USS ''Tippecanoe'' (AO-21) was a

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 ...

of the United States Navy.

Construction and commissioning

''Tippecanoe'' was laid down on 1 October 1919 at

Newport News, Virginia Newport News () is an independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 186,247. Located in the Hampton Roads region, it is the 5th most populous city in Virginia and 140th most populous city in the Uni ...

, by the Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Co.; launched on 5 June 1920; delivered to the United States Shipping Board late that year; and acquired by the Navy at the Mare Island Navy Yard on 6 March 1922.

Service history

''Tippecanoe'' remained inactive at Mare Island for almost two decades before she was finally placed in commission on 6 March 1940. The oiler was assigned to Squadron 8, Base Force Train, and operated between the west coast and the

Hawaiian Islands The Hawaiian Islands ( haw, Nā Mokupuni o Hawai‘i) are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, and numerous smaller islets in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost Kur ...

for the next two years. Her most frequent ports of call were

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 ...

, San Pedro, San Francisco,

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 ...

, and

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

. When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, fortune ordained that ''Tippecanoe'' be safe in San Francisco. During the first three months of the war, the oiler steamed up and down the west coast between San Diego, San Pedro, San Francisco, and Seattle. She did not leave the west coast until 3 February when she headed back to Hawaii. She entered Pearl Harbor on the 17th and lay over there until 3 March when she headed for the South Pacific. After a brief stop at

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. ...

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands (Manono Island, Manono an ...

, the ship put to sea on 15 March and headed to an area north of

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to fuel Rear Admiral

Frank Jack Fletcher Frank Jack Fletcher (April 29, 1885 – April 25, 1973) was an admiral in the United States Navy during World War II. Fletcher commanded five different task forces through WWII; he was the operational task force commander at the pivotal battle ...

Task Force 17 Task Force 17 (TF17) was an aircraft carrier task force of the United States Navy during the Pacific Campaign of World War II. TF17 participated in several major carrier battles in the first year of the war. TF17 was initially centered around ...

(TF17). She returned to the vicinity of Samoa on 26 March, visited

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 ...

on 6 April, and put into Noumea,

, on the 26th. On 1 May, the oiler put to sea to rendezvous with TF 17 once more. She made contact with Rear Admiral

Aubrey W. Fitch Aubrey Wray Fitch (June 11, 1883 – May 22, 1978) was an admiral of the United States Navy during World War II. A naval aviator, he held important aviation-related commands both at sea and on shore from the 1920s onward. He also served a ...

's task unit—built around —and, on the 2nd and 3rd, fueled the venerable carrier and her supporting ships. Drained bone dry, ''Tippecanoe'' then headed for Efate where she arrived on 4 May, the day Rear Admiral Fletcher's airmen struck the Japanese seaplane base at

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 ...

to open the preliminaries of the historic action that stopped Japan's southward advance. During the

Battle of the Coral Sea The Battle of the Coral Sea, from 4 to 8 May 1942, was a major naval battle between the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) and naval and air forces of the United States and Australia. Taking place in the Pacific Theatre of World War II, the batt ...

itself, ''Tippecanoe'' remained in the haven at Efate. On 8 May, she got underway and, for a time, joined Vice Admiral

William F. Halsey William Frederick "Bull" Halsey Jr. (October 30, 1882 – August 16, 1959) was an American Navy admiral during World War II. He is one of four officers to have attained the rank of five-star fleet admiral of the United States Navy, the others ...

's recently arrived TF 16—built around carriers and . She stopped at Noumea on 11 May and then continued on to Samoa, reaching

Tutuila Tutuila is the main island of American Samoa (and its largest), and is part of the archipelago of Samoan Islands. It is the third largest island in the Samoan Islands chain of the Central Pacific. It is located roughly northeast of Brisbane, Au ...

on 24 May. Four days later, she put to sea to return to Hawaii and entered Pearl Harbor on the 30th. On 1 July, she left

Oahu Oahu () (Hawaiian language, Hawaiian: ''Oʻahu'' ()), also known as "The Gathering place#Island of Oʻahu as The Gathering Place, Gathering Place", is the third-largest of the Hawaiian Islands. It is home to roughly one million people—over t ...

to conduct nearly a month of operations with TF 18 before returning on the 26th. ''Tippecanoe'' departed Pearl Harbor on 9 August 1942 and reached

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., ...

n waters on the 15th to begin three years in the frigid northern latitudes of the Pacific. For the remainder of the war, she steamed the resupply circuit between such ports as

Kodiak Kodiak may refer to: Places *Kodiak, Alaska, a city located on Kodiak island * Kodiak, Missouri, an unincorporated community *Kodiak Archipelago, in southern Alaska *Kodiak Island, the largest island of the Kodiak archipelago ** Kodiak Launch Com ...

Dutch Harbor Dutch Harbor is a harbor on Amaknak Island in Unalaska, Alaska. It was the location of the Battle of Dutch Harbor in June 1942, and was one of the few sites in the United States to be subjected to aerial bombardment by a foreign power during Worl ...

, Adak, Akutan, Cold Bay, and Attu and made periodic voyages south to Seattle and San Francisco to replenish. In May 1943, she supported the invasion of Attu, but from a safe distance in port at Adak. By the latter part of the summer, the Aleutians had been secured, and her travels among the American bases in the area became routine. On 15 August 1945, when hostilities in the Pacific ceased, ''Tippecanoe'' was en route from Seattle to Dutch Harbor. After visits to Adak and Attu during the latter half of the month, the oiler headed for Japan for several months of duty supporting the occupation forces. She arrived at Ominato on 8 September and, after a month there, moved on to Tokyo. During her two remaining months in Japan, she visited

Aomori is the capital city of Aomori Prefecture, in the Tōhoku region of Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 278,964 in 136,457 households, and a population density of 340 people per square kilometer spread over the city's total area of ...

Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of To ...

, and Yokosuka. She departed Yokosuka on 28 November to return to the United States and entered San Francisco on 18 December. On 6 March 1946, ''Tippecanoe'' was decommissioned at Mare Island Naval Shipyard. Her disposal was authorized on 19 March, and her name was struck from the

Navy List A Navy Directory, formerly the Navy List or Naval Register is an official list of naval officers, their ranks and seniority, the ships which they command or to which they are appointed, etc., that is published by the government or naval author ...

on 12 April. She was transferred to the Maritime Commission on 7 October and was sold to the National Metal & Steel Co. on 20 November 1946.

References

External links

''Mare Island Navy Yard''
– 1928.

Elbridge Ayer Burbank Elbridge Ayer (E. A.) Burbank (August 10, 1858 – April 21, 1949) was an American artist who sketched and painted more than 1200 portraits of Native Americans from 125 tribes. He studied art in Chicago and in his 30s traveled to Munich, Germany ...

pencil sketch. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tippecanoe (AO-21) Patoka-class oilers World War II auxiliary ships of the United States Ships built in Newport News, Virginia 1920 ships Ships of the Aleutian Islands campaign