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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

USS Neshanic (AO-71)

International Radio Call Sign:
November - Xray - Mike - Quebec NXMQ

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Combat Action Ribbon (retroactive, 18 June 1944) - American Campaign Medal
Bottom Row - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (9) - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp)

Purple Hearts (33-WIA-18 June 1944)

Chiwawa Class Fleet Oiler

Laid down, 11 June 1942, as SS Marquette, a Maritime Commission type (T2-SE-A1) tanker hull, under Maritime Commission (MC hull 519) at Bethlehem Sparrow's Point Shipyard, Inc., Sparrow's Point, MD.

Launched, 31 October 1942

Commissioned USS Neshanic (AO-71), 20 February 1943, CDR. Albert C. Allen, USNR, in command

During World War II USS Neshanic was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater and participated in the following actions/campaigns:

Campaign and Dates	Campaign and Dates
Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns
Gilbert Islands operation, 26 November to 3 December 1943	Tinian capture and occupation, 20 July to 10 August 1944
Marshall Islands operation Occupation of Kwajalein and Majuro Atolls, 29 January to 8 February 1944	Iwo Jima operation Assault and occupation of Iwo Jima, 1 to 5 March 1945
Asiatic-Pacific Raids Palau, Yap, Ulithi, Woleai raid, 30 March to 1 April 1944 Truk, Satawan, Ponape raid, 29 April to 1 May 1944	Okinawa Gunto operation 3d and 5th Fleet raids in support of Okinawa Gunto operations, 17 March to 11 June 1945 Assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto, 12 to 30 June 1945
Marianas operation Capture and occupation of Saipan, 11 June to 10 August 1944 Capture and occupation of Guam, 12 July to 15 August 1944	3d Fleet operations against Japan, 17 July to 3 August 1945
Hollandia operation, 21 to 24 April 1944

Decommissioned, 19 December 1945, at Norfolk, VA.

Struck from the Naval Register, 8 January 1946

Neshanic earned nine battle stars for World War II service

Transferred to the Maritime Commission, 28 June 1946, for disposal

Merchant Service

Sold for merchant service, 21 November 1946, to Gulf Oil Corporation, Philadelphia, PA., renamed SS Gulfoil

Resold in 1958, to Pioneer Steamship Co., renamed SS Pioneer Challenger and converted to a straight deck bulk carrier

Resold in 1962 to the Oglebay Norton Company, renamed SS Middletown; converted to a self-unloader in 1982 at Bay Shipbuilding Company in Sturgeon Bay

Sold in 2007 to American Steamship Co., renamed SS American Victory

Sold, 21 December 2017, to Canadian shipping firm Algoma Central Corp., reflagged Canada

Final Disposition, renamed SS Victo in early June 2018, stripped of usable parts, towed to Montreal in preparation for tow to Aliaga, Turkey for scrapping

(AO) Specifications
Displacement 5,650 t.(lt) 22,030 t.(fl)
Length 501' 8"
Beam 68'
Draft 30' 8" (lim)
Speed 15.3 kts.

Complement

27 officers

213 enlisted

Largest Boom Capacity 10 t.

Armament

one single 5"/38 dual purpose gun mount

four single 3"/50 dual purpose gun mounts

four twin 40mm AA gun mounts

six twin 20mm AA gun mounts

Cargo Capacity 15,200 t

Oil 100,000 Bbls

Gasoline738,000 Gals

Fuel Capacity NSFO 11,050 Bbls

Propulsion

one Bethlehem Steel turbine

two Foster Wheeler "D" boilers, 420psi 730°

double Falk Main Reduction Gears

two turbo-drive 300Kw 240V D.C. Ship's Service Generators

single propeller, 7,000shp

Bulk Carrier Specifications
Length 730'
Beam 75'
Draft 39' 3"
Capacity (tons) 26,300
Unloading boom 260'

