Waccamaw (AO 109) - Naval Cruise Book

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CCAMAWS 10th ED CREISE The Mediterranean is no strange place to the WACCAIVIAW as this was her tenth cruise. But to the Med, the WACCAMAW was something entirely different. She was the first jumbo oiler to operate with the Sixth Fleet. To the countries bordering the sea she must have looked strange indeed. Here was a ship that should be very familiar, in fact, they remembered her name. But she was now longer, cleaner, sharper in ap- pearance, and less cluttered, with the old booms and masts replaced by smooth looking king posts. Though WACCAIVIAW was no stranger to the Med,her crew,for the most part, were very inexperienced. This would not last however for the WAC'S work was cut out for her and she turned-to with a vigor and determination that surprised even the old salts . The ships and days flew by, the score board climbed and WACCAIVIAW steamed back and forth to all corners of the Medi- terranean. She took on all comers, Car- riers, Cruisers, Cans, Ammo ships, Reef- ers, other Oilers and, would you believe, a Submarine or two! As the days went by the crew became more and more efficient and the black oil flowed faster and faster til a total of thirty two million gallons had been pumped to the thirsty ships of the Sixth Fleet. After steaming 20,000 miles visiting places such as Suda Bay, Crete, Istanbul, Turkey, Rapallo, Italy, Palermo and Argos- tolli, Sicily, Rhodes, Athens, Greece, Val- encia, Spain, Gibraltar and, of course, Naples, Italy, WACCAlVIAW'S cruise was ended and she returned to Norfolk, Virginia. She returned a bit tired and with a few aches and pains but she'd proved her point and done her job well. Watch out Sixth Fleet, we're coming back for another round next year!

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WACCAMAW, named for a NorthCaro- lina river, was built by the Sun Ship Building and Dry Dock Company at Chester, Pennsylvania, with a length of 553 feet, a beam of 75 feet and a full load displacement of 25,000 tons. Her keel was laid 28 April 1945g she was launched 30 March 1946,was transferred by the Maritime Commission to the Navy and placed in commission 25 June 1946. By late 1951, WACCAMAW had com- pleted three tours of duty with the Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean as well as one tour with the Second Fleet in theCaribbean. After shipyard overhaul in Boston in 1952, WACCAMAW participated in various operations and exercises with boththe Sixth and Second Fleets . In September and October 1957 WACCAMAW was a member of the re- plenishment group supporting the Interna- tional Fleet in the NATO fall exercises. In the course of these exercises WACCAMAW was the last oiler to fuel the battleship USS WISCONSIN and the first to fuel the super carriers USS FORRESTAL and USS SARA- TOGA. V A much needed overhaul at Boston in the winter of 1957-58 was followed by train- ing at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. During the fiscal year of 1959 WACCAMAW completed her seventh tour with the Sixth Fleet and was awarded the U.S. Atlantic Fleet Battle Effeciency Award for Excellence. 1962 brought a new tour with the Sixth Fleet and assignments with the Second Fleet taking her to the new fuel depots at El Ferrol del Candillo in Spain and Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands. WACCAMAW returned to the U.S. in 1963 and was again awarded the Battle Ef- feciency Award. February 1964 took WACCAMAW to a one day layover at San Diego to unload 60 tons of Project Handclasp material and thence to conversion at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Washington. This conversion has become known as Jumboi- zation and involves replacing the midbody with a new longer midbody increasing the ship's length 93 feet and capacity by 50 per- cent. In addition to jumboization WACCA- MAW was fitted with a modified stern with counterbalanced rudder, shorter shafts and stern tubes, the latest fueling and replenish- ment equipment along with electric deck winches and cargo pumps, increased elec- trical generating capacity and new ship's store, library, barbershop and laundry fa- cilities. WACCAMAW resumed active duty 26 February 1965 with refresher training at Guantanamo Bay followed by an Assigned Shakedown Availability at Naval Ship Yard, Boston. The Availability completed WAC- CAM AW returned to Norfolk until November when she participated in the recovery of the Gemini 6 and 7 space shots as a unit of Task Force 140. She returned to Norfolk for a brief rest then joined Operation Springboard in the Caribbean. On 4 May 1966 WACCAMAW left on her tenth deploy- ment as the fir st jumbo oiler to operate with the Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean.