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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

USS Waupaca (AOG-46)

International Radio Call Sign:
November - Hotel - Uniform - Delta
 NHUD
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - American Campaign Medal
Bottom Row - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp)
Mettawee Class Gasoline Tanker:
  • Laid down, 23 November 1944, as a Maritime Commission type (T1-M-A2) tanker hull, under Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 2072) at East Coast Shipyards Inc., Bayonne, N.J.
  • Launched, 4 January 1945
  • Commissioned USS Waupaca (AOG-46), 9 February 1945, LT. William G. Brown, USNR, in command
  • During World War II USS Waupaca was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater
  • Following World War II USS Waupaca was assigned to Occupation service in the Far East from 16 September to 30 November 1945
  • Decommissioned, 26 March 1946
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 1 May 1946
  • Transferred to the Maritime Commission, 30 June 1946, for lay up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, Suisun Bay, Benecia, CA.
  • Merchant Service
    Purchased by the Standard-Vacuum Oil Co., of New York, N.Y., 15 November 1946, renamed MT Stanvac No. 312
    Sold in 1948 to Oriental Trade and Transport Co., Ltd., renamed MT Mei Shan, re-flagged United Kingdom
    Renamed MT Stanvac 312 date unknown
    Renamed MT Stanvac Mei Foo, date unknown
    Sold in 1954 to the Philippine subsidiary of Standard-Vacuum Oil Co., Manila, renamed MT Stanvac Visayas II, re-flagged Philippines
    Acquired in 1963 by Mobil Oil, Philippines, Inc., renamed MT Mobil Visayas
    Sold in 1970, to Del Mar Carriers Inc., renamed MT Lapu-Lapu Carrier
    Renamed Leap Dal in 1975
    Renamed Vera in 1975
  • Final Disposition, possibly scrapped at Jurong, Singapore, 20 November 1977
    Specifications:
    Displacement 2,270 t.(fl)
    Length 220' 6"
    Beam 37'
    Draft 13' 1"
    Speed 10 kts.
    Complement
    Officers 6
    Enlisted 56
    Largest Boom Capacity 4 t.
    Armament
    one single 3"/50 cal dual purpose gun mount
    two single 40mm AA gun mounts
    three single 20mm AA gun mounts
    Cargo Capacity 1,365 DWT
    Oil 12,100 Bbls
    Fuel Capacity Diesel 2,240 Bbls
    Propulsion
    Fairbanks-Morse 37E16 direct drive Diesel engine
    Ship's Service Generators
     one Diesel-drive 40Kw 120V D.C.
     two Diesel-drive 75Kw 120V D.C.
    single propeller, 720shp
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    USS Waupaca (AOG-46)
    Waupaca 274k View looking aft from forward control tower of the Japanese battleship IJNS Nagato, showing stack, mainmast and anti-aircraft guns removed. Photo was taken at Yokosuka, Japan, 12 October 1945.
    USS Waupaca (AOG-46) is at left, and USS ATR-35 is at right.
    US National Archives, Photo No. SC 216511    		 Mike Green
    Waupaca 166k Japanese battleship IJNS Nagato in U.S. custody at Yokosuka, Japan, October 12, 1945. USS ATR-35 is moored to her port side, and USS Waupaca (AOG-46) is moored to starboard.
    United States National Archives, Photo No. SC 216513    		 Mike Green
    Merchant Service Standard-Vacuum Oil Co.
    Waupaca 86k MT Stanvac Mei Foo [ex-USS Waupaca (AOG-46)]underway, date and location unknown.
    Photo courtesy Auke Visser's Famous T - Tankers Pages     		Robert Hurst
    Waupaca
    09204604    		 209k MT Vira [ex-USS Waupaca (AOG-46)] underway, date and location unknown. Vira is slightly modified from the original design, with the mainmast stepped on the deck rather than the bridge, the wheelhouse rebuilt and the funnel made even smaller.
    Photo by R J Kittle, image and text taken from "Coasters: An Illustrated History", by Roy Fenton.    		 Robert Hurst
    USS Waupaca (AOG-46)
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
    01LT. Brown, William George, USNR9 February 1945 - 30 September 1945
    02LT. Nichols, Jr., Elliott S., USNR30 September 1945 - 5 January 1946
    03LCDR. Bracken, Eugene Eason, USN5 January 1946 - 26 March 1946
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    Fleet Tankers Association
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    MARAD Vessel History Database
    Back To The Navsource Photo Archives Main Page Back To The Service Force Ship Type Index Back To The Gasoline Tanker (AOG) Photo Index
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
    All pages copyright NavSource Naval History
    Last Updated 30 June 2023