View source for USS Navasota

{{short description|Oiler of the United States Navy}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=USNS Navasota (T-AO-106) underway in the Pacific Ocean on 2 March 1987 (6418814).jpg
|Ship caption=USNS ''Navasota'' (T-AO-106) in 1986
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag={{USN flag}}
|Ship name=USS ''Navasota''
|Ship namesake=The [[Navasota River]] in [[Texas]]
|Ship ordered=
|Ship awarded=
|Ship builder=[[Sun Shipbuilding and Drydock Company]], [[Chester, Pennsylvania]]
|Ship original cost=
|Ship yard number=
|Ship way number=
|Ship laid down=22 February 1945
|Ship launched=30 August 1945
|Ship sponsor=
|Ship commissioned=27 February 1946
|Ship decommissioned=13 August 1975
|Ship in service=1975
|Ship out of service=1991
|Ship reclassified=T-AO-107 after decommissioning
|Ship struck=2 January 1992
|Ship homeport=
|Ship identification={{IMO Number|7737133}}
|Ship honors=Nine [[battle star]]s for [[Korean War]] service and 14 [[campaign stars]] for [[Vietnam War]] service
|Ship fate=Sold for scrapping 25 October 1995
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Ship class= ''Ashtabula''- or [[Cimarron-class oiler (1939)|''Cimarron''-class]] [[replenishment oiler]]<ref>Some sources refer to this class as the ''Mispillion'' class</ref>
|Ship displacement=*As built:
*7,423 tons (light); 25,480 tons (full load)
*After "jumboization":
*12,840 tons (light); 33,987 tons (full load)
|Ship length=*As built:
*{{convert|553|ft|m|abbr=on}}
*After "jumboization":
*{{convert|644|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam={{convert|75|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship height=
|Ship draft=*As built:
*{{convert|32|ft|m|abbr=on}}
*After "jumboization":
*{{convert|34|ft|9|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship depth=
|Ship hold depth=
|Ship power={{convert|30400|hp|MW|abbr=on}}
|Ship propulsion=geared turbines, four boilers, twin screws
|Ship speed=16 knots (29.6 km/h)
|Ship range=
|Ship endurance=
|Ship capacity={{convert|146000|oilbbl|lk=on}} of [[fuel oil]]
|Ship complement=304 (as USS ''Navasota'')
|Ship crew=108 civilians plus a detachment of U.S. Navy personnel (as USNS ''Navasota'')
|Ship armament=*As built:
*1 × [[5"/38 caliber gun|{{convert|5|in|mm|abbr=on}}]] 38-caliber gun
*4 × [[3"/50 caliber gun|{{convert|3|in|mm|abbr=on}}]] 50-caliber guns
*8 × [[Bofors 40 mm Automatic Gun L/60|40-mm]] [[antiaircraft]] guns (4 x 2)
*8 × [[Oerlikon 20 mm cannon|20-mm]] antiaircraft guns (4 x 2)
*After May 1958:
*4 × 3-inch (76.2-mm) 50-caliber guns
|Ship notes="Jumboization" involved the lengthening of ''Navasota''{{'}}s hull and installation of additional cargo capacity in 1964-1965.
}}
|}
'''USS ''Navasota'' (AO-106)''' was an ''Ashtabula''-class [[replenishment oiler]] that served in the U.S. Navy from 1946 to 1973, then transferred to the [[Military Sealift Command]] to continue service as [[United States Naval Ship]] '''USNS ''Navasota'' (T-AO-106)''' until taken out of service in 1992. ''Navasota'' was sold for scrapping in 1995. She was the only U.S. Navy ship to bear the name ''Navasota''.

== Construction and commissioning ==
''Navasota'' was laid down under Maritime Commission contract on 22 February 1945 as [[Maritime Commission]] hull 2702 by [[Sun Shipbuilding and Drydock Company]], [[Chester, Pennsylvania]]. She was launched on 30 August 1945, sponsored by Mrs. A. Hahn, and commissioned on 27 February 1946.

