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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

USS Lackawanna (AO-40)

International Radio Call Sign:
November - India - Sierra - Delta
NISD

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (9) - World War II Victory Medal
Bottom Row - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp) - Philippines Presidential Unit Citation - Philippines Liberation Medal (1)

Kennebec Class Fleet Oiler

Authorized as SS Conastoga, a Maritime Commission type (T2-SO) tanker hull

Laid down, 27 December 1941, as SS Lackawanna under Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 147), at Bethlehem Steel Shipyard, Sparrows Point, MD.

Launched, 16 May 1942

Acquired by the Navy, 20 June 1942

Placed in reduced commission status as USS Lackawanna (AO-40), 10 July 1942, for transit to her fitting out yard at Baltimore, MD., LCDR. Simon R. Sands, Jr., USCG, in command

Commissioned in full, 31 July 1942, CDR. Albert L. Toney USN in command

During WWII USS Lackawanna was assigned to Asiatic-Pacific Theater and participated in the following campaigns:

Campaign and Dates	Campaign and Dates
Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns
Gilbert Islands operation 15 to 20 November 1943	Western Caroline Islands operation Raids on Volcano-Bonin Islands and Yap Island, 31 August to 9 September 1944 Capture and occupation of southern Palau Islands, 6 September to 14 October 1944 Assaults on the Philippine Islands, 9 to 24 September 1944
Marshall Islands operation Occupation of Kwajalein and Majuro Atolls, 20 January to 8 February 1944	Leyte operation Luzon attacks, 15, 18, and 19 October 1944
Asiatic-Pacific Raids - 1944 Palau, Yap, Ulithi, Woleai raid, 30 March to 1 April 1944 Turk, Satawan, Ponape raid, 29 April to 1 May 1944	Okinawa Gunto operation 5th and 3rd Fleet raids on support of Okinawa Gunto operation, 16 March to 11 June 1945
Hollandia operation Aitape, Humboldt Bay-Tanahunerah Bay, 21 to 24 April 1944	3rd Fleet operation against Japan 10 to 29 July and 9 to 15 August 1945
Marianas operation Capture and occupation of Saipan, 11 June to 10 August 1944 Battle of the Philippine Sea, 19 to 20 June 1944 Capture and occupation of Guam, 12 July to 15 August 1944

Following World War II USS Lackawanna was assigned to Occupation service in the Far East from 2 September to 13 October 1945

Decommissioned, 14 February 1946, at Oakland, CA.

Struck from the Naval Register, 5 June 1946

USS Lackawanna earned nine battle stars for World War II service

Returned to the Maritime Commission, 1 July 1946, name reverted to SS Conastoga

Merchant Service

Sold in 1947 by the Maritime Commission to Socony-Vacuum Oil Co. (Standard Oil Company of New York), renamed SS Tatarrax

Resold in 1962 and renamed, SS Thomas A.

Resold in 1965 and renamed SS Padre Island

Final Disposition, scrapped in 1967, at Vinaroz, Spain

Specifications:
Displacement 6,013 t.(lt) 21,580 t.(fl)
Length 501' 5"
Beam 68'
Draft 30' 9" (limiting)
Speed 16.7 kts. (trial)

Complement

Officers 18

Enlisted 269

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

NSFO 109,000 Bbls

Gasoline 689,000 Gals

Fuel Oil Capacity 9,860 Bbls

Propulsion

one General Electric geared turbine

two Foster & Wheeler P-type boilers, 420psi 725°

double General Electric Main Reduction Gears
Ship's Service Generators
two turbo-drive 300Kw 240V D.C.
one turbo-drive 50Kw 240V D.C.

single propeller, 12,000shp

Click On Image For Full Size Image	Size	Image Description	Source
USS Lackawanna (AO-40)
091904005	258k	Namesake Lackawanna - The Lackawanna River is a 42-mile-long tributary of the Susquehanna River in northeastern Pennsylvania. It flows through a region of the northern Pocono Mountains that was once a center of anthracite coal mining in the United States. It starts in north Wayne County, Pennsylvania and ends in east Luzerne County, Duryea, Pennsylvania in Duryea. The lower reaches of the river flow through the urban areas of Scranton, which grew around its banks in the 19th century as an industrial center. Its name comes from a Lenni Lenape word meaning "stream that forks".	Tommy Trampp
	373k	*USS Lackawanna* (AO-40)** at anchor, date and location unknown.	Dianne Thomas for her father Robert Lyle Miles EMC USS Lackawanna
	91k	*USS Lackawanna* (AO-40)** at anchor, possibly circa 1943, location unknown.	John Chiquoine
	116k	The bow of *USS Lackawanna* (AO-40) is visible at the extreme right of this photo of USS Saint Louis (CL-49)** at Tulagi, Solomon Islands, circa 1943. US National Archives photo # 80-G-K-3971, a US Navy photo now in the collections of the US National Archives.	Ramon Jackson
	96k	Transferring personnel between *USS Lackawanna* (AO-40) and USS Harrison (DD-573)** via highline, 3 June 1945. Photo by Tom McCann.	John Chiquoine
	107k	*USS Lackawanna* (AO-40)** in San Francisco Bay after her return from the Western Pacific in October 1945. US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 78572, courtesy Shipscribe.com.	Mike Green
Merchant Service Socony-Vacuum Oil Co.
	362k	Ex-*USS Lackawanna* (AO-40)** under way as the Socony-Vacuum Oil Co. tanker SS Tatarrax, date and location unknown. Photo ©Skyfotos, circa 1960s.	Gerhard Mueller-Debus
091904006	124k	Socony-Vacuum Oil Co. tanker SS Tatarrax underway, date and location unknown. Auke Visser's MOBIL Tankers & Tugs Site, photographer unknown	Robert Hurst
091904007	166k	Socony-Vacuum Oil Co. tanker SS Tatarrax underway, date and location unknown. Auke Visser's MOBIL Tankers & Tugs Site, photographer unknown	Robert Hurst

USS Lackawanna (AO-40)
Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)

Commanding Officers
01	LCDR. Sands, Jr., Simon Ray, USCG	10 July 1942 - 31 July 1942
02	CDR. Toney, Albert Livingston, USN	31 July 1942 - 16 March 1944
03	CDR. Homann, Alfred James	16 March 1944 - June 1944
04	LT. Cryer Jr., Newman S. (XOIC)	June 1944 - July 1944
03	CDR. Homann, Alfred James	July 1944 - June 1945
04	LT. Cryer Jr., Newman S. (XOIC)	June 1945 - 2 July 1945
05	CAPT. LCDR. Eriksen, Einar Norman, USNR	2 July 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

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This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo

Last Updated 18 August 2023