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USNS Mispillion (T-AO 105)

USNS MISPILLION was the first of five former MARAD standard type T3-S2-A3 oilers which received a "jumboization" conversion in the mid-1960s. Commissioned in 1945, the MISPILLION was the first ship in the Navy named after the river in Delaware. Transfered to the Military Sealift Command in 1975, MISPILLION was eventually deactivated in 1991. Subsequently laid up in Benicia, Calif., as part of the Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet, the MISPILLION was finally sold for scrapping to ESCO Marine of Brownsville, Tx., in 2012.

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Crew List:

This section contains the names of sailors who served aboard USNS MISPILLION. It is no official listing but contains the names of sailors who submitted their information.

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Accidents aboard USS / USNS MISPILLION:

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USS / USNS MISPILLION History:

USS MISPILLION was built during the final year of World War II as a fleet oiler of the Maritime Commission's T3-S2-A3 design. Her keel was laid on February 14, 1945, at Sun Shipbuilding and Drydock Company in Chester, Pennsylvania, under a Maritime Commission contract as hull number 2701. She was launched on August 10, 1945, sponsored by Mrs. C. E. Feddeman, and acquired by the Navy on November 30, 1945. Commissioned at Norfolk, Virginia, on December 29, 1945, under Commander Ray E. Wingler, she was named for the Mispillion River in Delaware. Her commissioning followed the end of the war, and she consequently undertook no World War II combat operations.

On April 6, 1946, MISPILLION joined Service Force, Pacific. During the next four years, she alternated station-tanker assignments at Tsingtao, now Qingdao, and Shanghai in China, Subic Bay in the Philippines, and Eniwetok in the Marshall Islands with fuel-carrying voyages from Bahrain. Her distribution network extended to Japan, China, the Philippines, the Marshall Islands, and the Mariana Islands. These voyages took place during the postwar occupation of Japan and the renewed fighting of the Chinese Civil War.

MISPILLION arrived at Eniwetok on April 10, 1948, as a service tanker for Operation Sandstone. She was underway off the atoll for the X-ray nuclear test on April 15, 1948. USS RABY (DE 698) moored alongside on April 18, 1948. MISPILLION was again underway for Yoke on May 1, 1948. USS PERKINS (DD 877) refueled from her on May 3, 1948. MISPILLION departed for Guam on May 5, 1948, and returned on May 12, 1948. She went to sea for Zebra on May 15, 1948, and refueled PERKINS later that day. The gasoline tanker USS KLICKITAT (AOG 64) received fuel on May 19, 1948. A radiological survey on May 20, 1948, found slight contamination; the highest reading was 0.002 roentgen per hour in the port engine-room ventilation intakes. MISPILLION departed for Kwajalein on May 21, 1948, on her way back to the United States. In 1949, she conducted cold-weather operations off Alaska.

The Korean War changed the pattern of her employment. After North Korea invaded South Korea on June 25, 1950, MISPILLION joined Task Force 90 and supported the naval forces involved in the Inchon landing of September 15, 1950. She subsequently rounded the Korean Peninsula to supply forces operating in the Wonsan area. Her work supported amphibious operations, the naval blockade, and the ships providing gunfire support to forces ashore. She also supplied the aircraft carriers of Task Force 77, carrying aviation gasoline as well as fuel for ships operating in the Yellow Sea and the Sea of Japan.

Following a period on the U.S. West Coast in the autumn of 1951, MISPILLION returned to the combat area in November 1951. She came back to the United States in August 1952 and departed again in September 1952 for another western Pacific assignment lasting approximately nine months. During these Korean War deployments, she also spent periods as a station tanker at Kaohsiung, Taiwan, supporting the Taiwan Strait patrol. On December 18, 1952, she replenished USS KEARSARGE (CVA 33) in rough weather off Korea.

On April 15, 1953, MISPILLION carried out rescue operations after the Chinese Nationalist steamer MENTEN burned and sank while sailing from Kaohsiung toward Sencho. Fourteen survivors and 27 bodies were recovered from a reported complement of 52. MISPILLION's Korean War service earned eight battle stars. After the armistice of July 27, 1953, she continued alternating western Pacific assignments with operations along the American West Coast and intervening maintenance periods.

