View source for USNS Paoli

{{short description|Oiler of the United States Navy}}
{{no citations|date=July 2024}}
{{Use American English|date=October 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2024}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
|+USNS ''Paoli'' (T-AO-157)
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=Type T2-SE-A1 tanker Hat Creek underway at sea on 16 August 1943.jpg
|Ship caption=Type T2-SE-A1 tanker in 1943
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag= {{USN flag|1957}}
|Ship name=''Paoli'' (1944–1966)
|Ship namesake=[[Paoli, Pennsylvania]]
|Ship operator=*[[War Emergency Tankers]] (1944–1946)
*[[Sieling & Jarvis]] (1946–1955)
*[[Marine Transport Line]] (1956–1957)
|Ship owner=*[[United States Maritime Commission|Maritime Commission]] (1944–1947)
*Cities Service Oil Co. (1947–1955)
*Maritime Commission (1955–1956)
*US Navy (1956–1957)
*Marine Navigation Sulphur Carriers (1966–)
|Ship ordered=
|Ship builder=[[Sun Shipbuilding & Drydock Co.]], [[Chester, Pennsylvania]]
|Ship yard number=401
|Ship laid down=18 July 1944
|Ship launched=31 October 1944
|Ship sponsor=Mrs. Lina Martin
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned= 
|Ship decommissioned= 
|Ship in service=15 October 1956
|Ship out of service=2 October 1957
|Ship struck= 2 October 1957
|Ship renamed=
|Ship reclassified=
|Ship homeport=
|Ship motto=
|Ship nickname=
|Ship honors=
|Ship fate= Sold, 1966
|Ship notes=
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=title
|Ship registry=
|Ship name=''Marine Floridian'' (1966–c.1997)
|Ship acquired=1966
|Ship fate=
|Ship notes=
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=title
|Ship registry=
|Ship name=''Belofin Floridian'' (c.1997)
|Ship identification=*{{IMO Number|5270208}}
|Ship fate=Scrapped, 1997
|Ship notes=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship type=[[T2 tanker|T2–SE–A1]] [[tanker (ship)|tanker]]
|Ship displacement=*{{convert|5782|LT|t|0|abbr=on}} light
*{{convert|21880|LT|t|0|abbr=on}} full
|Ship length= {{convert|523|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam= {{convert|68|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship draft= {{convert|30|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship depth=
|Ship hold depth=
|Ship propulsion=[[Turbo-electric]], single screw, {{convert|8000|hp|0|abbr=on}}
|Ship speed= {{convert|15.5|kn|lk=in}}
|Ship range= 
|Ship capacity={{convert|140000|oilbbl|m3}}
|Ship complement= 251
|Ship armament=None
|Ship armor=
|Ship notes=
}}
|}
'''USNS ''Paoli'' (T-AO-157)''' was a ''Gettysburg''-class fuel tanker, built at [[Sun Shipbuilding & Drydock Co.]] in [[Chester, Pennsylvania]]. A Type [[T2 tanker|T2–SE–A1 tanker]], it was hull number 401 and [[Maritime Commission]] number 1734. The ship was laid down on 18 July 1944, launched on 31 October 1944, sponsored by Mrs. Lina Martin, and delivered to the [[United States Maritime Commission|Maritime Commission]] on 11 November 1944 for operation by [[War Emergency Tankers]], [[New York City]].

==Service history==
{{stack|[[File:USNSPaoli(T-AO-157).jpg|thumb|USNS Paoli (T-AO-157)]]}}
''Paoli'' made oil runs to the [[United Kingdom]], between the Caribbean and the east coast; and to the Persian Gulf during World War II.

On 5 January 1946, the ship was transferred to [[Sieling & Jarvis]] of [[Newport News, Virginia]], and then sold to Cities Service Oil Co., on 14 January 1947, for $1,797,871.78. The ship was returned to the Maritime Commission on 23 March 1955, at [[Beaumont, Texas]], for lay up.

''Paoli'' was acquired by the [[United States Navy]] from the [[United States Maritime Administration|Maritime Administration]] as [[Suez Crisis|political tensions in the Middle East]] heightened. The ship was assigned to the [[Military Sea Transportation Service]] (MSTS), as '''USNS ''Paoli'' (T-AO-157)''' on 15 October 1956, and was operated by Marine Transport Lines Inc. ''Paoli'' served until returned to MARAD custody and struck from the [[Naval Vessel Register|Navy List]] on 2 October 1957.

==SS Marine Floridian==
On 2 February 1966, the ship was transferred to Marine Navigation Sulphur Carriers Inc., and rebuilt into a liquid [[sulfur]] carrier at [[Baltimore]] and renamed {{SS|Marine Floridian}}. She was a 5,700 ton, {{convert|523|ft|m|adj=mid|-long}} ocean-going [[Tanker (ship)|tanker]].
On 24 February 1977, ''Marine Floridian'' [[Ship collision|collided]] with the [[Benjamin Harrison Bridge]], a drawbridge over the [[James River]] near [[Hopewell, Virginia]]. The collision closed the bridge to traffic for 20 months and resulted in damages totaling $9.7 million. The ship was later renamed SS ''Belofin Floridian'' shortly before being scrapped in 1997.

==References==
* {{DANFS|https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/p/paoli.html}}
* {{navsource|09/19/19157|Paoli (T-AO-157)}}
* {{cite web |url=http://www.t2tanker.org |title=T2 Tanker }}

{{Suamico class fleet replenishment oiler}}
{{Type T2-SE-A1 tankers|sun}}
{{1977 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Paoli (T-AO-157)}}
[[Category:Type T2-SE-A1 tankers]]
[[Category:1944 ships]]
[[Category:World War II tankers of the United States]]
[[Category:Suamico-class oilers]]
[[Category:Type T2-SE-A1 tankers of the United States Navy]]<!-- not all Suamico oilers were of this design -->
[[Category:Cold War auxiliary ships of the United States]]
[[Category:Ships built by the Sun Shipbuilding & Drydock Company]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks of the James River]]
[[Category:Merchant ships of the United States]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks of the Virginia coast]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in 1977]]