USNS Maumee (T-AO-149), later T-AOT-149, was a United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

 Maumee-class

Maumee class oiler

The Maumee class was a class of four United States Navy fleet oilers in service from the mid-1950s until the mid-1980s. It was the first class of United States Naval Ships....

 oiler

Replenishment Oiler

A replenishment oiler or fleet tanker is a naval auxiliary ship with fuel tanks and dry cargo holds, which can replenish other ships while underway in the high seas. Such ships are used by several countries around the world....

, later transport oiler, in non-commissioned service with the Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS), later Military Sealift Command

Military Sealift Command

The Military Sealift Command is a United States Navy organization that controls most of the replenishment and military transport ships of the Navy. It first came into existence on 9 July 1949 when the Military Sea Transportation Service became solely responsible for the Department of Defense's...

, from 1956 until probably the mid-1980s.

Maumee, the fourth U.S. Navy ship to bear the name, was laid down at Sun Shipbuilding and Drydock Company at Chester

Chester, Pennsylvania

Chester is a city in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States, with a population of 33,972 at the 2010 census. Chester is situated on the Delaware River, between the cities of Philadelphia and Wilmington, Delaware.- History :...

, Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

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on 18 March 1955 and launched on 15 November 1955, sponsored by Mrs. Lloyd Harrison. She entered non-commissioned U.S. Navy service under the control of the Military Sea Transportation Service, later the Military Sealift Command

Military Sealift Command

The Military Sealift Command is a United States Navy organization that controls most of the replenishment and military transport ships of the Navy. It first came into existence on 9 July 1949 when the Military Sea Transportation Service became solely responsible for the Department of Defense's...

, with a primarily civilian crew on 17 December 1956.

Maumee was the lead unit of her new "super tanker" class and the first vessel in naval history to be launched as a United States Naval Ship

United States Naval Ship

United States Naval Ship or USNS is the prefix designation given to non-commissioned ships that are property of the United States Navy.-Overview:...

 (USNS), intended for non-commissioned U.S. Navy service with a civilian

Civilian

A civilian under international humanitarian law is a person who is not a member of his or her country's armed forces or other militia. Civilians are distinct from combatants. They are afforded a degree of legal protection from the effects of war and military occupation...

 crew. Built along commercial tanker lines specifically for MSTS duty, Maumee, following her completion, was turned over to Marine Transport Lines to operate for MSTS as a civilian-manned ship under a long‑term consecutive‑voyage charter. By 1958 she had begun her first prolonged duty in the Pacific. Her role was point‑to‑point delivery of bulk petroleum

Petroleum

Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights and other liquid organic compounds, that are found in geologic formations beneath the Earth's surface. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling...

 in support of the U.S. armed forces

Armed forces

The armed forces of a country are its government-sponsored defense, fighting forces, and organizations. They exist to further the foreign and domestic policies of their governing body, and to defend that body and the nation it represents from external aggressors. In some countries paramilitary...

 in the Pacific area.

From 1968 to 1971, the ship was also used in the Navy's Operation Deep Freeze II where it was used to transport fuel supplies to McMurdo Sound (South Pole). It was the Largest ship to visit Antiarcica, and was lead into the ice pack by Ice breakers. She eventually was reclassified as a "transport oiler", resulting her redesignation from "T-AO-149" (as an oiler) to "T-AOT-149" (as a transport oiler).

Maumee was placed out of service at an unrecorded date, probably in the mid-1980s. She was struck from the Naval Vessel Register

Naval Vessel Register

The Naval Vessel Register is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from the time a vessel is authorized through its life cycle and...

, also at an unrecorded date, and was transferred to the Maritime Administration on 23 December 1994 to be laid up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet

National Defense Reserve Fleet

The National Defense Reserve Fleet consists of "mothballed" ships, mostly merchant vessels, that can be activated within 20 to 120 days to provide shipping for the United States of America during national emergencies, either military or non-military, such as commercial shipping crises.The NDRF is...

 at Beaumont

Beaumont, Texas

Beaumont is a city in and county seat of Jefferson County, Texas, United States, within the Beaumont–Port Arthur Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city's population was 118,296 at the 2010 census. With Port Arthur and Orange, it forms the Golden Triangle, a major industrial area on the...

, Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

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She was sold for scrapping on 9 November 2006 to ESCO Marine of Brownsville

Brownsville, Texas

Brownsville is a city in the southernmost tip of the state of Texas, in the United States. It is located on the northern bank of the Rio Grande, directly north and across the border from Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico. Brownsville is the 16th largest city in the state of Texas with a population of...

, Texas. and departed the National Defense Reserve Fleet, Beaumont Group, on 23 January 2007 for scrapping by ESCO Marine.