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USS Nantahala (AO-60)
Encyclopedia
USS Nantahala (AO–60), the second ship of this name, was laid down under Maritime Commission contract by Bethlehem Sparrows Point Shipyard, Inc., Sparrows Point, Maryland, on 31 October 1943. Launched on 29 April 1944; sponsored by Miss Mary Louise Reed; delivered to the Navy 19 June 1944; and commissioned the same day, Comdr. Palmer M. Gunnell in command.
1944
After shakedown in Chesapeake Bay, Nantahala departed Norfolk on 22 July for the Dutch West Indies where, after loading a cargo of oil and gasoline at ArubaAruba
Aruba is a 33 km-long island of the Lesser Antilles in the southern Caribbean Sea, located 27 km north of the coast of Venezuela and 130 km east of Guajira Peninsula...
, she steamed for fleet tanker duty in the Pacific. Sailing via Pearl Harbor, she reached Kwajalein
Kwajalein
Kwajalein Atoll , is part of the Republic of the Marshall Islands . The southernmost and largest island in the atoll is named Kwajalein Island. English-speaking residents of the U.S...
on 25 August and served there as station tanker until heading for the Marianas on 2 September. She arrived Guam
Guam
Guam is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States located in the western Pacific Ocean. It is one of five U.S. territories with an established civilian government. Guam is listed as one of 16 Non-Self-Governing Territories by the Special Committee on Decolonization of the United...
the 10th and during the remainder of the month deployed twice to replenish ships of the 3rd Fleet attacking Japanese positions from the Palaus to the Philippines.
Nantahala reached Ulithi, Western Carolines, 1 October to continue station and at sea logistic support for the ships of the Pacific Fleet. When not steaming with a replenishment group in the Western Pacific, she refueled and replenished ships at Ulithi. During the remainder of the war she serviced as many as 16 ships a day at this important forward staging base. While anchored in Ulithi Lagoon, she took part in rescue operations following an enemy midget submarine attack which resulted in the torpedoing and burning of on 20 November.
Between 21 October and 24 December Nantahala made four deployments in support of ships of the Fast Carrier Task Force. She operated with the replenishment tankers during the Battle of Cape Engano 25–26 October, and during November and December she ranged the Philippine Sea as carrier aircraft pounded enemy targets on Formosa and in the Philippines. During refueling operations in mid-December, she survived the great typhoon of 17–18 December, although winds, which she recorded at 124 knots (243 km/h), and giant seas caused considerable topside damage.
1945
Nantahala returned to Ulithi on 24 December, and sailed 3 January 1945 to support carrier operations in the South China Sea. While she refueled ships of the task force north and west of Luzon, American planes struck at Japanese shipping and at enemy bases from Indochina to Formosa while supporting the invasion of Luzon at Lingayen Gulf.After returning to Ulithi via Leyte Gulf 21 January, Nantahala next made two refueling deployments from 8 February to 10 March in support of the invasion and capture of Iwo Jima
Iwo Jima
Iwo Jima, officially , is an island of the Japanese Volcano Islands chain, which lie south of the Ogasawara Islands and together with them form the Ogasawara Archipelago. The island is located south of mainland Tokyo and administered as part of Ogasawara, one of eight villages of Tokyo...
. Thence, between 22 March and 31 May she took part in three replenishment missions to the Ryukyus where she helped maintain the mobility and striking power of American ships during the invasion and conquest of Okinawa.
After serving as station tanker in Leyte Gulf, Philippines, Nantahala departed Ulithi 3 July for extended replenishment duty with the 3rd Fleet. Assigned to the main replenishment group, she refueled carriers and escorts of TF 38
Fast Carrier Task Force
The Fast Carrier Task Force was the main striking force of the United States Navy in the Pacific Ocean theatre of World War II.The Fast Carrier Task Force was known under two designations. The Navy made use of two sets of upper command structures for planning the upcoming operations...
during the closing weeks of the war, a period in which the American fleet attacked targets in the Japanese home islands from Hokkaido to the Inland Sea with intensive and devastating naval and aerial bombardments.
Enroute to Ulithi when offensive operations ceased 15 August, Nantahala resumed refueling operations off Japan the 27th. Between 8–16 September she serviced ships of the Fleet at anchor in Tokyo Bay; thence, she sailed via Eniwetok for the United States, arriving at Seattle on 10 November.
