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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

YFP-9
ex
 USS Saranac (AO-74) (1943 - 1953)

International Radio Call Sign:
November - Xray - Tango - Foxtrot
 NXTF
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) - China Service Medal (extended) - American Campaign Medal
Bottom Row - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (5) - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp)
Personnel Awards

Purple Hearts (7-KIA-18 June 1944)
Suamico Class Fleet Oiler:
  • Laid down, 27 August 1942, as SS Cowpens a Maritime Commission type (T2-SE-A1) tanker hull, under Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 337), at Sun Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co., Chester, PA.
  • Launched, 21 December 1942
  • Renamed Saranac, 16 September 1942
  • Acquired by the US Navy, 31 December 1942
  • Commissioned, USS Saranac (AO-74), 22 February 1943, CDR. John G. Cross in command
  • During World War II USS Saranac was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater and participated in the following campaigns:

    Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns
    Campaign and Dates Campaign and Dates
    Gilbert Islands operation, 24 November to 2 December 1943 Leyte operation
    Leyte landings, 25 to 28 October 1944
    Asiatic-Pacific Raids
    Palau, Yap, Ulithi, Woleai raid, 30 March to 1 April 1944     		Okinawa Gunto operation
    Assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto, 24 March to 30 June 1945
    5th and 3d Fleet operations in support of Okinawa Gunto operation, 2 April to 11 June 1945
    Marianas operation
    Capture and occupation of Saipan, 11 June to 10 August 1944     		 

  • Converted to a Floating Power Barge at Alameda, CA., March - June 1946
  • Decommissioned, 19 July 1948, at Guam, M.I., for service as a floating power plant
  • Loaned to the US Army, 25 August 1951
  • Towed to Inchon, Korea for service as a floating power plant
  • Returned to US Naval custody, 15 October 1953
  • Reclassified, Floating Power Barge YFP-9, name withdrawn
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 26 March 1956
  • USS Saranac earned five battle stars for World War II service
  • Final Disposition, sold, 4 December 1957, to Hugo Neu Corporation, New York, NY, for use as a power facility abroad by International Steel and Metal Corporation
    Specifications:
    Displacement 5,730 t.(lt) 22,380 t.(fl)
    Length 523' 6"
    Beam 68'
    Draft 30' 10" (lim)
    Speed 15.3 kts. (trial)
    Complement
    Officers 21
    Enlisted 230
    Largest Boom Capacity 60 t.
    Armament
    one single 5"/38 cal dual purpose gun mount
    four single 3"/50 cal dual purpose gun mounts
    four twin 40mm AA gun mounts
    six twin 20mm AA gun mounts
    Cargo Capacity 15,300 DWT
    Oil 120,400 Bbls
    Gasoline 575,000 Gals
    Propulsion
    Fuel Capacity 9,235 Bbls
    one General Electric turbo-electric engine
    two Babcock & Wilcox header-type boilers, 450psi, 730°
    Ship's Service Generators
     two turbo-drive 400Kw 450V A.C.
     one turbo-drive 75Kw 120V D.C.
     two turbo-drive 55Kw 120V D.C.
     one turbo-drive 50Kw 120V D.C.
    single propeller, 8,250shp
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    Saranac 56k USS Saranac (AO-74) (stern view) in San Francisco Bay, 20 June 1943.
    Mare Island Navy Yard photo #4547-43, 6/20/43.    		 Darryl Baker
    Saranac 105k USS Saranac (AO-74) (starboard broadside view) near the Mare Island Navy Yard, 20 June 1943. Mare Island Navy Yard photo #unknown, courtesy Shipscribe.com. Robert Hurst
    Saranac 69k USS Saranac (AO-74) (bows on view) in San Francisco Bay, 20 June 1943.
    Mare Island Navy Yard photo #4551-43, 6/20/43.    		 Darryl Baker
    Saranac 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. Photo from the collection of Al DeSantis. Carmen Costa and John Chiquoine
    Saranac 203k USS Nashville CL-43 receiving fuel from USS Saranac (AO-74) on the afternoon of 15 October 1944 as she steamed for Leyte Gulf in the Philippines with General Douglas MacArthur and his staff aboard. This underway replenishment saw the transfer of 81,727 gallons of fuel oil in just under 50 minutes, which Nashville burned through in about three and a half days. Sailors in the foreground of Nashville's deck are clustered around one of her paravanes, used to pull mine sweeping chains out from the ship's bow.
    US National Archives photo # 80-G-289534, a US Navy photo now in the collations of the US National Archives in College Park, Maryland    		 Tracy White
    Saranac 88k USS Saranac (AO-74) during an underway replenishment off Okinawa with TG38.1, as seen from USS Harrison (DD-573), 31 May 1945. After battery of USS San Juan (CL-54) in view to port side. Photo by ENS. A.R. Chiquoine USS Harrison John Chiquoine
    Saranac 107k USS Saranac (AO-74) during an underway replenishment off Okinawa with TG38.1, as seen from USS Harrison (DD-573), 31 May 1945. After battery of USS San Juan (CL-54) in view to port side. Photo by ENS. A.R. Chiquoine USS Harrison John Chiquoine
    Saranac 71k USS Saranac (AO-74) during an underway replenishment off Okinawa with TG38.1, as seen from USS Harrison (DD-573), 31 May 1945. Photo by ENS. A.R. Chiquoine USS Harrison John Chiquoine
    Saranac 73k USS Saranac (AO-74) off Okinawa while refueling TG38.1 ships, being approached by USS Harrison (DD-573), 31 May 1945. Photo by ENS. A.R. Chiquoine USS Harrison John Chiquoine
    Saranac 40k USS Saranac (AO-74) at anchor, date and location unknown.
    US Navy photo from "Jane's Fighting Ships 1956-57."    		 Robert Hurst
    Saranac 101k Starboard bow view of USS Saranac (AO-74) underway off San Francisco, CA., date unknown.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command, Photo # NH 78711
    USS Saranac (AO-74)
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
    01CDR. Cross, John Gilbreth22 February 1943 - 1 July 1944
    02CDR. Parker, Harold Rivington1 July 1944 - 14 January 1945
    03LCDR. Strum, Charles Gray14 January 1945 - 13 August 1945
    04LCDR. Branson, John Joseph13 August 1945 - ?
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    Fleet Tankers Association
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 20 September 2019