USS ''Carondelet'' (IX-136) was a tanker and served in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The second ''Carondelet'' was built in 1921 by Società Esercizio Bacini, Riva Trigossa, Italy, as ''Brennero'' (later renamed ''Gold Heels''); transferred from the

War Shipping Administration The War Shipping Administration (WSA) was a World War II emergency war agency of the US government, tasked to purchase and operate the civilian shipping tonnage the United States needed for fighting the war. Both shipbuilding under the Maritime Co ...

on 24 February 1944; and commissioned on 4 April 1944.

Service history

''Carondelet'' spent her entire wartime service as a station tanker in the Southwest Pacific and Philippines. The ship was occasionally refueled by larger tankers that pulled up to her side. She lay at

Milne Bay Milne Bay is a large bay in Milne Bay Province, south-eastern Papua New Guinea. More than long and over wide, Milne Bay is a sheltered deep-water harbor accessible via Ward Hunt Strait. It is surrounded by the heavily wooded Stirling Range to t ...

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea). It is a simplified version of ...

, until 26 November 1944; at

Leyte Leyte ( ) is an island in the Visayas group of islands in the Philippines. It is eighth-largest and sixth-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 2,626,970 as of 2020 census. Since the accessibility of land has be ...

from December 1944 to 25 May 1945; and at

Subic Bay Subic Bay is a bay on the west coast of the island of Luzon in the Philippines, about northwest of Manila Bay. An extension of the South China Sea, its shores were formerly the site of a major United States Navy facility, U.S. Naval Base Subi ...

Luzon Luzon (; ) is the largest and most populous island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the Philippines archipelago, it is the economic and political center of the nation, being home to the country's capital city, Manila, as ...

, from 28 May to 12 September 1945. Pouring her precious fuel into the bunkers of the ships which pressed the war home to the Japanese, she rendered essential service. She returned to

Mobile, Alabama Mobile ( , ) is a city and the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The population within the city limits was 187,041 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, down from 195,111 at the 2010 United States census, 2010 cens ...

, on 22 January 1946, and was decommissioned and returned to the War Shipping Administration on 25 February 1946.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Carondelet Ships built in Italy 1921 ships Mobile storage tankers of the United States Navy World War II auxiliary ships of the United States Unique oilers and tankers of the United States Navy