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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive


Contributed by Mike Smolinski

AO-144 Mississinewa

Flag Hoist/International Radio Call Sign:
November - Bravo - Sierra - Zulu

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons



Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Joint Meritorious Unit Award
Second Row - Navy Battle "E" Ribbon - Navy Expeditionary Medal (2 Iran/Indian Ocean) - National Defense Service Medal
Third Row - Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (15 Lebanon) - Coast Guard Meritorious Unit Commendation - Coast Guard Special Operations Service Ribbon


Neosho Class Fleet Oiler:
  • Laid down, 4 May 1953, at New York Shipbuilding Corp., Camden, N.J.
  • Launched, 12 June 1954
  • Commissioned USS Mississinewa (AO-144), 18 January 1955, Capt. M. J. Jensen in command
  • Decommissioned, 15 November 1976 and placed in service with MSC as USNS Mississinewa (T-AO-144)
  • Placed out of service, circa 1991-1994
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 16 February 1994
  • Title transfer to MARAD, 1 May 1999, for lay up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, James River, Fort Eustis, VA.
  • Final Disposition, departed National Defense Reserve Fleet, James River Group under disposal contract 30 January 2007, for scrapping at International Shipbreaking LTD. (ESCO), Brownsville, TX.
    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
    (USS) 324
    (USNS) 106 civilian mariners, 21 navy
    Armament
    one single 5"/38 dual purpose gun mount
    four twin 3"/50 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 Mississinewa (AO-144)
    Mississinewa 59k Mississinewa (AO-144) underway in Narragansett Bay off Newport, R.I., in April 1955. Howard J Koch
    Mississinewa 105k Mississinewa (AO-144) at anchor, date and place unknown. Larry Bohn
    Mississinewa 37k Mississinewa (AO-144) underway, January 1963, place unknown.
    US Navy photo from DANFS.
    Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret.
    USNS Mississinewa (T-AO-144)
    Mississinewa 54k Mississinewa (T-AO-144) during Replenishment at Sea (RAS) with the Canadian destroyer HMCS Ottawa (DDH 229), mid-Atlantic between Azores and Bermuda, August 1984 Matias C. Höhne
    Mississinewa 60k Mississinewa (T-AO-144) during Replenishment at Sea (RAS) with the Canadian destroyer HMCS Ottawa (DDH 229), mid-Atlantic between Azores and Bermuda, August 1984 Matias C. Höhne
    Mississinewa 41k Mississinewa (T-AO-144) during Replenishment at Sea (RAS) with the German destroyers FGS Lütjens (D-185) and FGS Mölders (D-186), mid-Atlantic between Azores and Bermuda, August 1984 Matias C. Höhne
    Mississinewa 110k Mississinewa (T-AO-144) underway, date and place unknown. William Zarkas, Retired MSC Boatswain
    President, MSC Retiree Association
    Mississinewa 168k Mississinewa (T-AO-144) during underway replenishment of an unidentified destroyer, date and place unknown. Richard Miller BMCS USNR Ret.
    Mississinewa 126k Ex-Mississinewa (T-AO-144) moored at ESCO, Brownsville, TX., for scrapping. She arrived during the weekend of 17-18 February 2007. Photo by Michael Martin, Brownsville, TX.

    View the Mississinewa (AO-144)
    DANFS history entry located at the US Naval Historical Center
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S.Navy Memorial Foundation
    Fleet Reserve Association

    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 24 August 2007