== Operational history, 1946–63 ==
[[File:USS Lexington (CVA-16) underway during 1958 Taiwan Strait Crisis.JPG|thumb|left|''Navasota'' refueling the aircraft carrier ''Lexington'' and destroyer ''Marshall'' in the eastern Philippine Sea during the 1958 Taiwan Strait Crisis.]]
After three months of shakedown and training off the United States East Coast, ''Navasota'' steamed via the [[Panama Canal]] for [[Pearl Harbor|Pearl Harbor, Hawaii]], and the western Pacific Ocean. Assigned to [[Service Force]], [[United States Pacific Fleet]], she departed Pearl Harbor on 3 July 1946 to bring [[petroleum]] products from the [[Persian Gulf]] to the Pacific fleet. She stood out of [[Yokosuka, Japan]], on 20 August 1946 for [[San Pedro, California]], arriving on 2 September 1946. For the next four months, the oiler was in an operational training status, and on 30 January 1948, she again deployed to the [[Western Pacific Ocean|Western Pacific]]. After serving as station ship at [[Qingdao]], China, from April through June 1948, she returned to San Pedro, California, on 7 July 1948, thence to Pearl Harbor in August 1948.

''Navasota'' departed Pearl Harbor on 13 October 1948, once again en route the [[Far East]]. She departed Yokosuka on 20 November 1948 for Qingdao and remained on station until 30 December 1948, when she sailed for California via Pearl Harbor. She arrived at [[Long Beach, California]], on 19 January 1949, steamed to [[Kodiak, Alaska]] on 1 February 1949, returned to San Francisco on 25 February 1949, and continued to operate on the west coast of the United States for the next year.

''Navasota'' again deployed to the Western Pacific on 1 May 1950. When the North Koreans crossed the [[38th parallel north]] on 25 June 1950, beginning the [[Korean War]], the oiler steamed for Korean waters to fuel Allied ships in the area. In late August 1950, she put in at [[Keelung]], [[Formosa]], but she was back in Korean waters to take part in the [[Inchon]] invasion on 15 September 1950.

She steamed for Pearl Harbor on 22 October 1950, and then for Japan via [[Kwajalein]] and [[Guam]]. Departing Japan on 16 December 1950, she arrived at Long Beach on 30 December 1950, only to return to the Far East on 31 March 1951 for further operations off [[Wonsan|Wonsan, Korea]].

During her Korean operations ''Navasota'' fueled ships in [[Subic Bay]] on [[Luzon]] in the [[Philippine Islands]], in [[Buckner Bay]] on [[Okinawa Island|Okinawa]], in the [[Pescadores Islands]], in Formosa, in Japan, and in Korea. She returned to Long Beach for overhaul from October 1951 until February 1952. The oiler operated off the U.S. West Coast until getting underway on 3 April 1952 for [[Sasebo, Nagasaki|Sasebo]], Japan, and resumption of her Korean fueling operations. She remained in the area of Wonsan and [[Songjin]], Korea, for the next seven months and then returned to Long Beach, arriving there on 13 November 1952.

''Navasota'' steamed from Long Beach on 2 February 1953 for Pearl Harbor to participate in Mercantile Convoy Exercise RES 53B, after which she called at Sasebo on 26 February 1953 to commence her fourth Pacific deployment. For the next seven months, she conducted fueling operations in Korean waters. She was also used as station ship at [[Kaohsiung]], Formosa, where she fueled units of the [[Formosa Straits Patrol]] until she headed for Long Beach on 3 September 1953.

For the next ten years, ''Navasota'' continued to provide fueling services to the fleet through her annual Western Pacific deployments. In one overhaul at [[Long Beach Naval Shipyard]] from February to May 1958, all guns save her single 3-inch (76.2-mm) mounts were removed.

Highlights in this period included service as a fuel ship during the nuclear weapons tests at [[Bikini Atoll]] in the summer of 1956 and her Western Pacific deployment of 1958, when she refueled 174 ships from August through November while serving as station ship at [[Makung]] in the Pescadores.

=="Jumboization", 1963–64==
Upon completion of her 15th Western Pacific deployment on 14 October 1963, ''Navasota'' was scheduled for "jumboization", the first oiler so designated. She steamed on 14 November 1963 for [[Puget Sound Naval Shipyard]] at [[Bremerton, Washington]], for preliminary preparations, then entered [[Puget Sound Bridge and Drydock Company]], Plant No. 2, [[Harbor Island]], [[Seattle, Washington]] for the conversion. Her new 394-ft (120.1 m) midsection was built in [[Kawasaki Dock Yard]], [[Kobe]], Japan, and towed to Seattle by the Japanese tug [[Daisho Maru No. 1]].

