Waccamaw (AO 109) - Naval Cruise Book

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The USS WACCAMAW QAO-1095 was com- missioned on June 25, 1946. She was 553 feet long with a beam of 75 feet and a fuel carrying capacity of over 4 million gallons of liquid cargo. In September of 1948 WACCAMAW made her first Med cruise. Between September of 1948 and March of 1964 she made a total of nine cruises in the Med. During this 17 year period WACCAMAW participated in several major operations and won three U.S. Atlar1tic Fleet Battle Efficiency Awards. She was also the last oiler to refuel the BattleshipWISCONSIN and the first to fuel the new super carriers FORRESTAL and SARATOGA. On March 2, 1964 WACCAMAW was turned over to the Puget Sound Bridge Sz Dry Dock Company for conversion to AOJ tJumboJ. The conversion of WACCAMAW has be- come known in the shipbuilding industry as jumboization. This involves replacing the mid section of the ship with a new longer midbody having about 507, greater cargo capacity. Al- though replacement of the mid section was the single biggest change, many other improve- ments were made during her conversion. The latest design in fueling and replenishment at sea equipment was added including kingposts, ramtension span wires, electric winches, cargo elevators and a helocopter deck. An auxiliary diesel generator plant was installed to run the new pumps and Winches. Habitability was im- proved by installing air conditioning in alloffice and living spaces. ,H-2,7 k k. The new WACCAMAW was delivered to the Navy on February 26, 1965. She was now 648 feet long and carried over 7 million gallons of liquid cargo. She carries enough gasoline to rtm a car for 500 years, enough fuel oil to heat a house for 3000 years, enough black oil to send the Queen Mary around the world three times, and can produce enough electricity to light the island of Manhattan. One, among .many of WACCAMAWS' ac- complishments in the sixth fleet, is the record rig time of 41 seconds which was Set during her tenth Med cruise with the aid of the USS ALBANY. On March 16, 1970 WACCAMAW departed from Norfolk for her twelfth Mediterranean cruise which was originally scheduled for six months. On September 17, 1970, just four hours short of outchopping, WACCAMAW received a message extending her in the Med due to the crisis in Jordan. On October 23, 1970 WACCAMAW was re- leased and on her way home. During her seventh month in the Med she visited Valleta, Malta, Naples, Italy, Barcelona, Spain,Athens, Greece, Corfu, Greece, Augusta Bay, Sicily, and Suda Bay, Crete. WACCAMAW arrived home on October 31, 1970 with 37,585 miles more be- neath her keel and having pumped over 56 mil- lion gallons of fuel to the 352 ships she had alongside. The following pages try to tell the story of that cruise and of the men who served on WACCAMAW during that time.

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