USS Kennebec (AO-36) was originally the SS Corsicana, a Kennebec class T2 tanker

T2 tanker

The T2 tanker, or T2, was an oil tanker constructed and produced in large quantities in the United States during World War II. The largest "navy oilers" after the T3s at the time, nearly 500 of them were built between 1940 and the end of 1945....

 that was built by Bethlehem Sparrows Point Shipyard in Sparrows Point

Sparrows Point

Sparrows Point is an unincorporated area in Baltimore County, Maryland, adjacent to Dundalk, Maryland. Named for Thomas Sparrow, landowner, it was the site of a very large industrial complex owned by Bethlehem Steel, known for steelmaking and shipbuilding....

, Maryland

Maryland

Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...

. It was delivered to Socony-Vacuum Oil Company (later Mobil Oil) on August 8, 1941. It was purchased by the 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...

 on 13 January 1942 and renamed Kennebec.

Service history

The fleet oiler later had an eventful career, in so far as it was decommissioned four times and twice stricken 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...

. Kennebec was decommissioned on 4 September 1950 at San Diego, California, and laid up in the Pacific Reserve Fleet for only four months. It was already recommissioned on 11 January 1951, at Oakland, California, with Commander A.G. Beckman in command. On 25 September 1954 it was decommissioned, again at San Diego and laid up in the Pacific Reserve Fleet, San Diego Group. The next time it was recommissioned on 14 December 1956, Cdr. Naden F. Stimac commanding the ship, only to be decommissioned again on 31 October 1957. This time the ship was stricken from the Naval Register on 14 January 1959 and transferred to the Maritime Administration (MARAD

Marad

Marad was an ancient Sumerian city. Marad was situated on the west bank of the then western branch of the Upper Euphrates River west of Nippur in modern day Iraq and roughly 50 km southeast of Kish, on the Arahtu River.The city's ziggurat E-igi-kalama was dedicated to Ninurta the god of...

) for laying 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...

. However, Kennebec was reacquired by the U.S. Navy and recommissioned on 16 December 1961. It served the Pacific Fleet during the Vietnam War up to 1970.

The ship decommissioned for the last time on 29 June 1970 at the Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility

Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility

A Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility is a facility owned by the U.S. Navy as a holding facility for decommissioned naval vessels, pending determination of their final fate...

, Mare Island, Vallejo, California, and transferred to the Maritime Administration (MARAD) for laying up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet. Kennebec was again stricken from the Naval Register on 15 July 1976. On 6 April 1982 it was sold by MARAD to Levin Metals Corporation for $180,077.00, and subsequently scrapped.