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
Patch at left contributed by Tommy Trampp at right by Mike Smolinski

Contributed by Al Grazevich

USS Canisteo (AO-99)


International Radio Call Sign:
November - Juliet - Victor - Juliet
 NJVJ
JANAP Tactical Voice Radio Call Sign - Gaiety (X)ray - Section 6A of JANAP 119(F) 1968
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons



Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Navy Battle "E" Ribbon - American Campaign Medal - Europe-Africa-Middle East Campaign Medal
Second Row - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia or Europe clasp) - National Defense Service Medal (2)
Third Row - Antarctic Service Medal - Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (Cuba, Dominican Republic) - Coast Guard Meritorious Unit Commendation (2)
Cimarron Class Fleet Oiler / Jumboized:
  • Laid down, 11 November 1945, as a Maritime Commission type (T3-S2-A3) tanker hull, under Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 2561) at Bethlehem Steel Shipyard, Sparrows Point, MD.
  • Launched, 6 July 1945
  • Commissioned USS Canisteo (AO-99), 3 December 1945, LCDR. E. L. Denton, USNR, in command
  • USS Canisteo was assigned to Occupation service in Asiatic-Pacific area from 12 November 1949 to 17 January 1950 and in the Europe-Africa-Middle East area for from from 24 January 1951 to 10 May 1952 and from 1 December 1953 to 13 March 1954
  • Decommissioned, 2 October 1989
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 31 August 1992
  • Transferred to the Maritime Administration for lay up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, James River, Fort Eustis, VA.
  • Sold for scrapping to Able UK, Hartlepool, Teeside, England, and removed from the Reserve Fleet, October 2003 under tow to the United Kingdom
  • Awaiting scrapping at Able UK breakers yard, Graythorp, River Tees, United Kingdom
    Specifications:
    Displacement 7,236 t.(lt) 25,440 t.(fl)
    Length 553'
    Beam 75'
    Draft 32'
    Speed 18.3 kts.
    Complement
    Officers 22
    Enlisted 282
    Largest Boom Capacity 10 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
    four twin 20mm AA gun mounts
    Cargo Capacity 16,500 DWT
    Oil 123,700 Bbls
    Gasoline 788,000 Gals
    Fuel Capacity NSFO 15,000Bbls
    Propulsion
    two Bethlehem Steel Shipbuilding steam turbines
    four Foster and Wheeler K-type boilers, 450psi 750°
    double Falk Main Reduction Gears
    Ship's Service Generators
     two turbo-drive 400Kw 230V A.C.
     one Diesel-drive 150Kw 230V A.C.
    two propellers, 13,500shp