The "jumboization" process consisted of five basic steps. First, the [[bow (ship)|bow]] was removed and retained in the [[drydock]] while the rest of the ship was floated out. Next, the new section was floated in, raised, and joined to the bow. Third, the [[bridge (ship)|bridge]] structure was transferred to the new section by heavy lift crane on 9 January 1964. Then the [[stern]] section was severed and retained in drydock while the old midsection was floated out. In the last step, the new section with bow and bridge structure attached, was floated into the dock, raised, and joined to the stern.

Although replacement of the midsection was the single largest change in the $15,000,000 process, many other important improvements were made during the conversion. A major modification was made to the stern, including a new counterbalanced rudder, new stern casting and struts, and new shorter propeller shafts and stern tubes. The latest in fueling and replenishment at sea equipment was also added, including kingposts with outriggers, ram tensioned span wires and high lines, electric hydraulic winches, cargo elevators, helicopter pickup area, and sliding blocks and cargo drop reels at replenishment stations. New electric pumps, larger cargo piping, and double-hose fueling rigs were also added, as well as a 4,500-kilowatt auxiliary diesel generator plant, and more enclosed stowage space. Habitability was also improved.

Her "jumboization" complete, ''Navasota'' left the shipyard on 28 December 1964.

== 1965–75 ==
After upkeep and training, ''Navasota'' steamed 20 August 1965 on her 16th Western Pacific deployment, arriving at Subic Bay on 11 September 1965 and returning to Long Beach on 6 June 1966.

''Navasota'' again steamed for the Western Pacific on 11 October 1966. Arriving at Subic Bay on 3 November 1966, she operated in the [[Gulf of Tonkin]] and in coastal waters off [[North Vietnam|North]] and [[South Vietnam]] in support of [[United States Seventh Fleet]] warships conducting operations in the [[Vietnam War]], with Subic Bay as her base of operations. The summer of 1967 brought the oiler back to Long Beach for upkeep and U.S. West Coast operations until she again deployed to the Western Pacific on 5 January 1968 to assume support duties for Seventh Fleet forces off [[Vietnam]]. Through at least 1970, she continued to deploy to the Western Pacific for six to eight months of each year, spending the remainder operating out of Long Beach as part of Service Force, Pacific Fleet, in support of [[United States First Fleet]] operations and [[Fleet Training Group]], [[San Diego, California]].

''Navasota'' was decommissioned on 13 August 1975 and transferred to the [[Military Sealift Command]], in which she served as USNS ''Navasota'' (T-AO-106) until 1991.

== Later career and disposition ==
''Navasota'' began active service with the Military Sealift Command in 1975. She was taken out of service in 1991. ''Navasota'' was stricken from the [[Naval Vessel Register]] on 2 January 1992. She was sold for scrapping on 25 October 1995.

==Battle honors==
USS ''Navasota'' received nine [[battle stars]] for her Korean War service and 14 [[campaign stars]] for her Vietnam War service.

==See also==
*{{cite book |last= Wildenberg |first= Thomas |year= 1996 |url= http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/GSBO/index.html |title= Gray Steel and Black Oil: Fast Tankers and Replenishment at Sea in the U.S. Navy, 1912-1995 |location= Annapolis, Maryland |publisher= Naval Institute Press |access-date= 2009-04-28}}

==References==
* {{DANFS}}
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{navsource|09/19/19106|Navasota}}

{{Cimarron class oiler (1939)}}
{{Type T3-S2-A tankers}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Navasota (AO-106)}}
[[Category:Cimarron-class oilers (1939)]]
[[Category:1945 ships]]
[[Category:Cold War auxiliary ships of the United States]]
[[Category:Korean War auxiliary ships of the United States]]
[[Category:Ashtabula-class oilers]]
[[Category:Ships built by the Sun Shipbuilding & Drydock Company]]
[[Category:Vietnam War auxiliary ships of the United States]]