From February 21, 1954, through March 4, 1954, MISPILLION supported Operation Castle in the Marshall Islands, initially refueling Task Group 7.3 ships at Bikini and Eniwetok. On February 24, 1954, she was ordered to Kwajalein to lead a search southwest of the atoll for a missing Royal Air Force Canberra bomber. She reached Kwajalein on February 26, 1954, and shortly afterward put to sea for the search. The search group, Task Unit 32.6.4, included USS NICHOLAS (DDE 449), USS EDMONDS (DE 406), USS SILVERSTEIN (DE 534), the patrol craft USS PC-1145 and USS PC-1141, and the New Zealand frigate HMNZS HAWEA (F 422). During the Castle Bravo nuclear test on March 1, 1954, MISPILLION was well south of the fallout area. The search ended on March 3, 1954, without locating the aircraft, and she proceeded toward Guam.

During 1955, MISPILLION replenished USS PHILIPPINE SEA (CVA 47) and USS BUCK (DD 761) during the carrier's western Pacific deployment. In May 1956, she supported another nuclear-test series, Operation Redwing. Serving as a task-group oiler, she accompanied USS CURTISS (AV 4) and escorting ships from Hawaii to the Pacific Proving Ground and remained in the test area during May. The assignment again placed her in the logistics organization supporting nuclear weapons testing in the Marshall Islands.

MISPILLION continued operating in waters affected by the confrontation between the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China on Taiwan. Her credited Taiwan Strait service extended from July 9, 1958, through September 7, 1958. This overlapped the beginning of the renewed bombardment of the Nationalist-held offshore islands during the second Taiwan Strait crisis. Captain Frederick George Dierman assumed command in March 1959. Later that year, the ship prepared for another western Pacific assignment at Long Beach, with Pearl Harbor and Sasebo among the ports visited during the ensuing cruise. During 1959, she also refueled USS BON HOMME RICHARD (CVA 31) and a destroyer simultaneously.

Further credited operations around Quemoy and Matsu included December 25, 1959, through December 26, 1959, and January 21, 1960, through January 22, 1960. During 1960, she replenished USS HIGBEE (DDR 806) in the Far East. Additional Quemoy-Matsu service followed from June 27, 1961, through June 29, 1961, July 15, 1961, through July 17, 1961, and July 23, 1961, through July 24, 1961, with a further period on November 14, 1962, and November 15, 1962. These intervals identify recognized operational service rather than the boundaries of entire deployments.

On August 20, 1963, MISPILLION replenished the antisubmarine carrier USS BENNINGTON (CVS 20), while USS ALFRED A. CUNNINGHAM (DD 752) received fuel on her starboard side.

On November 26, 1963, a contract was awarded to American Ship Building Company for the modernization of MISPILLION and two of her sisters. She was still operational off Oahu on January 18, 1964. Construction of her replacement midbody began on March 30, 1964, while her recognized Vietnam service included May 24, 1964, through May 28, 1964. This early Vietnam assignment preceded the major American naval and air escalation following the Gulf of Tonkin incidents later that year.

On April 16, 1965, MISPILLION was placed in commission in reserve for the extensive conversion generally known as jumboization. American Ship Building Company undertook the conversion in Ohio, and Boston Naval Shipyard performed completion work. The original cargo section was replaced with a new midbody approximately 394 feet long, while the existing bow, stern, propulsion machinery, and amidships deckhouse were retained. The change increased her overall length by approximately 91 feet to about 644 feet and substantially enlarged her cargo capacity.

The conversion also altered her replenishment equipment. Electrically powered hydraulic winches replaced steam-driven equipment, and new kingposts, hose-handling arrangements, tensioning equipment, larger piping, and electric cargo pumps improved fuel transfer. Three diesel generators supplied the additional electrical demand, reducing the load imposed on the main steam plant during replenishment. The enlarged ships could conduct replenishment at approximately 15 to 16 knots. Accommodation improvements included air conditioning and changes to service spaces. In July 1966, MISPILLION was again underway in Boston Harbor. On September 6, 1966, she departed Boston in full commission to return to Long Beach.

Her discarded original midbody subsequently entered another ship's construction history. During the 1967 rebuilding of the merchant vessel BLADENSBURG, previously known as ESSO ALLENTOWN, part of MISPILLION's former hull was combined with other sections to produce TRANSSUPERIOR.

