USS Tappahannock (AO-43)
Ships of the 7th Fleet replenishing in the South China Sea during the Vietnam War in May 1969, (from front to back) destroyer Wiltsie (DD-716), fleet oiler Tappahannock (AO-43), aircraft carrier Oriskany (CVA-34), combat stores ship Mars (AFS-1), and Perkins (DD-877).
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 United States
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| Name: | USS Tappahannock |
| Builder: | Sun Shipbuilding & Drydock Co., Chester, Pennsylvania |
| Laid down: | 24 December 1941 |
| Launched: | 18 April 1942 |
| Acquired: | 29 May 1942 |
| Commissioned: | 22 June 1942 |
| Decommissioned: | 3 February 1950 |
| Recommissioned: | December 1950 |
| Decommissioned: | January 1955 |
| Recommissioned: | 12 December 1956 |
| Decommissioned: | 18 November 1957 |
| Recommissioned: | 31 May 1966 |
| Decommissioned: | 6 March 1970 |
| Struck: | 15 July 1976 |
| Honors and awards: |
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| Fate: | Disposed of by MARAD, 2 February 1987 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Mattaponi class oiler |
| Type: | MARAD T2-A |
| Tonnage: | 16,400 DWT |
| Displacement: | 21,750 tons |
| Length: | 520 ft (160 m) |
| Beam: | 68 ft (21 m) |
| Draft: | 29 ft 11.5 in (9.131 m) |
| Depth: | 37 ft (11 m) |
| Installed power: | 12,000 shp (8,900 kW) |
| Propulsion: |
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| Speed: | 16.5 knots (30.6 km/h) |
| Range: | 7,200 nmi (13,300 km; 8,300 mi) |
| Capacity: | 133,000 bbl (~18,100 t) |
| Complement: | 213 |
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USS Tappahannock (AO-43) was a Kennebec-class oiler in the United States Navy that served during World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. She was the only U.S. Navy ship named with the cognate name for the Rappahannock River in eastern Virginia.
Tappahannock was laid down as SS Jorkay, a type T2-A tanker, under a Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 157) on 24 December 1941 at Chester, Pennsylvania, by the Sun Shipbuilding & Drydock Co. (hull number 226). Renamed Tappahannock and designated AO-43 on 31 March 1942, she was launched on 18 April 1942, sponsored by Mrs. George Jessup, acquired by the Navy from the War Shipping Administration on 29 May 1942, and converted for Navy service at the Philadelphia Navy Yard between 1 June and 17 July. Nearly midway through this conversion period, the oiler was commissioned on 22 June 1942, Comdr. A.O.R. Bergensen in command.
Following her shakedown cruise, Tappahannock reported for duty with Commander, Service Force, Atlantic (ComServLant), on 13 August, and soon got underway south for Panama. In the Canal Zone, the oiler took on board 300 tons of stores for Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron (MTBRon) 3, as well as two PT boats, and left Balboa on 29 August, bound for the South Pacific
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