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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive
Contributed by Mike Smolinski

AO-143 Neosho

Flag Hoist/International Radio Call Sign:
November - Delta - Charlie - Victor
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Navy Expeditionary Medal (1-Libya) - National Defense Service Medal
Bottom Row - Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (1-Cuba, 1-Dominican Republic) - Southwest Asia Service Medal - Kuwait Liberation Medal (Kuwait)
Neosho Class Fleet Oiler:
  • Laid down, 2 September 1952, at Bethlehem Steel Co., Fore River Shipyard, Quincy, MA.
  • Launched, 10 November 1953
  • Commissioned USS Neosho (AO-143), 24 September 1954, CAPT. Norman E. Smith in command
  • Decommissioned, 25 May 1978, and placed in service with MSC as USNS Neosho (T-AO-143)
  • Placed out of service, circa 1991-94
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 16 February 1994
  • Title transferred to the Maritime Administration (MARAD), 1 May 1999 for lay up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, James River, Fort Eustis, VA.
  • Returned to Navy custody, removed from the National Defense Reserve Fleet, James River Group by towing, for scrapping 2 February 2005
  • Final Disposition scrapped at International Shipbreaking, Brownsville TX., scrapping completed 8 November 2005
    Specifications:
    Displacement 11,600 t.(lt), 38,000 t.(fl)
    Length 655'
    Beam 86'
    Draft 35'
    Speed 20 kts.
    Cargo Capacity 180,000 bbls
    Complement
    Commissioned Status 324
    In service 106 civilian mariners, 21 Navy
    Armament
    two single 5"/38 DP gun mount
    six twin 3"/50 DP gun mounts
    Propulsion
    two geared turbines
    two boilers
    two shafts, 28,000 shaft horsepower
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    USS Neosho (AO-143)
    CVA-39 Lake Champlain 108k Neosho (AO-143) refueling Lake Champlain (CVA-39), and Purdy (DD-734), Mediterranean Sea, 20 October 1955.
    US National Archives photo # 80-G-684504, a US Navy photo now in the US National Archives collections.    		 Scott Dyben
    Neosho 77k Neosho (AO-143) steaming up the Piscataqua River enroute to Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery, Maine, 26 June 1957.
    US Navy photo from "THE PORTSMOUTH PERISCOPE" of July 12, 1957 (Vol. XVII, No. 1, Page 3).    		 Arnold A. Putnam
    Neosho 92k Neosho (AO-143) entering Dry Dock Number 2, Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery, Maine, June 1957.
    US Navy photo from "THE PORTSMOUTH PERISCOPE" of July 12, 1957 (Vol. XVII, No. 1, Page 3).    		 Arnold A. Putnam
    Neosho 116k Neosho (AO-143) in Dry Dock Number 2, Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery, Maine, June 1957. Neosho was in the shipyard to have an experimental torpedo tube installed for testing. This type of torpedo tube would later be installed in Thresher (SSN-593) and later SSNs.
    US Navy photo from "THE PORTSMOUTH PERISCOPE" of July 12, 1957 (Vol. XVII, No. 1, Page 3).    		 Arnold A. Putnam
    Neosho 54k Neosho (AO-143) and Lake Champlain (CVA-39) during underway refueling, summer 1955 in the Mediterranean Sea. Manuel A. Cabranes, RD3 USS Lake Champlain, 1955-57.
    Neosho 36k Neosho (AO-143) underway, date and place unknown.
    US Navy photo    		 .
    Neosho 108k Neosho (AO-143) moored pierside at Naval Station Norfolk VA, August 1964. The foc'sl of Vulcan (AR-5) in the foreground ©Richard Leonhardt
    Neosho 29k Neosho (AO-143) underway, date and place unknown.
    US Navy photo    		 .
    Neosho 83k Neosho (AO-143) riding at anchor at Guantanemo Bay, Cuba, 21 February 1971 ©Richard Leonhardt
    Neosho 73k Neosho (AO-143) getting underway with the assistance of Paducah (YTB-758) at Naval Station Norfolk, VA., 13 August 1964. date unknown. Underway in the background is Holder (DD-819). ©Richard Leonhardt
    Neosho 56k Neosho (AO-143) preparing to refuel Stribling (DD-867) while underway in the Mediterranean Sea, summer 1975. Russ Hartley
    Neosho 97k Neosho (AO-143) and John F. Kennedy (CV-67) during underway refueling, date and place unknown.
    DOD photo # [DNSN9006244]    		 .
    Neosho 78k Neosho (AO-143) and John F. Kennedy (CV-67) during and underway refueling evolution, date and place unknown.
    DOD photo # [DNSN9006298]    		 .
    Neosho 75k Neosho (AO-143) breaks away from John F. Kennedy (CV-67) after completing an underway refueling evolution, date and place unknown.
    DOD photo # [DNSN9006299]    		 .
    USNS Neosho (T-AO-143)
    Neosho 88k Neosho (T-AO-143) being moved cold iron from Naval Station Norfolk, VA, to the Naval Fuel Terminal, Carney Island, Portsmouth, VA., date unknown. Photo by Bill Fessenden
    Neosho 51k Neosho (T-AO-143) underway, date and place unknown.
    US Navy photo from "All Hands" magazine, April 1984.    		 Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret.
    Additional Ships Patches
    Neosho
    Contributed by Mike Smolinski    		 Neosho
    Contributed by Mike Smolinski
    View the Neosho (AO-143)
    DANFS history entry located at the US Naval Historical Center web site
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S.Navy Memorial Foundation
    Fleet Reserve Association
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    USS Neosho AO-143
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    Last Updated 16 February 2007