USS Sapelo (AO-11) was a of 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...

. Laid down on 3 May 1919 for the United States Shipping Board

United States Shipping Board

The United States Shipping Board was established as an emergency agency by the Shipping Act , 7 September 1916. It was formally organized 30 January 1917. It was sometimes referred to as the War Shipping Board.http://www.gwpda.org/wwi-www/Hurley/bridgeTC.htm | The Bridge To France by Edward N....

 by the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Newport News, Virginia

Newport News, Virginia

Newport News is an independent city located in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of Virginia. It is at the southeastern end of the Virginia Peninsula, on the north shore of the James River extending southeast from Skiffe's Creek along many miles of waterfront to the river's mouth at Newport News...

, the ship was launched on 24 December 1919, transferred to the Navy on 30 January 1920, and commissioned on 19 February 1920, Comdr. W. R. Kennedy, USNRF, in command.

1920–1933

After carrying fuel oil from 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...

 ports to shore stations in Panama

Panama

Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...

, Cuba

Cuba

The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...

, and on the east coast, Sapelo completed her first transatlantic run, to the Firth of Clyde

Firth of Clyde

The Firth of Clyde forms a large area of coastal water, sheltered from the Atlantic Ocean by the Kintyre peninsula which encloses the outer firth in Argyll and Ayrshire, Scotland. The Kilbrannan Sound is a large arm of the Firth of Clyde, separating the Kintyre Peninsula from the Isle of Arran.At...

 with oil for the British Admiralty, in June 1920. On her return, she remained in American waters through mid-August; then loaded fuel oil, gasoline, and stores for store ships and shore stations supporting United States Navy ships operating in Adriatic and Turkish waters. During September, she delivered cargo at Constantinople

Constantinople

Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...

, Constanţa

Constanta

Constanța is the oldest extant city in Romania, founded around 600 BC. The city is located in the Dobruja region of Romania, on the Black Sea coast. It is the capital of Constanța County and the largest city in the region....

, Venice

Venice

Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...

, and Split

Split (city)

Split is a Mediterranean city on the eastern shores of the Adriatic Sea, centered around the ancient Roman Palace of the Emperor Diocletian and its wide port bay. With a population of 178,192 citizens, and a metropolitan area numbering up to 467,899, Split is by far the largest Dalmatian city and...

. From there, she proceeded to Brest

Brest, France

Brest is a city in the Finistère department in Brittany in northwestern France. Located in a sheltered position not far from the western tip of the Breton peninsula, and the western extremity of metropolitan France, Brest is an important harbour and the second French military port after Toulon...

 where she received American war dead to return to the United States.

On 29 October, Sapelo arrived at New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

 and, for the next four years, alternately operated along the gulf coast, in the Caribbean, and along the east coast, with semi-annual one-to-three month tours in the Mediterranean–Middle East area. In April 1924, she transited the Panama Canal

Panama Canal

The Panama Canal is a ship canal in Panama that joins the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and is a key conduit for international maritime trade. Built from 1904 to 1914, the canal has seen annual traffic rise from about 1,000 ships early on to 14,702 vessels measuring a total of 309.6...

 and proceeded to San Pedro, California. From there, she refueled ships conducting exercises off the California, Mexican, and Panamanian coasts and carried fuel to shore bases in the Canal Zone. In June, she returned to the east coast; underwent overhaul; and, in August, resumed gulf coast-east coast-Caribbean shuttle runs.

In January 1925, she returned to the Pacific for winter maneuvers; then, in April, departed San Francisco for Hawaii

Hawaii

Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...

 to support units participating in joint Army-Navy exercises. During May and June, she carried fuel oil and gasoline from California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

 to Hawaii; and, in July, she carried her vital cargo to Samoa

Samoa

Samoa , officially the Independent State of Samoa, formerly known as Western Samoa is a country encompassing the western part of the Samoan Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. It became independent from New Zealand in 1962. The two main islands of Samoa are Upolu and one of the biggest islands in...