    Jumboized Specifications:
    Displacement 10,847 t.(lt) 34,750 t.(fl)
    Length 644"
    Draft 34' 9"
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    Canistao
    091909923    		 429k
    Namesake
    Canisteo - The Canisteo River is a 61-mile-long tributary of the Tioga River in western New York. It drains a dissected plateau, a portion of the northern Allegheny Plateau southwest of the Finger Lakes region, in the far northwestern reaches of the watershed of the Susquehanna River.
    Photo - Canisteo River below Addison N.Y., 11 July 2006. ©Pollinator (Wikipedia User Name     		Tommy Trampp
    Canisteo 77k USS Canisteo (AO-99) under way with USS Mount Olympus (AGC-8) approaching for refueling at sea during the US Navy Antarctic Expedition, in 1946, "Operation Highjump."
    US Navy photo from "All Hands" magazine, issue dated February 1947    		 David Merrill
    USS Canisteo (AO-99) Web Site
    Canisteo 21k USS Canisteo (AO-99) under way in the Mediterranean Sea in 1951. The picture was taken from the destroyer USS Allen M. Sumner (DD-692), by Don Marion, USN, USS Allen M. Sumner web site. Robert Hurst
    Canisteo 92k USS Canisteo (AO-99) under way, circa 1955.
    US Navy photo    		 David Merrill
    USS Canisteo (AO-99) Web Site
    Canisteo 69k USS Canisteo (AO-99) under way, circa 1960s.
    US Navy photo    		 David Merrill
    USS Canisteo (AO-99) Web Site
    Canisteo 52k USS Canisteo (AO-99) refueling USS Newport News (CA-148) during NATO exercise Riptide in July 1961.
    US Naval Institute Proceedings photo    		 George Klos
    USS Newport News 1960-62 2nd Div.
    Canisteo 52k USS Canisteo (AO-99) under way, circa 1963.
    US Navy photo    		 David Merrill
    USS Canisteo (AO-99) Web Site
    Canisteo 201k USS Canisteo (AO-99) under way, date and location unknown.
    US Navy photo    		 Richard Miller BMCS USNR Ret.
    Canisteo 58k USS Canisteo (AO-99) at Naval Station Norfolk in July 1964. ©Richard Leonhardt
    Canisteo 362k USS Canisteo (AO-99) underway in the Atlantic Ocean in 1965. Mike Smolinski
    Canisteo 114k USS Canisteo (AO-99) under way in Hampton Roads, VA., 11 August 1969, after her "Jumbo" conversion.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command. Photo # K-76204 by PH3 J. S. Cahoon, courtesy Shipscribe.com.    		 Robert Hurst
    Canisteo 79k USS Canisteo (AO-99) under way, circa 1970.
    US Navy photo    		 David Merrill
    USS Canisteo (AO-99) Web Site
    Canisteo 1055k USS Canisteo (AO-99) under way off Guantanamo Bay, Cuba 14 January 1975.
    Navy Photographic Center photo # NPC #1161501 by PH2 Walter R. Edwards, USN.    		 DCC(SS/SW) David Johnston, USN
    Canisteo 73k USS Canisteo (AO-99) under way, in the Mediterranean Sea in May 1976. ©Richard Leonhardt
    Canisteo 447k USS Canisteo (AO-99) under way with the assistance of tugs, date and location unknown. Photo from the Chris Howell collection with copyright
    Canistao
    091909922    		 58k USS Canisteo (AO-99) underway, date and location unknown Tommy Trampp
    Canistao
    091909924    		 272k USS Canisteo (AO-99) underway off Norfolk, VA., date unknown.
    ©Nobe Smith     		Nicholas Tiberio
    Canistao
    091909925    		 274k
    Canisteo 99k Overhead view of USS Canisteo (AO-99) under way, date and location unknown.
    US Navy photo.    		 Richard Miller BMCS USNR Ret.
    Canisteo 92k USS Canisteo (AO-99) alongside a battleship, probably USS Iowa (BB-61) during an underway replenishment, 1 August 1986.
    US Navy photo.    		 Richard Miller BMCS USNR Ret.
    Canisteo 772k USS Canisteo (AO-99) comes alongside the battleship USS Iowa (BB-61) during an underway replenishment, 1 August 1986. Note Canisteo's appearance after her jumboization in the 1960s.
    US Defenseimagery.mil photo VIRIN: DN-SC-87-09426 by PH1 Jeff Hilton.    		 Robert Hurst
    Canisteo 73k USS Canisteo (AO-99) commemorative pin from the mid-1980s. Matias Höhne
    Caloosahatchee 434k Aerial view of Unit 7 of the National Defense Reserve Fleet, James River Group, Lee Hall, VA., 28 January 1999. From bottom to top;
    unidentified,
    Santa Cruz
    Vulcan (AR-5),
    Redstone (T-AGM-20),
    2 unidentified APs,
    GEN. N.M. Walter (T-AP-125),
    GEN. Wm. O. Darby (IX-510),
    Waccamaw (T-AO-109),
    Canisteo (AO-99),
    Caloosahatchee (T-AO-98),
    Mississinewa (T-AO-144),
    Pawcatuck (T-AO-108),
    Truckee (T-AO-147),
    Neosho (T-AO-143),
    Benjamin Isherwood (T-AO-191) and
    Henry Eckford (T-AO-192). These two oilers were both lay-berthed incomplete.    		  
    Canistao
    091909921    		 73k ex-USS Canisteo (AO-99) arriving in the River Tees. Canisteo was removed from the James River National Defense Reserve Fleet in October 2003, and towed across the Atlantic Ocean to Hartlepool. England, arriving at the mouth of the River Tees, circa November-December 2003 and moving up the river to Able UK's Teesside Environmental Reclamation & Recycling Cenre (TERRC), Graythorp Yard, Hartlepool, for dismantling.
    Photo Jon Hare, Flickr    		 Tommy Trampp
    Caloosahatchee 45k "The Hartlepool Four" left to right;
    ex-USS Caloosahatchee (AO-98)
    ex-USS Canisteo (AO-99),
    ex-USS Canopus (AS-34), and
    ex-USS Compass Island (E-AG-153) awaiting the beginning of the end at Able UK, Hartlepool, Teeside, England, 4 March 2006. Scrapping is on hold due to environmental concerns.    		 Photo by David Nixon
    Caloosahatchee 77k "The Hartlepool Four"
    ex-USS Caloosahatchee (AO-98)
    ex-USS Canisteo (AO-99)    ,
    ex-USS Canopus (AS-34), and
    ex-USS Compass Island (E-AG-153) at Able UK, Hartlepool, Teeside, England, date unknown.
    Photo from geograph.org    		 Robert Hurst

