USS ''Kanawha'' (AO–1) was the lead ship of her class of

replenishment oiler A replenishment oiler or replenishment tanker is a naval auxiliary ship with fuel tanks and dry cargo holds which can supply both fuel and dry stores during underway replenishment (UNREP) at sea. Many countries have used replenishment oilers. The ...

s of 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 ...

. She was commissioned in 1915 and sunk on 8 April 1943 by Japanese aircraft off

Tulagi Tulagi, less commonly known as Tulaghi, is a small island——in Solomon Islands, just off the south coast of Ngella Sule. The town of the same name on the island (pop. 1,750) was the capital of the British Solomon Islands Protectorate from 18 ...

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its capita ...

Operational history

USS ''Kanawha'' (AO-1) (originally Fuel Ship No. 13) was the first purpose-built oiler of the

US 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 of ...

. She was laid down 8 December 1913 by the

Mare Island Navy Yard The Mare Island Naval Shipyard (MINSY) was the first United States Navy base established on the Pacific Ocean. It is located northeast of San Francisco in Vallejo, California. The Napa River goes through the Mare Island Strait and separates th ...

Vallejo, California Vallejo ( ; ) is a city in Solano County, California and the second largest city in the North Bay region of the Bay Area. Located on the shores of San Pablo Bay, the city had a population of 126,090 at the 2020 census. Vallejo is home to the ...

; launched 11 July 1914; sponsored by Miss Dorothy Bennett; and commissioned 5 June 1915. ''Kanawha'' cleared

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 ...

9 June 1915 and arrived

Newport, Rhode Island Newport is an American seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, ...

, for service with the Atlantic Fleet. During the following year the oiler made seven trips to

Port Arthur, Texas Port Arthur is a city in Jefferson County within the Beaumont–Port Arthur metropolitan area of the U.S. state of Texas. A small, uninhabited portion extends into Orange County; it is east of Houston. The largest oil refinery in the United Sta ...

, for fuel oil and gasoline. On 11 October 1916 ''Kanawha'' was assigned to the Atlantic Fleet. Then, in addition to her fueling duties, she participated in tactical exercises, carried mail, and towed targets.

World War I

After the United States entered

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

on 6 April 1917, the oiler was assigned to Commander, Destroyer Force, Atlantic Fleet, as an escort for the first A.E.F. sent to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. ''Kanawha'' cleared

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

15 June 1917 as part of Group IV (the slowest group of ships in the first convoys) and crossed the Atlantic, arriving

St. Nazaire Saint-Nazaire (; ; Gallo: ''Saint-Nazère/Saint-Nazaer'') is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France, in traditional Brittany. The town has a major harbour on the right bank of the Loire estuary, near the Atlantic Ocean. T ...

2 July. She returned to New York 10 August for repairs before sailing again 23 September. The oiler cruised in Atlantic waters until 1 November supplying fuel oil to the cruiser force and escorting convoys to Europe. ''Kanawha'' returned to

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

for repairs, then joined the

Naval Overseas 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 ...

(NOTS) on 8 January 1918. For the rest of the war, the oiler, ignoring torpedo warnings, carried fuel oil from Halifax to

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

and French ports. On 6 November 1918, the

patrol vessel A patrol boat (also referred to as a patrol craft, patrol ship, or patrol vessel) is a relatively small naval vessel generally designed for coastal defence, border security, or law enforcement. There are many designs for patrol boats, and they ...

suffered irreparable damage while being loaded onto the deck of the ''Kanawha''.

Interwar years

''Kanawha'' arrived New York 1 May 1919 from her final cruise; she was detached from NOTS 12 May for reassignment to the Atlantic Fleet. The oiler departed Port Arthur 24 July and arrived at

San Pedro, California San Pedro ( ; Spanish: " St. Peter") is a neighborhood within the City of Los Angeles, California. Formerly a separate city, it consolidated with Los Angeles in 1909. The Port of Los Angeles, a major international seaport, is partially located wi ...

9 August. From 1919 to 1929, ''Kanawha'', with the exception of three cruises to Port Arthur to supply units and ports along the Atlantic coast, operated in the Pacific. In addition to servicing ships, the oiler participated in the Army-Navy maneuvers in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

during April 1925. She then accompanied the Battle Fleet on a goodwill cruise to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

before resuming coastal fueling operations 25 September 1925. ''Kanawha'' was decommissioned at

Puget Sound Naval Shipyard Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, officially Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility (PSNS & IMF), is a United States Navy shipyard covering 179 acres (0.7 km2) on Puget Sound at Bremerton, Washington in uninterrupted u ...