. On the 21st, she returned to Pearl Harbor; but, by the middle of August, was again en route west. After a stop at Wellington

Wellington

Wellington is the capital city and third most populous urban area of New Zealand, although it is likely to have surpassed Christchurch due to the exodus following the Canterbury Earthquake. It is at the southwestern tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range...

, N.Z., she once more delivered petroleum products to Samoa; and, on 1 September, she departed Tutuila

Tutuila

Tutuila is the largest and the main island of American Samoa in the archipelago of Samoan Islands. It is the third largest island in the Samoan Islands chain of the Central Pacific located roughly northeast of Brisbane, Australia and over northeast of Fiji. It contains a large, natural harbor,...

 to return to the United States.

By mid-October, Sapelo had resumed shuttling fuel from the Texas oil ports to bases in the Caribbean and along the east coast. In late November 1926, she again transited the Panama Canal; loaded fuel oil in California; delivered her cargo to Canal Zone depots; and returned to the Atlantic for operations along the coast, in the Caribbean, and the Gulf of Mexico.

For the next three years, she maintained a similar schedule. Most of her time was spent on the east coast, on the gulf coast, and in the Caribbean with runs, at least twice a year, into the Pacific to carry fuel, supplies, and personnel from California to the Canal Zone and Nicaragua

Nicaragua

Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...

. In 1929, she interrupted this schedule to carry fuel and torpedoes to the Philippines

Philippines

The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

 before returning to the United States to resume her previous operations.

In July 1932, the oiler was transferred to the Pacific. In mid-August, she arrived at San Pedro and, for the next seven months, operated along the California coast with periodic fuel, freight, and passenger runs to Pearl Harbor. In April 1933, she departed California for the east coast and, in mid-June, arrived in Philadelphia where she was decommissioned on 14 October.

1940–1945

Six years later, World War II broke out in Europe; and Sapelo was ordered activated. Recommissioned on 19 August 1940, she was assigned to Train, Atlantic Fleet, and homeported at Norfolk. Into the spring of 1941, she carried petroleum cargoes along the gulf and east coasts. That summer, she extended her runs to Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...

, Newfoundland

Dominion of Newfoundland

The Dominion of Newfoundland was a British Dominion from 1907 to 1949 . The Dominion of Newfoundland was situated in northeastern North America along the Atlantic coast and comprised the island of Newfoundland and Labrador on the continental mainland...

, and Greenland

Greenland

Greenland is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe for...

. In the fall, she commenced runs to Iceland

Iceland

Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...

; and, on 7 December 1941, she was at sea, en route from NS Argentia

Naval Station Argentia

Naval Station Argentia is a former base of the United States Navy that operated from 1941-1994. It was established in the community of Argentia in what was then the Dominion of Newfoundland, which later became the tenth Canadian province .-Construction:Established under the British-U.S...

 to Reykjavík

Reykjavík

Reykjavík is the capital and largest city in Iceland.Its latitude at 64°08' N makes it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói Bay...

, Iceland.

Into the winter of 1943, she continued to carry vital fuels to ships and shore stations in Canada, Newfoundland, and Iceland. Then, in late March, she departed Boston

Boston

Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...

 to deliver fuel oil, aviation gas, and ammunition to Loch Ewe

Loch Ewe

Loch Ewe is a sea loch in the region of in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland. The shores are inhabited by a traditionally Gàidhlig speaking people living in or sustained by crofting villages, the most notable of which, situated on the north-eastern shore, is the Aultbea settlement...

, Scotland. On 15 April, she turned westward with salt water ballast and a partial cargo of ammunition. On the 19th, she arrived at Reykjavík; and, on the 24th, she departed Iceland to join convoy ONS-5

Convoy ONS-5

ONS 5 was a North Atlantic convoy during the battle of the Atlantic in World War II; the battle surrounding it in May 1943 is regarded as the turning point of the Atlantic campaign....

