USS Maumee (AO-2)
USS Maumee (AO-2)
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| History | |
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 United States
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| Name: | USS Maumee (AO-2) |
| Namesake: | Maumee River |
| Builder: | Mare Island Naval Shipyard |
| Laid down: | 23 July 1914 |
| Launched: | 17 April 1915 |
| Commissioned: | 20 October 1916 |
| Decommissioned: | 5 November 1946 |
| Fate: | transferred to the Republic of China, 5 November 1946 |
| Struck: | 12 March 1948 |
| History | |
 Taiwan
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| Name: | ROCS Omei (AO-509) |
| Acquired: | 5 November 1946 |
| Commissioned: | 5 November 1946 |
| Decommissioned: | 1967 |
| Struck: | 1967 |
| Fate: | scrapped |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Kanawha-class oiler |
| Displacement: | 14,500 |
| Length: | 475 ft 7 in (144.96 m) |
| Beam: | 56 ft 2 in (17.12 m) |
| Draft: | 26 ft 6 in (8.08 m) |
| Speed: | 14 kn (26 km/h) |
| Complement: | 475 |
| Armament: | 4 × 4" guns |
The second USS Maumee (AO-2) was laid down as Fuel Ship No. 14 on 23 July 1914 by Navy Shipyard, Mare Island, Calif.; launched 17 April 1915; sponsored by Miss Janet Crose; and commissioned 20 October 1916, Lt. Comdr. Henry C. Dinger in command. When the Navy’s ship classifications were introduced 17 July 1920, Maumee was designated AO-2.
Maumee was the first surface ship in the U.S. Navy to be powered by diesel engines. Supervising their installation and operation was her Executive and Chief Engineering Officer, Lt. Chester W. Nimitz. To be fitted with the engines after it was built, the ship was towed all the way from Union Iron Works in San Francisco to the Brooklyn Navy Yard. As of January, 1919 she had two 3,600 h.p. diesel engines running at 125 rpm.
Prior to the entry of the United States into World War I, Maumee operated off the east coast and Cuba. Following the declaration of war, 6 April 1917, she was assigned duty refueling at sea the destroyers being sent to Britain. Stationed about 300 miles south of Greenland, Maumee was ready for the second group of U.S. ships to be sent as they closed her 28 May. With the fueling of those six destroyers, Maumee pioneered the Navy’s underway refueling operations, thus establishing a pattern of mobile logistic support which would enable the Navy to keep its fleets at sea for extended periods, with a far greater range independent of the availability of a friendly port. This independence proved crucial to victory in World War II by the ships commanded by Fleet Admiral Nimitz who as Maumee’s executive officer had played a key role in the refueling developments.
By 5 July Maumee had refueled 34 Ireland‑bound destroyers in mid‑Atlantic. During the remainder of the war she completed two further ocean crossings to Europe where she refueled naval units attached to the American Expeditionary Force. Following the end of the war, Maumee operated off the east coast until decommissioning 9 June 1922 for layup in reserve at Philadelphia.
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Wikipedia