Nantahala received six battle stars for World War II service.
1945–1950
1950–1961
Nantahala recommissioned at Long Beach on 29 December 1950, Comdr. W. S. Howell in command. Following a five week run to the Far East and back she transited the Panama Canal 3 April and carried fuel to the 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean. She arrived Boston 19 May and during the next ten months operated along the East Coast and in the Caribbean.Between 3 March 1952 and 4 October 1961 Nantahala made eight deployments to the Mediterranean where she served with the 6th Fleet. They varied in duration from three to seven months and encompassed the length and breadth of the Mediterranean. Prepared to replenish whenever called upon, this versatile, hard-working oiler provided support for peace-keeping operations by the 6th Fleet. During the Suez Crisis
Suez Crisis
The Suez Crisis, also referred to as the Tripartite Aggression, Suez War was an offensive war fought by France, the United Kingdom, and Israel against Egypt beginning on 29 October 1956. Less than a day after Israel invaded Egypt, Britain and France issued a joint ultimatum to Egypt and Israel,...
in November, 1956, for instance, she replenished 96 ships while serving as the only fleet oiler in the Eastern Mediterranean. When not deployed with the 6th Fleet, she participated in U.S. or NATO exercises in the North Atlantic and refueled ships of the Atlantic Fleet while cruising from the coast of Western Europe to the coast of Brazil as well as to the Caribbean and along the eastern seaboard of the United States.
1961–1973
On 20 November 1961 Nantahala departed Norfolk for the Dominican RepublicDominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...
where she supported U.S. ships called in to protect the stability of that Caribbean nation's government from possible overthrow by followers of the late dictator Rafael Leónidas Trujillo
Rafael Leónidas Trujillo
Rafael Leónidas Trujillo Molina , nicknamed El Jefe , ruled the Dominican Republic from 1930 until his assassination in 1961. He officially served as president from 1930 to 1938 and again from 1942 to 1952, otherwise ruling as an unelected military strongman...
. After returning to Norfolk the following month, she resumed replenishment duty off the West Indies in January 1962 in preparation for recovery operations following USMC Colonel John Glenn
John Glenn
John Herschel Glenn, Jr. is a former United States Marine Corps pilot, astronaut, and United States senator who was the first American to orbit the Earth and the third American in space. Glenn was a Marine Corps fighter pilot before joining NASA's Mercury program as a member of NASA's original...
's successful suborbital flight in Friendship 7
Mercury-Atlas 6
Mercury-Atlas 6 was a human spaceflight mission conducted by NASA, the space agency of the United States. As part of Project Mercury, MA-6 was the successful first attempt by NASA to place an astronaut into orbit. The MA-6 mission was launched February 20, 1962. It made three orbits of the Earth,...
on 20 February.
During the next year and a half Nantahala operated along the East Coast and in the Caribbean. While serving out of Guantanamo Bay
Guantanamo Bay Naval Base
Guantanamo Bay Naval Base is located on of land and water at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba which the United States leased for use as a coaling station following the Cuban-American Treaty of 1903. The base is located on the shore of Guantánamo Bay at the southeastern end of Cuba. It is the oldest overseas...
in mid-February 1963, she took part in the search for and tracking of Anzoategui, a Venezuelan freighter which was seized by Cuban-oriented leftists off Santo Domingo. U.S. ships chased the hijacked ship to the coast of Brazil where she was captured by units of the Brazilian Navy. In May Nantahala again replenished ships of the recovery force waiting to pick up Project Mercury Astronaut Commander M. Scott Carpenter, USN, after his orbital flight on 24 May.
Nantahala departed for the Mediterranean on 6 August for operations which lasted until late in the year. From 1963 she maintained a pattern of Mediterranean deployments and alternated duty in the 6th Fleet with replenishment cruises and Atlantic Fleet exercises in the Atlantic and the Caribbean. Into the early 1970s, she continued to provide logistic support for naval forces in the Atlantic and the Mediterranean.
Nantahala was 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...
on 2 July 1973 and used as a storage vessel at Norfolk. She was disposed of by Maritime Administration sale on 5 March 1975.