USS PONAGANSET AO-86
Escambia class Fleet Oiler:
Laid down by Marinship Corp ., Sausalito, Calif.
MC Hull No. 1265 Laid on 27 April 1943 ;
Launched 10 July 1943
Maritime Commission T2-SE-A2type
Sponsored by Mrs. J. W.Fowler
Acquired by the Navy and commissioned 15 May 1944
USS Ponagnaset was named after a river in Rhode Island.
Displacement: 21,880 tons
Length: 523'6"
Beam: 68'
Draft: 30'
Speed: 15.5 knots (max); 13 knots (econ)
Armament: 1 5"/38 DP, 4 3"/50 DP, 4x2 40mm, 4x2 20mm
Complement: 267
Capacity: 140,000 barrels
Turbo-electric engines, single screw, 8,000 hp
I found myself on a ship that roamed all over the South Pacific. I was doing what would turn out to be one of the more enjoyable things in life. Cooking. The ship had two cooks that served 150 men per meal. At night we would sleep in hammocks slung under the catwalk.
Many a time there would be a full load on the ship with only four feet of freeboard. If the seas were a little rough water would be washing over the deck. Besides the oil and fresh water, the deck would be loaded with shells, barrels of speciality oils, and other goods that the navy needed transported.
With our main job of taken care of the LST'S , Destroyer Escorts , Destroyers , and Light Cruisers , we would not see land for thirty to forty five days at a time. The only time I really felt safe was when we where in a battle group with the Carriers around us. The ship took part in the battle for Leyte , then ran into a Typhoon, participated in the battle for Okinawa , and was steaming for Japan. When the war ended, we steamed to Wakayama, Japan where we were the first ship in and served as the flag ship of ? For several days the people did not give us any trouble. This is the place I picked up my trophy, a new Japanese rifle and bayonet. My grandson Mark has it now.
The ship was releaved and sent to Hong Kong where we were anchored for about two weeks. Next destination San Francisco with 30 days shore leave for the West Coast and Midwest sailors. So off I went back home. On this leave is where I would meet my future wife, Elizabeth Hale. The thirty days kind of flew by and before I knew it I was back on the ship. We took the old gal through the cannal up to the Brooklyn Navy Yard.
When the ship docked in at Brooklyn Navy Yard all the men who did not receive leave in San Francisco had thirty days off. We decommissioned the ship and it was sold. when it was being refitted for civilian use it broke in half at the pier. This is when it came to light that the steel formula used to this time had too many imporities in it. All ships underwent modifications to strengthen weak parts. I became a Shellback while on this ship as we crossed the Equator and the International Date line many times.
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