Please report any broken links or trouble you might come across to the Webmaster. Please take a moment to let us know so that we can correct any problems and make your visit as enjoyable and as informative as possible.

NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

USS Chicopee (AO-34)

International Radio Call Sign:
November - India - Delta - Mike NIDM

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - American Campaign Medal
Second Row - Europe-Africa-Middle East Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (4) - World War II Victory Medal
Third Row - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp) - Philippines Presidential Unit Citation - Philippines Liberation Medal (1)

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. Graeme Bannerman in command

During World War II USS Chicopee was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater and participated in the following campaigns

Campaign and Dates	Campaign and Dates
Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns
Luzon operation Formosa attacks, 3 to 4, 15 and 21 January 1945 Luzon attacks, 6 to 7 January 1945 China Coast attacks, 16 January 1945 Nansei Shoto attack, 22 January 1945	Okinawa Gunto operation 5th and 3d Fleet raids in support of Okinawa Gunto operation, 16 March to 21 June 1945 Attack and occupation of Okinawa Gunto, 24 March to 30 June 1945
Iwo Jima operation Attack and occupation of Iwo Jima, 16 February to 2 March 1945	3d Fleet operations against Japan, 31 July to 15 August 1945

Following World War II USS Chicopee was assigned to Occupation service in the Far East from 2 September to 29 October 1945

Decommissioned 14 February 1946

Struck from the Naval Register, 26 February 1946

Transferred to the Maritime Commission for return to her owners, Standard Oil of New Jersey, 1 July 1946

Merchant 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 earned four battle stars for World War II service

Specifications:
Displacement 5,375 t.(lt) 22,325 t.(fl)
Length 520'
Beam 68'
Draft 30' 9"
Speed 18 kts.

Complement

Officers27

Enlisted 252

Largest Boom Capacity 10 t.

Cargo Capacity 15,800 DWT

Oil 115,700 Bbls

Gasoline 667,000 Gals

Armament

one single 5"/38 dual purpose gun mount

four single 3"/50 dual purpose gun mounts

four twin 40mm AA gun mounts

four twin 20mm AA gun mounts

Cargo Capacity 131,600 barrels

Fuel Capacity

NSFO 9,900 Bbls

Propulsion

one General Electric geared turbine

two Babcock & Wilcox "D"-type boilers, 450psi 750°

double General Electric Main reduction gears
Ship's Service Generators
two turbo-drive 400Kw 240V D.C.
one turbo-drive 50Kw 240V D.C.

single propeller 9,000shp

Click On Image For Full Size Image	Size	Image Description	Source
USS Chicopee (AO-34)
	146k	*USS Chicopee* (AO-34) coming alongside USS Ranger (CV-4) during February 1943. Ranger** was enroute to North Africa to deliver US Army fighters. US National Archives Photo # 80-G-52828, a US Navy now in the collection of the US National Archives at College Park.	Tracy White
	54k	*USS Chicopee* (AO-34)** at Bizerte, Tunisia, 14 May 1944.	Stanley C. Svec
	132k	*USS Chicopee* (AO-34)** at Oran, Algeria, 24 May 1944.	Stanley C. Svec
	119k	*USS Chicopee* (AO-34)** underway in the Mediterranean Sea enroute to Casablanca, Morocco, 2 June 1944.	Stanley C. Svec
	57k	*USS Chicopee* (AO-34)** during underway refueling of a destroyer, date and location unknown.	Hyperwar US Navy in WWII
	164k	*USS Chicopee* (AO-34) conducts a replenishment at sea with USS Wasp (V-18)*, circa sometime in late 1944-early 1945. Courtesy US Navy and Marine Corps Museum/Naval Aviation Museum. Photo No. 1977.031.074.098*	Mike Green
	583k	*USS Chicopee* (AO-34) refueling USS Intrepid (CV-11) to port while simultaneously refueling USS Norman Scott (DD-690)** to starboard, Pacific Ocean, 10 April 1945	Pieter Bakels
	63k	*USS Chicopee* (AO-34)** underway, date and location unknown.	Gerhard Mueller-Debus
Merchant Service
	39k	Ex-*USS Chicopee* (AO-34)** underway as the Standard Oil of New Jersey tanker SS ESSO Chattanooga, date and location unknown. Photos courtesy Auke Visser's Famous T - Tankers Pages	Robert Hurst
	18k
	42k
	167k	Ex-*USS Chicopee* (AO-34)** underway as the Sea-Land Service Inc. containership SS San Francisco approaching her berth, date and location unknown. Originally copyrighted by Alex Duncan	Gerhard Mueller-Debus
	225k	SS San Francisco underway in the Malacca Strait, early 1970s. Photo copyright Airfoto Malacca.	Gerhard Mueller-Debus
	78k	Ex-*USS Chicopee* (AO-34)** underway as SS Maersk Koper at Heraklion, Greece on 20 March 2006.	David Nixon

Chicopee (AO-34)
Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)

Commanding Officers
01	CAPT. Bannerman, Graeme	9 February 1942 - 12 August 1943
02	CDR. Brandt, Buell Fromern	12 August 1943 - 18 December 1943
04	LCDR. Peak, Charles Oscar	18 December 1943 - 6 August 1945
04	LCDR. Lehland, Trygve Mason	August 1945 - 14 February 1946


Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves

Crew Contact And Reunion Information
Fleet Tankers Association
U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log

Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
MARAD Vessel History Database

Back To The Navsource Photo Archives Main Page

Back To The Service Force Ship Type Index

Back To The Fleet Oiler (AO) Photo Index

Comments, Suggestions, E-mail Webmaster.

This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo

Last Updated 21 November 2014