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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

Contributed by Mike Smolinski

AO-54 Chikaskia

Flag Hoist/International Radio Call Sign:
November - Zulu - India - November NZIN

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation - Navy Expeditionary Medal (2-Cuba) - China Service Medal (extended)
Second Row - American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (6) - World War II Victory Medal
Third Row - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp) - National Defense Service Medal - Korean Service Medal (1)
Fourth Row- Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (1-Cuba) - United Nations Service Medal - Republic of Korea War Service Medal (retroactive)

Cimmeron Class Fleet Oiler:

Laid down (date unknown) as a Maritime Commission type (T3-S2-A3) tanker hull under a Maritime Commission contract at Bethlehem Steel Shipyard, Sparrows Point, MD.

Launched, 2 October 1942

Acquired by the Navy, 10 January 1943

Commissioned USS Chikaskia (AO-54), 10 November 1943, CDR. L. J. Hasse, USNR, in command

Assigned to the Military Sea Transportation Service Returned to the Service Force, Pacific Fleet, 28 February 1953

Decommissioned, 7 November 1955

Recommissioned, 12 December 1956

Decommissioned and transferred to the Maritime Administration (MARAD), 9 December 1957, for lay up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, Beaumont, TX.

Transferred from MARAD to the US Navy, 12 August 1960

Recommissioned, 17 December 1960

Decommissioned, 4 September 1970, at Norfolk, VA. and transferred to MARAD for lay up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, James River Group, Lee Hall, VA.

Struck from the Naval Register, 1 December 1976

Returned to the US Navy from MARAD for stripping, 29 January 1981

Sold 26 May 1982, to Keystone Shipping Co. with 5 others in a swap out for M/V Chancellorsville

Delivered, 4 June 1982, to Eastern Overseas Inc. via C. W. Enterprises & Investment, Inc., of California w/right to resell for scrapping in 24 months

Final Disposition, scrapped, 31 January 1983, at either Brownsville, TX., India or Taiwan old by MARAD, 26 May 1982, for scrapping

Chikaskia received six battle stars for World War II service and one star for Korean war service

Specifications:
Displacement 7,236 t.(lt) 25,440 t.(fl)
Length 553'
Beam 75'
Draft 32'
Speed 18 kts.
Complement 314
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 146,000 barrels
Propulsion geared turbines, twin screws, 30,400hp

Size	Image Description	Source
41k	Chikaskia (AO-54) refueling Hank (DD-702), February 1945, location unknown.	©Richard Leonhardt
42k	View from Tidewater (AD-31) while refueling from Chikaskia (AO-54) while enroute from a Mediterranean deployment back to the US in 1965. Stribling (DD-867) is off the starboard quarter of *Chikaskia*. Photo ©William D. Cook.	Robert Hall USS Tidewater 1968-71
93k	*Chikaskia*underway in the Mediterranean Sea, August 1967	©Richard Leonhardt
55k	Chikaskia (AO-54) refueling Little Rock (CLG-4) and Springfield (CLG-7) in the Mediterranean Sea, Southeast of Palma de Majorca, Spain in 1967. Photo from the collection of Clarence Wolfe.	EM2 Terry D. Gann USNR(R) Ret.

View the Chikaskia (AO-54)
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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Last Updated 1 February 2008