USS Escatawpa (AOG-27)

USS Escatawpa (AOG-27) Underway in the vicinity of Hampton Roads, Virginia, 3 October 1944.
Career (US)
Name: USS Escatawpa
Ordered: as T1-M-A2 tanker hull
MC hull 1524
Laid down: date unknown
Launched: 3 June 1944
Commissioned: 14 August 1944
Decommissioned: 20 March 1946
Struck: date unknown
Fate: sunk in 1970
General characteristics
Displacement:846 tons(lt) 2,270 tons(fl)
Length:220 ft 6 in
Beam:37 ft
Draught:17 ft
Propulsion:Diesel direct drive, single screw, 720 hp
Speed:10 knots (19 km/h)
Capacity:1,228 long tons deadweight (DWT)
Complement:62
Armament:one single 3"/50 dual purpose gun mount, two 40 mm guns, three single 20 mm gun mounts

USS Escatawpa (AOG-27) was a Mettawee-class gasoline tanker acquired by the U.S. Navy for the dangerous task of transporting gasoline to warships in the fleet, and to remote Navy stations.

Escatawpa was launched by the East Coast Shipyard, Inc., Bayonne, New Jersey, on 3 June 1944 and commissioned on 18 August 1944, Lieutenant H. T. Nottage, USCGR, in command.

World War II service

She was assigned to the U.S. Pacific Fleet, operating thereafter in fueling ships and craft on an inter-island circuit in the central Pacific Ocean.

Driven aground in a typhoon

A typhoon drove her aground at Kagoshima Kaiwan on 17 September 1945.

Post-war decommissioning

She was refloated on 10 October and returned to San Francisco, California, where she was placed out of commission on 20 March 1946 and subsequently transferred to the Maritime Commission for lay up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet. She was sold for commercial service in April 1947 to a Brazilian firm. Final disposition: sunk in 1970.

Military awards and honors

Escatawpa’s crew was eligible for the following medals:

References

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.

External links