Mispillion (AO 105) - Naval Cruise Book

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ii li T2 2 1 Y W The aircraff carrier KEARSARGE comes alongside for replenishmenf . . . 2, wa,-I f ix, ', -XD , ' mths .,,. A . - 1 . -,ig , Y xg, .,.., 17 .- , ,,,,.. ,....2.4..-eq--'lr fx as does fhe boffleship MISSOURI , , , 7-1 . . . and the destroyer escorf ULVERT M. MOORE

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THE MlSPlLl.lON'S STORY The USS MISPILLION CAO-1051 was built by the Sun- Ship-Building and Dry Dock Company in Chester, Pennsylvania in ac- cordance with specifications approved by the U.S. Navy for the U.S. Maritime Commission. It was then turned over to the Navy at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard for conversion to a Fleet Oiler. At five minutes after three o'clock on the afternoon of Decem- ber 29, 1945 the ship was placed in commission. Mrs. Ethel C. Feddeman, wife of the Chief Physician of the Sun Company, was the s onsor at the launching which was to start the Mispillion on her long, 0dventUr0US, Gnd 6XCiTIf19 CGYGGV- P The Mispillion was named for the Mispillion Creek in Delaware in accordance with the traditional Naval Custom of naming Fleet Oilers and tankers after rivers flowing in the continental limits of the United States. Th h' was under the control of the Commandant, Fourth Naval District until January 29, 1946 when she was assigned e s ip to Commander Service Force, Atlantic Fleet, and sent to St. Nicholas Bay, Aruba, Venezuela on March 9th of that year. That ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' h t' I control of Com- trip proved to be the termination of the Mispillion s Atlantic Coast duty, for she then shifted to t e opera iona d S ' F e Pacific Fleet Steamed through the Canal Zone and proceeded to Pearl Harbor in the Territory of Hawaii. man er ervice orc , , , On April 6 1946 the Mispillion sailed for Yokohama, Japan where she first became acquainted with the Far East, and thence K d S' re to Jinsen, Korea, and Tsingtao, China where she acted as station tanker until July 1946. Shanghai, Hong ong, an mgapo f ll th w to Bahrein Arabia in July 1946 the first of many such trips. Shuttle trips between Bahrein and were ports o ca on e ay , , ports in the Philippines and Japan continued until October when the ship sailed again for Shanghai to act as station tanker. ' ' ' ' B h ' A b' nd From January '47 to July '47 the ship resumed the shuttle runs from Japan and the Philippines to a rein, ra ia, a then, after a shipyard overhaul and training period, she sailed again in December 1947 for Yokosuka, Japan and returned to ' ' ' ' ' ' d T k F 38 and sailed for Sydney, Pearl Harbor. Not stopping for long, on the 16th of January 1948 the Mispillion loine as orce Australia. After the tour in Australia, the ship receive station an er y . June 1948 after participating in atomic bomb experiments. On 20 July 1948 the Mispillion sailed from Long Beach and was again assigned to the shuttle duty from Bahrein, Arabia to Guam, Manila, and Yokosuka. The ship returned to the United States for two weeks preparation in Minor Cold Weather Operations which were to begin . . . L On return from Alaska she then entered the Naval Shipyards in San Francisco for overhau Pennant was presented to the Mispillion as an award to the best Fleet Oiler in the Pacific Fleet by P l H b The Mis illion then sailed for Subic Bay Pl there d ' t k dut in the Marshall Islands She sailed for San Francisco in in Alaska in February 1949. The Battle Efficiency Commander Service Forces, Pacific Fleet on August 13, 1949 at ear ar or. p , . ., to be assigned to the Seventh Task Fleet with ports of call in Yokosuka, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, and in the Philippine Islands. She remained with the Seventh Fleet until November 1949, and, for the balance of the year and up until April 1950, the ship op- erated from Long Beach, California making lifts' to Eniwetok in the Marshall Islands, with stop-overs in Pearl Harbor. lt was in September of 1950 that the Mispillion answered the United Nations emergency action in Korea. With Sasebo, Japan as its port of refueling, the ship carried on its replenishment operations, carrying her precious cargo of fuel to United Nations vessels at the scene of action on both the Korean coasts. In February of 1951 the Mispillion was called upon to assist the U.S. Seventh Fleet and Formosan Patrol at Keelung, Formosa where she was employed in the professional duties of fueling the United Nations units there as well as promoting good- will with our Chinese allies. After a trip to Hong Kong in March 1951, the Mighty Miss was back in Keelung for a short two-week stay and then f t' 'n the Korean campaign to the Japan-Korea Theater and what is commonly called the line or opera ions: . lt wasn't until June 1951 that the Mispillion received orders to return home. With stop-overs at Guam and Pearl Harbor, the fter a brief overhaul at the Long Beach Naval shipyards, and having participated in the underway training program at San Diego, the ship returned to Sasebo and the line . A much a preciated relief from the hard Korean winter was the Mispillion's trip to Okinawa and Kaohsiung, Formosa in . ,, . . . . P February 1952. Another short stay in Hong Kong in March, and then she was back on the line providing the U.N. ships with ' ' ' ' ' St 1 'd f the replenishment of fuel oil, aviation gasoline, passengers and provisions until August, 1952, and then it was a es: e or Mispillion and her crew. Stopping at Kobe and Yokosuka, Japan, and Pearl Harbor, the ship arrived in Long Beach, California on September 2, 1952. She stayed in the Long Beach-San Diego area only two short months and then sailed once again for the familiar Far East on 10 November 1952. At the conclusion of the present tour, the Mispillion will have spent 30 of the 36 months since the Korean action began, in the Far Eastern area. Since the Korean War broke out in June 1950, the Mispillion has had three commanding officers: Captain Carl F. Still man, Captain James A. Flenniken, and the present commanding officer, Captain Henry G. Munson. Captain Munson is assisted ' ' ' ' ' ' l' d f th bal in his duties by the Executive Officer, Lcdr. John T. Zeigweid. Thirteen departmental officers and 294 en iste men orm e ship arrived in Long Beach on June 25. A ance of the crew.

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mf . . . l think that l shall never see ' A sight more welcome than a tree, But when between bulkheacls and keel One must run to find his wheel . . . . . . Blackie, '53 ffe Hiutlx ge , ,