumboization
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| History | |
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 United States
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| Name: | USS Ashtabula |
| Namesake: | The City of Ashtabula named after the Ashtabula River in Northeast Ohio |
| Ordered: | as T3-S2-A1 tanker hull; MC hull 717 |
| Laid down: | 1 October 1942 |
| Launched: | 22 May 1943 |
| Acquired: | 7 August 1943 |
| Commissioned: | 7 August 1943 |
| Decommissioned: | 30 September 1982 |
| Struck: | 6 September 1991 |
| Homeport: | Pearl Harbor, Hawaii |
| Honors and awards: |
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| Fate: | Partially scrapped 1995, expended as SINKEX target ship, 15 October 2000 |
| Badge: | |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Cimarron-class replenishment oiler |
| Displacement: |
7,470 t.(lt) 25,450 t.(fl) as built 16,500 t. (lt) 36,500 t.(fl) Jumboized |
| Length: |
553 ft (169 m) as built 664 ft (202 m) Jumboized |
| Beam: | 75 ft (23 m) |
| Draught: | 32 ft 4 in (9.86 m) |
| Propulsion: | four Foster-Wheeler boilers, steam turbines, twin screws. 13,500shp |
| Speed: | 18 knots (33 km/h). |
| Complement: | 19 Officers, 284 Enlisted |
| Armament: | four single 5-inch/38 dual purpose gun mounts; four single 40 mm AA gun mounts; four twin 40 mm AA gun mounts; eight single 20 mm AA gun mounts |
7,470 t.(lt) 25,450 t.(fl) as built
553 ft (169 m) as built
USS Ashtabula (AO-51) was a Cimarron-class fleet oiler of the United States Navy in service from 1943 to 1991. She survived three wars and was awarded eight battle stars for World War II service, four battle stars for Korean War service, and eight campaign stars for Vietnam War service. In the mid-1960s Ashtabula became the lead ship of her class, when she and seven other Cimarron-class oilers were lengthened ("jumboized"). She has been the only U.S. Navy ship to bear the name Ashtabula, after the City of Ashtabula which was named after the Ashtabula River in northeast Ohio.
Ashtabula (AO-51) was laid down under a Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 717) on 1 October 1942 at Sparrows Point, Maryland, by the Bethlehem Steel Co.; launched on 22 May 1943; sponsored by Mrs. Adolph Augustus Berle, Jr., the wife of the Assistant Secretary of State; and acquired by the Navy on 7 August 1943; and commissioned the same day, Comdr. Louis J. Modave in command.
Following shakedown in the Chesapeake Bay, the oiler sailed for Aruba on 10 September to take on fuel oil and aviation gasoline and then continued on, via the Panama Canal, to the South Pacific. After arriving at Tutuila, Samoa, on 22 October, she operated as a member of Service Squadron (ServRon) 8 in the South Pacific until 17 November. Ashtabula next sailed for the United States and entered the Long Beach Navy Yard on 1 December for an availability period.
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