    For more photos and information about USS / USNS Canisteo, see;
  • Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships
  • MARAD Vessel History Database
  • USS Canisteo (AO-99)
    • Commanding Officers
    01LCDR. Denton, Edward L.3 December 1945 - 9 March 1946
    02CAPT. Kirten Jr., William9 March 1946 - October 1946
    03CAPT. Walker, Edward Keith :RADMOctober 1946 - August 1947
    04CAPT. Ashford, George Woodson, USNAugust 1947 - 1948
    05CAPT. Woelfel, John Carl1948 - August 1948
    06CAPT. Gladney Jr., Donald Wesley :RADMAugust 1948 - ?
    07CAPT. Wilkinson, Robert Holden1950 - ?
    08CAPT. Madden, George Bernard1951 - April 1952
    09CAPT. Deragon, William Nolin, USN (USNA 1934)April 1952 - 18 July 1952
    10CAPT. Abbot, George Bancroft18 July 1952 - 21 July 1953
    11CAPT. Taylor, Ennis Walter21 July 1953 - 11 July 1954
    12CAPT. Wright Jr., Archie Taylor11 July 1954 - 2 November 1955
    13CAPT. Cain Jr., John Robert2 November 1955 - 19 October 1956
    14CAPT. Murphy, Owen Blair19 October 1956 - 19 October 1957
    15CAPT. Penland, Joe Robert19 October 1957 - 2 September 1958
    16CAPT. Decker, Arthur Turn2 September 1958 - 12 June 1959
    17CAPT. Pollock, Thomas Franklin12 June 1959 - 17 June 1960
    18CAPT. Foster, Thomas Milton17 June 1960 - 31 July 1961
    19CAPT. Burbage, Charles Lee (Mike)31 July 1961 - 4 August 1962
    20CAPT. Chalmers, Norman Edward4 August 1962 - 17 July 1963
    21CAPT. Longino Jr., James Charles :RADM17 July 1963 - 22 July 1964
    22CAPT. Cole, Philip Patten, USN (USNA 1942) :RADM22 July 1964 - 19 July 1965
    23CAPT. Strong Jr., Hope19 July 1965 - 23 July 1966
    24CAPT. Zwemke, Darrell Henry23 July 1966 - 17 January 1967
    25LCDR. Richards, Warren David17 January 1967 - 6 October 1967
    26CAPT. Anderson Jr., Raymond Magnus, USN (USNA 1945)6 October 1967 - 14 March 1969
    27CAPT. Shaffer, James Bernard14 March 1969 - 9 June 1970
    28CAPT. Parish Jr., George Rod, USN (USNA 1948-A)9 June 1970 - 21 September 1971
    29CAPT. Dixon Jr., John Curtis :RADM21 SEptember 1971 - 7 October 1972
    30CAPT. Leue, David Ernest7 October 1972 - 12 March 1974
    31CAPT. Kramer Jr., James Bernard12 March 1974 - 10 November 1975
    32CAPT. Martin, Edward Holmes :VADM10 November 1975 - 15 July 1977
    33CAPT. Halverson, Richard K.15 July 1977 - 14 October 1978
    34CAPT. Shanahan, Thomas Edward14 October 1978 - 14 March 1980
    35CAPT. Fredrickson, Arthur Hugh14 March 1980 - 9 October 1981
    36CAPT. Allsopp, Richard Edgar, USN9 October 1981 - 8 April 1983
    37CAPT. Wright, Timothy Wayne :VADM8 April 1983 - 7 September 1984
    38CAPT. Ritt, Dayton William7 September 1984 - ?
    39CAPT. Cole, Robert Stanley, USN :RADM3 July 1986 - 2 November 1988
    40CAPT. Bradbury, Donald Taylor2 November 1988 - 14 July 1989
    41LCDR. Roemmich, George L.14 July 1989 - 2 October 1989
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    Fleet Tankers Association
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log
    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
    All pages copyright NavSource Naval History
    Last Updated 29 July 2022