. Two days later, the rendezvous was completed, and the convoy of 43 merchant ships moved west on a course to maximize air coverage from bases on Iceland, Greenland, and Newfoundland.

Further west, 47 German submarines, organized into Groups "Star," "Specht," and "Amsel," were positioning themselves along projected convoy courses between Iceland and Newfoundland. On the 29th, a unit of "Star" located ONS-5 and relayed the information.

The signals were picked up by the convoy's escorts; and, that night, they drove off the first U-boat attack. The slow convoy continued west. Merchant ships began showing breakdown lights. Escorts began to deplete their fuel tanks. Heavy seas precluded refueling while underway.

By 4 May, 10 ships had dropped out of the main convoy body and had been organized into two straggler groups. The convoy's screen had been reduced to seven ships. Four additional U-boats joined the attacking units, who were reorganized and repositioned to trap the convoy between Cape Farewell

Cape Farewell, Greenland

Cape Farewell , is a headland on the southern shore of Egger Island, Greenland. Located at it is the southernmost extent of Greenland, projecting out into the North Atlantic Ocean and the Labrador Sea on the same latitude as Stockholm and the Scottish Shetland Islands. Egger and the associated...

 on the southern tip of Greenland and Flemish Cap

Flemish Cap

The Flemish Cap is an area of shallow waters in the north Atlantic Ocean centered roughly at 47° north, 45° west or about 350 miles east of St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador....

, some 300 nautical miles (555.6 km) east of Cape Race

Cape Race

Cape Race is a point of land located at the southeastern tip of the Avalon Peninsula on the island of Newfoundland, Canada. Its name is thought to come from the original Portuguese name for this cape, "Raso", or "bare"...

, Newfoundland.

Just prior to 2100 on 4 May, the escort ahead of the convoy dropped three depth charges. For over 30 hours, the convoy came under continuous attack. The escorts fought back, assisted by land-based aircraft; but ships ahead of, astern of, and to starboard of Sapelo were hit.

On the night of 5 and 6 May, after the convoy entered a fog bank, German accuracy dropped off. The U-boats waited for morning, but the fog continued to shield the survivors of ONS-5. At mid-morning on the 6th, the German attack was called off. The U-boats retired eastward. They had sunk 13 merchantmen. The escorts of ONS—5 had sunk five U-boats; Allied aircraft, one.

Sapelo arrived at New York on 15 May. An overhaul period followed; and, in July, she resumed resupply runs to bases in the Maritime Provinces and Newfoundland. In September, she shifted south to the Caribbean and through the fall shuttled petroleum products from Aruba

Aruba

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...

 and Curaçao

Curaçao

Curaçao is an island in the southern Caribbean Sea, off the Venezuelan coast. The Country of Curaçao , which includes the main island plus the small, uninhabited island of Klein Curaçao , is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands...

 to the east coast. In December, she moved north again; shuttled fuels to Canadian ports; then, with the spring of 1944, commenced plying routes between the gulf coast, the east coast, and Bermuda

Bermuda

Bermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. It is about south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and northeast of Miami, Florida...

. That summer, she again crossed the Atlantic; and, in September, she resumed operations along the east and gulf coasts, to Bermuda, and into the Caribbean which she continued until the end of World War II.

Decommissioning and disposal

With the end of the war, Sapelo was designated for disposal. In September 1945, she reported to Commander, 5th Naval District for inactivation. On 26 October 1945, she was decommissioned; and, on 13 November, her name was struck from the Navy List

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...

. She was sold, via the War Shipping Administration

War Shipping Administration

The War Shipping Administration was a World War II emergency war agency of the US Government, tasked to purchase and operate the civilian shipping tonnage the US needed for fighting the war....

 to the Patapsco Scrap Co., in May 1946.

See also

• List of ship launches in 1919
• List of ship commissionings in 1920
• List of ship decommissionings in 1945

External links

• Photo gallery at navsource.org