18 December 1929. She was recommissioned 5 June 1934 and cleared

Bremerton Bremerton is a city in Kitsap County, Washington. The population was 37,729 at the 2010 census and an estimated 41,405 in 2019, making it the largest city on the Kitsap Peninsula. Bremerton is home to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and the Bremerto ...

21 June for her base at San Pedro. For the following six years she cruised along the

United States West Coast The West Coast of the United States, also known as the Pacific Coast, Pacific states, and the western seaboard, is the coastline along which the Western United States meets the North Pacific Ocean. The term typically refers to the contiguous U.S ...

supplying oil and gasoline to ports in the

Panama Canal Zone The Panama Canal Zone ( es, Zona del Canal de Panamá), also simply known as the Canal Zone, was an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the Isthmus of Panama, that existed from 1903 to 1979. It was located within the terr ...

, the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

, and Hawaii. In 1941 ''Kanawha'' widened her operations, sailing east to Midway and

Wake Island Wake Island ( mh, Ānen Kio, translation=island of the kio flower; also known as Wake Atoll) is a coral atoll in the western Pacific Ocean in the northeastern area of the Micronesia subregion, east of Guam, west of Honolulu, southeast of To ...

s and as far north as

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

. The oiler was at

Mare Island Mare Island (Spanish: ''Isla de la Yegua'') is a peninsula in the United States in the city of Vallejo, California, about northeast of San Francisco. The Napa River forms its eastern side as it enters the Carquinez Strait juncture with the eas ...

undergoing overhaul at the time of the Japanese attack on

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Re ...

World War II

''Kanawha'' departed San Pedro 21 March 1942 with a convoy loaded with supplies for Hawaii. She continued convoy runs from

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

to Pearl Harbor until 18 May when she arrived

Tongatapu Tongatapu is the main island of Tonga and the site of its capital, Nukualofa. It is located in Tonga's southern island group, to which it gives its name, and is the country's most populous island, with 74,611 residents (2016), 70.5% of the nation ...

for fueling operations in the South Pacific. Throughout the summer she cruised to

New Caledonia ) , anthem = "" , image_map = New Caledonia on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of New Caledonia , map_caption = Location of New Caledonia , mapsize = 290px , subdivision_type = Sovereign st ...

Espiritu Santo Espiritu Santo (, ; ) is the largest island in the nation of Vanuatu, with an area of and a population of around 40,000 according to the 2009 census. Geography The island belongs to the archipelago of the New Hebrides in the Pacific region o ...

, and

Efate Efate (french: Éfaté) is an island in the Pacific Ocean which is part of the Shefa Province in Vanuatu. It is also known as Île Vate. Geography It is the most populous (approx. 66,000) island in Vanuatu. Efate's land area of makes it Vanua ...

, providing fuel for destroyers and transports en route to the Pacific campaigns. The oiler departed

Pago Pago Pago Pago ( ; Samoan: )Harris, Ann G. and Esther Tuttle (2004). ''Geology of National Parks''. Kendall Hunt. Page 604. . is the territorial capital of American Samoa. It is in Maoputasi County on Tutuila, which is American Samoa's main island. ...

12 October and put into San Francisco 29 October for repairs and overhaul. ''Kanawha'' resumed fueling operations upon her return to Pago Pago 13 February 1943. For the next two months she serviced ships engaged in the struggle in the

. On 7 April a group of Japanese

Vals Vals is the word for waltz in many European languages. Vals or VALS may also refer to: * Peruvian waltz * Venezuelan waltz * Vals (dance), a dance related to Argentine tango * VALS, "Values And Lifestyles," a psychographic segmentation tool Places ...

slipped through fighter defenses and zeroed in on ''Kanawha'' as she awaited an escort in

harbor. At 1502, shortly after clearing the harbor, the slow and vulnerable oiler came under bomb attack. One of the first five planes hit an oil tank under the bridge, causing fires to spread rapidly along the deck. Lt. Comdr. Bock ordered the ship abandoned to minimize danger to his crew from burning oil on the surface. After rescue operations were underway, volunteers returned on board and extinguished fires amidst exploding ammunition. The tug towed ''Kanawha'' to the west side of Tulagi where she was beached shortly before midnight. However, she slid off into deep water and sank before daybreak 8 April. Nineteen of her crew were lost. ''Kanawha'' received one

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 ...

for

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 ...

service.

References

Sources

*
Michael McFadyen's Scuba Diving Web Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kanawha (AO-1) Kanawha-class fleet replenishment oilers Ships built in Vallejo, California 1914 ships World War I tankers of the United States Maritime incidents in 1918 World War II tankers of the United States World War II shipwrecks in the Pacific Ocean Shipwrecks in Ironbottom Sound Maritime incidents in April 1943 Ships sunk by Japanese aircraft