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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

AO-34 Chicopee

Flag Hoist/International Radio Call Sign:
November - India - Delta - Mike
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - American Campaign Medal - Europe-Africa-Middle East Campaign Medal (1)
Bottom Row - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (3) - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp)
Chicopee Class Fleet Oiler:
  • Laid down, 14 May 1941 as SS Esso Trenton for Standard Oil of New Jersey at Sun Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Chester, PA.
  • Launched, 6 September 1941
  • Acquired by the US Navy, 3 January 1942
  • Commissioned USS Chicopee (AO-34), 9 February 1942, CDR. G. Bannerman in command
  • Decommissioned 14 February 1946
  • Struck from the Naval Register in 1946
  • Transferred to the Maritime Commission for return to her owners, Standard Oil of New Jersey, 1 July 1946
  • Commercial Service
    1946 - Reverted to SS Esso Trenton
    1947 - Renamed SS Esso Chattanooga
    1963 - Bought by Sea-Land for conversion to a container ship, using the fore and aft ends of SS Esso Chattanooga coupled to a new midship body built by Blohm & Voss and fitted at Bethlehem Steel, Baltimore, emerging as SS San Francisco (16401grt, 607ft x 78ft).
    1978 - Bow and stern replaced by Mitsubishi, Kobe retaining the 1963 mid-body.
    1978 - Renamed SS Sea-Land Adventurer (17618grt)
    1989 - Renamed SS Sea Adventure
    1999 - Renamed SS Maersk Constanza
    2000 - Renamed SS Sea Adventure
    2002 - Renamed SS Maersk Koper
    Current Disposition, active in commercial service
  • Chicopee received four battle stars for World War II service
    Specifications:
    Displacement 5,375 t.(lt) 22,430 t.(fl)
    Length 520'
    Beam 68'
    Draft 30' 10"
    Speed 16.5 kts.
    Complement 279
    Armament
    one single 5"/38 dual purpose gun mount
    four single 3"/50 dual purpose gun mounts
    two twin 40mm AA gun mounts
    two twin 20mm AA gun mounts
    Cargo Capacity 131,600 barrels
    Propulsion geared turbines, single shaft. 9.000hp
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		Size Image Description Source
    USS Chicopee (AO-34)
    Chicopee 54k Chicopee (AO-34) at Bizerte, Tunisia, 14 May 1944. Stanley C. Svec
    Chicopee 132k Chicopee (AO-34) at Oran, Algeria, 24 May 1944. Stanley C. Svec
    Chicopee 119k Chicopee (AO-34) underway in the Mediterranean Sea enroute to Casablanca, Morocco, 2 June 1944. Stanley C. Svec
    Chicopee 57k Chicopee (AO-34) during underway refueling of a destroyer, date and location unknown. Hyperwar US Navy in WWII
    Chicopee 77k Chicopee (AO-34) refueling Intrepid (CV-11) to port while simultaneously refueling Norman Scott (DD-690) to starboard, Pacific Ocean, 10 April 1945 Pieter Bakels
    Commercial Service
    Chicopee 78k Ex-Chicopee (AO-34) underway as SS Maersk Koper at Heraklion, Greece on 20 March 2006. David Nixon
    View the Chicopee (AO-34)
    DANFS history entry located at the US Naval Historical Center
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S.Navy Memorial Foundation
    Fleet Reserve Association
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    No Information Available
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
    © 2005 Gary P. Priolo © 1996 - 2008 NavSource Naval History. All Rights Reserved.
    Last Updated 16 November 2007