USS Wabash (AOR-5)

Wabash refueling Duncan (FFG-10), 1984
History
Name:	USS Wabash
Builder:	General Dynamics Quincy Shipbuilding Division, Quincy, Massachusetts
Laid down:	21 January 1970
Launched:	6 February 1971
Commissioned:	20 November 1971
Decommissioned:	30 September 1994
Struck:	8 April 1997
Fate:	Laid up at National Defense Reserve Fleet, Suisun Bay, California
General characteristics
Class and type:	Wichita-class replenishment oiler
Displacement:	37,360 long tons (37,960 t) full
Length:	659 ft (201 m)
Beam:	96 ft (29 m)
Draft:	36 ft (11 m)
Speed:	20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph)
Complement:	390
Armament:	4 × 3 in (76 mm) guns

USS Wabash (AOR-5) was a Wichita-class replenishment oiler in the United States Navy from 1970 to 1994.

The Wabash was named for the Wabash River, a river that rises in Darke County, Ohio, near Fort Recovery and meanders westward across Indiana until it reaches Illinois at a point just southwest of Terre Haute, Indiana.

USS Wabash was laid down on 21 January 1970 by General Dynamics Quincy Shipbuilding Division at Quincy, Massachusetts; launched on 6 February 1971; sponsored by Mrs. William G. Bray; and commissioned on 20 November 1971 at the Boston Naval Shipyard, Capt. Robert P. Chrisler in command.

Wabash sailed for the West Coast on 5 January 1972, called at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; transited the bleak Strait of Magellan; and visited Valparaíso, Chile; Callao, Peru; and Acapulco, Mexico, before arriving at her home port, Long Beach, California, on 3 March, She underwent shakedown from 22 May to 16 June and operated off the coast of southern California into the autumn.

The replenishment oiler commenced her first western Pacific (WestPac) deployment when she departed Long Beach on 9 November. After proceeding via Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, she arrived at Subic Bay, Philippine Islands, on 1 December and, assigned to Service Squadron 9, assumed duties as flagship for Commander, Task Group (TG) 73.5.