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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

USNS Roanoke (T-AO-155)

Suamico Class Fleet Oiler:
  • Built in 1944, as SS Esso Roanoke, a Maritime Administration type (T-2-SE-A1) tanker hull under Maritime Commission contract (MC 1749) at Sun Shipbuilding and Drydock Co., Chester, PA.
  • Completed and delivered to Standard Oil of N.J., 14 July 1944, as a time-charter
  • Sold to ESSO Shipping Co., New York, N.Y., 4 November 1945
  • Returned to the Maritime Commission, 29 September 1955, for lay up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, James River Group, Lee Hall, VA.
  • Renamed SS Roanoke, October 1956
  • Reactived and transferred to the US Navy Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS), 12 June 1956, placed in service as USNS Roanoke (T-AO 155)
  • Returned to the Maritime Administration (MARAD), 21 October 1957, for lay up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, Beaumont TX.
  • Struck from the Naval Register in 1957
  • Title transfer to Sea-Land Service, 25 April 1969, MARAD Exchange Program
  • Converted to a container ship in 1969 at Willamette Iron and Steel Corp., Portland, OR.
    Aft section joined to fore and mid-body of the C-4 type SS Baltimore, the former SS Marine Cardinal, and converted to a container carrier
    length 497ft
    beam 72ft
    10,498GRT, 9,036DWT
  • Finished ship was named SS Baltimore, 18 March 1970
  • Final Disposition, scrapped foreign, March 1985
    Specifications (As Built):
    Displacement 5,782 t.(lt) 21,880 t.(fl)
    Length 523' 6"
    Beam 68'
    Draft 30'
    Speed 15.5kts
    Complement unknown
    Armament none
    Cargo Capacity 140,000 Bbls
    Propulsion turbo-electric, single screw. 8,000shp
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    Commercial Service
    Roanoke 1292k SS Baltimore moored pierside at Bremerhaven, Germany while working cargo in August 1972. Photo by Gerhard Mueller-Debus
    Roanoke 1219k
    There is no DANFS History available for USNS Roanoke (T-AO-155) at NavSource
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    U.S. Navy Oilers
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 9 October 2009