Click On Image For Full Size Image	Size	Image Description	Source
USS Neshanic (AO-71)
	333k	*USS Neshanic* (AO-71)** inbound in San Francisco Bay passing under the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, date unknown..	Edward Link for his father-in-law CEM William G. Birkel USS Neshanic
	23k	*USS Neshanic* (AO-71) refueling the destroyer, USS Norman Scott (DD-690)** off Saipan in June 1944.	Wayne VanDerVoort
	77k	View from *USS Saugatuck* (AO-75) during a horizontal bombing attack at 1641 on 18 June 1944 off Saipan. Oilers and escorts were on station as TU 16.7.1. USS Saranac (AO-74) has just been hit off to port beyond USS Neshanic (AO-71). Moments after this photo was snapped Neshanic and Saugatuck are attacked. Neshanic** is painted in camouflage Measure 32 Design 3AO. Photo from the collection of Al DeSantis.	Carmen Costa and John Chiquoine
	180k	Close-up view of *USS Neshanic* (AO-71) 's bridge taken from USS Gambier Bay (CVE-73) during operations in the Saipan area, 11 July 1944. Note Neshanic**'s insignia on bridge wing. This emblem is the earliest yet seen for an AO. It appears to feature a life ring basic shape, with an anchor and stork carrying an oil drum in its center. Inscription reads (top): "Service to the fleet" and (bottom): "AO-71". Also note: big dent in plating possibly from her bomb hit of 18 June 1944, while off Saipan; the whaleboat, the typical bridge structure for an AO-68 class oiler (T3-S-A1). Also note scoreboard crediting her with two Japanese planes shot down on 18 June 1944. Source: United States National Archives, Photo No. 80-G-243860	Mike Green
	109k	*USS Neshanic* (AO-71)** at San Francisco in November 1945 during her voyage from the Western Pacific to Norfolk for disposal. US Naval History and Heritage Command. Photo # NH 78578, courtesy Shipscribe.com.	Robert Hurst
Merchant Service Gulf Oil Corporation Oglebay Norton Marine Service Co.
	46k	Ex- *USS Neshanic* (AO-71)** under way while in merchant service as the Gulf Oil Corporation tanker SS Gulfoil, date and location unknown. Photo courtesy Auke Visser's Famous T - Tankers Pages.	Robert Hurst
	39k	Ex- *USS Neshanic* (AO-71)** in merchant service as the Oglebay Norton Company's SS Middletown	Great Lakes Fleet Photo Gallery
	1260k	SS Middletown arrives at Duluth, Minnesota, at dusk, 22 April 2004. Photo taken by Randen Pederson.	Robert Hurst
	20k	SS Middletown under way on the Great Lakes, date and location unknown. Photo courtesy Auke Visser's Famous T - Tankers Pages.	Robert Hurst
	50k	SS American Victory (ex- *USS Neshanic* (AO-71)** under way on the Detroit River, 22 July 2007. Photo by Keith Grant-Davie while serving aboard her sister ship SS Lee A Tregurtha, courtesy Auke Visser's Famous T - Tankers Pages.	Robert Hurst
	50k	SS American Victory leaving the locks at Saulte Ste.Marie, 22 July 2007. Photo by Keith Grant-Davie while serving aboard her sister ship SS Lee A Tregurtha, courtesy Auke Visser's Famous T - Tankers Pages.	Robert Hurst
	46k	SS American Victory under way in Whitefish Bay, Lake Superior, 22 July 2007. Photo by Keith Grant-Davie while serving aboard her sister ship SS Lee A Tregurtha, courtesy Auke Visser's Famous T - Tankers Pages.	Robert Hurst
	241k	SS American Victory moored pierside at Duluth, MN., summer 2013. The ship appears to be out of service and laid up in these photos.	Photos by Robert Hall
	154k
	206k
	768k	SS Victo being towed out of Duluth, MI.,17 June 2018, in the St. Clair River MI., by Canadian tugs *Tim McKeil* (bow) and *Cheyenne* (stern) bound for Montreal to be prepared for her overseas tow to Aliaga, Turkey where she will be dismantled.	Photos by Jon A. Ottman
	464k		Photos by Jon A. Ottman

USS Neshanic (AO-71)
Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)

Commanding Officers
01	CDR. Allen, Albert Clarence, USNR	20 February 1943 - 19 December 1945


Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler

Crew Contact And Reunion Information
Fleet Tankers Association

Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
Duluth News Tribune "Sailor reflects as freighter American Victory nears its end"

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This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo

Last Updated 29 March 2019