USNS Mission Santa Barbara (T-AO-131)
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SS ''Mission Santa Barbara'' was a Type T2-SE-A2 tanker built for the
United States Maritime Commission The United States Maritime Commission (MARCOM) was an independent executive agency of the U.S. federal government that was created by the Merchant Marine Act of 1936, which was passed by Congress on June 29, 1936, and was abolished on May 24, 195 ...
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 ...
. After the war she was acquired by 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 ...
as USS ''Mission Santa Barbara'' (AO-131). Later the tanker transferred to the
Military Sea Transportation Service Military Sealift Command (MSC) is an organization that controls the replenishment and military transport ships of the United States Navy. Military Sealift Command has the responsibility for providing sealift and ocean transportation for all US m ...
as USNS ''Mission Santa Barbara'' (T-AO-131). She was a and was named for Mission Santa Barbara in
Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara ( es, Santa Bárbara, meaning "Saint Barbara") is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coas ...
.


Career

''Mission Santa Barbara'' was laid down 8 April 1944 under a Maritime Commission contract by Marine Ship Corporation,
Sausalito, California Sausalito (Spanish language, Spanish for "small willow grove") is a city in Marin County, California, Marin County, California, United States, located southeast of Marin City, California, Marin City, south-southeast of San Rafael, California ...
; launched 8 June 1944; sponsored by Mrs. Carl H. Nilson; and delivered 8 July 1944. Chartered to Pacific Tankers, Inc. for operations, she spent the remainder of the War carrying fuel to Allied bases in the Pacific. She remained in this capacity until 8 May 1946 when she was returned to the Maritime Commission and laid up in the Maritime Reserve Fleet at
Olympia, Washington Olympia is the capital of the U.S. state of Washington and the county seat and largest city of Thurston County. It is southwest of the state's most populous city, Seattle, and is a cultural center of the southern Puget Sound region. European ...
. Acquired by the Navy on 20 October 1947 she was chartered to
Union Oil Company Union Oil Company of California, and its holding company Unocal Corporation, together known as Unocal was a major petroleum explorer and marketer in the late 19th century, through the 20th century, and into the early 21st century. It was headqu ...
for operations and placed under the operational control of the Naval Transportation Service as ''Mission Santa Barbara'' (AO-131). Transferred to the new
Military Sea Transportation Service Military Sealift Command (MSC) is an organization that controls the replenishment and military transport ships of the United States Navy. Military Sealift Command has the responsibility for providing sealift and ocean transportation for all US m ...
(MSTS) on 1 October 1949, she was redesignated USNS ''Mission Santa Barbara'' (T-AO-131). She remained in service with MSTS until 12 April 1954 when she was laid up, in reserve, at the
San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...
group of the Pacific Reserve Fleet. She remained in reserve until 8 October 1956 when she was once again placed in service with MSTS and chartered to the Joshua Henry Corporation for operations. She remained with MSTS until 8 November 1957 when she was transferred to the Maritime Administration (MARAD), struck from the Naval Vessel Register and laid up in the Maritime Reserve Fleet at
Beaumont, Texas Beaumont is a coastal city in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat, seat of government of Jefferson County, Texas, Jefferson County, within the Beaumont–Port Arthur, Texas, Port Arthur Beaumont–Port Arthur metropolitan area, metropo ...
. The ship was sold to the Hudson Waterways Corporation on 26 March 1966 and was renamed ''Seatrain Carolina'' on 7 April 1966. She was subsequently lengthened using part of the midsection of another T2 tanker, the ''Fruitvale Hills'', and rebuilt by
Newport News Shipbuilding Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS), a division of Huntington Ingalls Industries, is the largest industrial employer in Virginia, and sole designer, builder and refueler of United States Navy aircraft carriers and one of two providers of U.S. Navy ...
into one of seven
Seatrain Lines Seatrain Lines, officially the Over-Seas Shipping Company, was a shipping and transportation company conducting operations in the Americas and trans-Pacific regions. Seatrain Lines began intermodal freight transport in December 1928 by transporting ...
multi-purpose cargo ships capable of carrying general bulk and palletized cargo, intermodal containers, vehicles and rail cars. Upon completion of the conversion and delivery in February 1967 ''Seatrain Carolina'', IMO 6700456, was chartered to the MSTS in support of overseas U.S. military operations, including the transport of material, equipment and aircraft to
Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
. The ship was transferred to the
National Defense Reserve Fleet The National Defense Reserve Fleet (NDRF) consists of ships of the United States of America, mostly merchant vessels, that have been "mothballed" but can be activated within 20 to 120 days to provide shipping during national military emergencies ...
(James River) in 1974 and on August 8, 1978, her name was changed to just ''Carolina''. The ship was retired and broken up in 1985. During her active military service she was awarded the National Defense Service Medal, the Korean Service Medal (four times), the
United Nations Service Medal The United Nations Service Medal for Korea (UNKM) is an international military decoration established by the United Nations on December 12, 1950 as the United Nations Service Medal. The decoration was the first international award ever created by t ...
and the
Republic of Korea War Service Medal The Korean War Service Medal (KWSM, ko, 6.25사변종군기장, ), also known as the Republic of Korea War Service Medal (ROKWSM), is a military award of South Korea which was first authorized in December 1950. History 6.25 Incident Participati ...
(retroactively). She also received four
battle star A service star is a miniature bronze or silver five-pointed star inch (4.8 mm) in diameter that is authorized to be worn by members of the eight uniformed services of the United States on medals and ribbons to denote an additional award or ser ...
s for her
Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...
service.


References

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mission Santa Barbara (T-AO-131) Type T2-SE-A2 tankers Ships built in Sausalito, California 1944 ships World War II tankers of the United States Santa Barbara Type T2-SE-A2 tankers of the United States Navy