USS Saranac (AO-74)
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| History | |
|---|---|
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| Name: | USS Saranac |
| Builder: | Sun Shipbuilding & Drydock Co., Chester, Pennsylvania |
| Laid down: | 27 August 1942, as SS Cowpens |
| Launched: | 21 December 1942 |
| Acquired: | 31 December 1942 |
| Commissioned: | 22 February 1943 |
| Decommissioned: | 19 July 1946 |
| In service: | 1946 |
| Out of service: | 1956 |
| Renamed: | Saranac, 16 September 1942 |
| Reclassified: | YFP-9 (Floating Power Barge), 1 September 1954 |
| Struck: | 26 March 1956 |
| Honors and awards: |
5 battle stars (World War II) |
| Fate: | Sold, 4 December 1957 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Suamico-class fleet replenishment oiler |
| Displacement: |
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| Length: | 523 ft 6 in (159.56 m) |
| Beam: | 68 ft (21 m) |
| Draft: | 30 ft (9.1 m) |
| Propulsion: | Turbo-electric, single screw, 8,000 hp (5,966 kW) |
| Speed: | 15.3 knots (28.3 km/h) |
| Capacity: | 140,000 barrels (22,000 m3) gasoline |
| Complement: | 257 |
| Armament: |
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USS Saranac (AO-74), originally named the SS Cowpens, was a Type T2-SE-A1 Suamico-class fleet oiler of the United States Navy, and the fourth ship of the Navy to bear the name.
Laid down under Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 337) on 27 August 1942 as Cowpens by Sun Shipbuilding & Drydock Co. of Chester, Pennsylvania, the ship was launched on 21 December 1942, sponsored by Mrs. A. Poestrak. She was renamed Saranac on 16 September 1942, acquired by the U.S. Navy on 31 December 1942, and commissioned on 22 February 1943, Comdr. John G. Cross in command.
After shakedown along the Atlantic coast, Saranac sailed from Norfolk for Aruba on 20 April 1943. There, she took on fuel and proceeded to the Pacific, arriving at Pearl Harbor on 26 May. Sailing two days later, she underwent repairs at San Francisco from 5 to 19 June and departed on 23 June for the Aleutian Islands. After arriving at Adak on 30 June, she serviced ships both underway and in port, from 9 July until departing on the 14th to reload at San Pedro, California. She then returned to the Aleutians and fueled ships at anchor in Kulak Bay from 4 to 16 August. Between 30 August and 12 October, she made one voyage transporting oil from San Pedro to tanks ashore at Tutuila, Samoa, and at Espiritu Santo.
Saranac then began replenishment operations in support of the U.S. Navy's advance in the central Pacific. She left Pearl Harbor on 25 November and fueled fleet units at Espiritu Santo from 13 to 21 December. With an underway replenishment group, she refueled units of a fast carrier force headed by the Bunker Hill (CV-17) on 27 December. She then resumed in-port fueling operations based on Port Purvis and Eniwetok.
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