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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive
Contributed by Mike Smolinski

USNS Pawcatuck (T-AO-108)
ex
 USS Pawcatuck (AO-108) (1946 - 1975)


International Radio Call Sign:
November - Hotel - Oscar - Sierra
 NHOS
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Secretary of the Navy Letter of Commendation
Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Navy Unit Commendation - Navy Expeditionary Medal (1-Lebanon, 7-Libya)
Bottom Row - National Defense Service Medal - Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (2-Lebanon, 1-Cuba, 1-Dominican Republic) - Coast Guard SOS Ribbon (3)
Nickname - "The Smiling Indian"
Cimmeron Class Fleet Oiler / Jumboized:
  • Laid down, 22 March 1945, as a Maritime Commission type (T3-S2-A3) tanker hull, under Maritime Commission contract (MC 2704) at Sun Shipbuilding and Drydock, Chester, PA.
  • Launched, 19 February 1946
  • Commissioned USS Pawcatuck (AO-108), 10 May 1946, CAPT. Cecil G. McKinney, USNR, in command
  • Jumboized, circa 1964-65
  • Decommissioned, 15 July 1975
  • Placed in service assigned to the Military Sealift Command (MSC) as USNS Pawcatuck (T-AO-108)
  • Placed out of service, circa 1991
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 21 September 1991
  • Title transfer to the Maritime Administration (MARAD) for lay up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, James River, Fort Eustis, VA.
  • Sold for scrapping, contract awarded to Bay Bridge Enterprises, Chesapeake, VA. Announced by MARAD, 21 September 2005. Bay Bridge will be paid $369,373.00 to cut up ex-Pawcatuck
  • Final Disposition, withdrawn from the National Defense Reserve Fleet, James River Group and towed to the breakers yard at Bay Bridge Enterprises, Chesapeake, VA., for scrapping, 19 October 2005.
    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
    Jumboized Specifications:
    Displacement 12,840 t.(lt), 33,987 t.(fl)
    Length 644"
    Draft 34' 9"
    Armament none
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		Size Image Description Contributed By / Source
    USS Pawcatuck (AO-108)
    Pawcatuck 38k USS Pawcatuck (AO-108) underway, date and place unknown. Tom Blood
    Pawcatuck 87k USS Pawcatuck (AO-108) at New York City, date unknown Courtesy David Willis
    via David Merrill
    USS Canisteo (AO-99) Web Site
    Pawcatuck 69k USS Pawcatuck (AO-108) underway entering Hampton Roads, VA., date unknown. Courtesy David Willis
    via David Merrill
    USS Canisteo (AO-99) Web Site
    Pawcatuck 73k USS Pawcatuck (AO-108) underway, date and location unknown. Courtesy David Willis
    via David Merrill
    USS Canisteo (AO-99) Web Site
    Pawcatuck 128k USS Pawcatuck (AO-108) refueling USS Valley Forge (CVS-45) and USS Eaton (DDE-510, 18 June 1959. Fourteen S2F anti-submarine planes and two HSS-1 helicopters are parked on the carrier's flight deck and deck-edge elevator.
    US Navy photo # USN 1043955    		 US Naval Historical Center
    Pawcatuck 71k USS Pawcatuck (AO-108) underway, date and location unknown. Burton Revell USS Pawcatuck 1963-66
    Pawcatuck 162k USS Pawcatuck (AO-108) refuels USS Randolph (CVS-15) from the oiler's port side and USS Waller (DDE-466) from the oiler's starboard side, while USS Eaton (DDE-510) is steaming astern, waiting her turn for a "drink".
    US Navy photo # NH 67959 received from USS Waller in 1969, from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center.    		 US Naval Historical Center
    Pawcatuck 84k USS Pawcatuck (AO-108) refueling USS Forrestal (CV-59) and a destroyer, circa August 1960-May 1962, place unknown. Photo taken from USS Goodrich (DDR-831). Photo by Leslie Levins USS Goodrich
    Pawcatuck 101k USS Pawcatuck (AO-108) refueling USS Forrestal (CV-59), circa August 1960-September 1961, location unknown. Photo taken from USS Goodrich (DDR-831). Photo by Leslie Levins USS Goodrich
    Pawcatuck 74k USS Pawcatuck (AO-108) refueling USS John F. Kennedy (CV-67) and USS Dewey (DLG-14), 13 July 1969, Mediterranean Sea.
    US Navy photo CVA 67-2124-7-69 13 July 1969, PH2 Weaver.    		 Roger C. Schulrud MMCS USN Ret. USS Dewey
    Pawcatuck 169k USS Pawcatuck (AO-108) refueling USS John F. Kennedy (CV-67) and USS Dewey (DLG-14), 13 July 1969, Mediterranean Sea.
    US Navy photo CVA 67-2120-7-69 13 July 1969, PH2 Weaver.    		 Roger C. Schulrud MMCS USN Ret. USS Dewey
    Pawcatuck 114k USS Pawcatuck (AO-108) refueling USS John F. Kennedy (CV-67) and USS Dewey (DLG-14), 13 July 1969, Mediterranean Sea.
    US Navy photo CVA 67-2122-7-69 13 July 1969, PH2 Weaver.    		 Roger C. Schulrud MMCS USN Ret. USS Dewey
    Pawcatuck 74k USS Pawcatuck (AO-108) refueling USS John F. Kennedy (CV-67) and USS Dewey (DLG-14), 13 July 1969, Mediterranean Sea.
    US Navy photo CVA 67-2124-7-69 13 July 1969, PH2 Weaver.    		 Roger C. Schulrud MMCS USN Ret. USS Dewey
    Pawcatuck 32k Photo from an unidentified destroyer approaching USS Pawcatuck (AO-108) to begin a refueling evolution, date and location unknown. Tommy Trampp
    Pawcatuck 104k USS Pawcatuck (AO-108) underway, date and location unknown. Tommy Trampp
    USNS Pawcatuck (T-AO-108)
    Pawcatuck 64k USNS Pawcatuck (T-AO-108) underway in MSC service after jumboization, date and location unknown.
    US Navy photo    		 Courtesy David Willis
    via David Merrill
    USS Canisteo (AO-99) Web Site
    Pawcatuck 98k USNS Pawcatuck (T-AO-108) underway in the Mediterranean Sea, July 1976 © Richard Leonhardt
    Pawcatuck 1204k USNS Pawcatuck (T-AO-108) moored pierside at Genoa, Italy, 14 May 1983. Photo by Carlo Martinelli
    Pawcatuck 1488k USNS Pawcatuck (T-AO-108) conducting an underway replenishment with USS Doyle (FFG-39) at the equator, 9 October 1990.
    Defense Imagery photo VIRIN: DN-SC-91-01685, a US Navy photo by PHAN Sean Linehan.    		 Robert Hurst
    Pawcatuck 80k Ex-Pawcatuck (T-AO-108) underway for the last time as she transits the harbor at Norfolk, VA. on her way to the breakers yard, at Bay Bridge Enterprises, Chesapeake, VA., 19 October 2005 Mabel Clark
    Pawcatuck 1664k Ex-Pawcatuck (T-AO-108) in the breakers yard at Bay Bridge Enterprises, Chesapeake, VA., in 2005. Ron Reeves

    For more photos and information about USS Pawcatuck, see;
  • Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships
  • U.S. Navy Oilers
  • USS Pawcatuck (AO-108)
  • Commanding Officers
    • Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    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 7 March 2013