In April 1967, MISPILLION departed on her first western Pacific deployment since 1964. She arrived at Subic Bay on April 22, 1967, and began supplying Seventh Fleet carriers and naval gunfire-support ships operating off Vietnam. On May 24, 1967, she refueled USS PROVIDENCE (CLG 6) as the cruiser returned toward the Gulf of Tonkin. She supplied PROVIDENCE again on May 26, 1967, while the cruiser was operating at Yankee Station. These operations took place during the continuing American air campaign against North Vietnam and the employment of surface ships along the Vietnamese coast.

On July 4, 1967, MISPILLION replenished the Australian guided-missile destroyer HMAS HOBART (D 39). Captain Joseph Lustrat Coleman assumed command on September 29, 1967. During October 1967, USS WALDRON (DD 699) came alongside for fuel in the Gulf of Tonkin. MISPILLION's duties also included distributing mail and exchanging motion-picture films among ships operating offshore. Over the deployment, she transferred more than 71 million U.S. gallons of fuel. She returned to Long Beach on November 30, 1967. Her service from April 14, 1967, through November 16, 1967, was recognized with a Meritorious Unit Commendation.

For approximately five months after her return, MISPILLION operated along the West Coast and in Hawaiian waters while preparing for another deployment. She sailed again on May 11, 1968. On June 28, 1968, she refueled USS COLLETT (DD 730), which was operating with USS CONSTELLATION (CVA 64) and NICHOLAS. Other replenishment partners during 1968 included USS AMERICA (CVA 66), USS HANCOCK (CVA 19), and USS ENGLAND (DLG 22). A rotating orange Union 76 service-station ball was mounted at MISPILLION's stern by this time. In December 1968, a ruptured connection caused fuel to spray from a replenishment hose during operations in the South China Sea.

MISPILLION continued her western Pacific service during 1969. On September 11, 1969, she received supplies from USS WHITE PLAINS (AFS 4) at Sasebo. This was WHITE PLAINS' first replenishment after joining Seventh Fleet on her initial deployment. During the autumn, MISPILLION also operated in a replenishment formation in the Gulf of Tonkin in which Sea Knight helicopters from USS NIAGARA FALLS (AFS 3) transferred cargo. Her service from August 23, 1969, through February 28, 1970, received another Meritorious Unit Commendation. Besides her Vietnam duties, her record included recognized Korean operations during several intervals in August and September 1969 and on February 18, 1970.

During 1970, MISPILLION again supplied BON HOMME RICHARD at Yankee Station. In the autumn, USS CHICAGO (CG 11) approached her for refueling in the western Pacific. Around November 1970, she transferred petroleum products to barges while anchored at a South Vietnamese port. On January 5, 1971, she replenished the ocean minesweeper USS ENDURANCE (MSO 435) in the Pacific.

MISPILLION returned to sustained operations off Vietnam during 1972. Her campaign record includes service beginning on March 18, 1972, and further operational periods extending into November. The deployment coincided with North Vietnam's Easter Offensive and the enlarged American naval response, including increased carrier operations and naval gunfire support. Commander Robert Evers MacLean assumed command on April 13, 1972. In May 1972, she conducted a highline transfer of personnel with another fleet oiler. MISPILLION's service from February 27, 1972, through November 18, 1972, was recognized with a Meritorious Unit Commendation. Over her Vietnam War service, she earned ten campaign stars.

Around 1973, MISPILLION's replenishment customers included USS SCHENECTADY (LST 1185) and USS ANCHORAGE (LSD 36), extending her support to amphibious forces as well as carriers and surface combatants. Commander Peter Kaufmann Fitzwilliam, her final commanding officer in commissioned Navy service, took command on December 10, 1973.

During early 1974, MISPILLION supported an Indian Ocean task group that included USS BAINBRIDGE (DLGN 25) and USS SCHOFIELD (DEG 3). On February 27, 1974, BAINBRIDGE evacuated an injured man from MISPILLION near the breakwater at Diego Garcia in the British Indian Ocean Territory. During the same year's Indian Ocean operations, MISPILLION supported a formation centered on USS KITTY HAWK (CV 63), which included USS BRONSTEIN (DE 1037). These deployments followed the October 1973 Arab-Israeli War and took place amid increased American and Soviet naval activity in the Indian Ocean. USS SACRAMENTO (AOE 1) subsequently relieved MISPILLION, which then headed home.

On July 26, 1974, MISPILLION was decommissioned and transferred to the Military Sealift Command. The change ended her service as a commissioned warship but retained her fleet-replenishment function under a civilian master and civilian marine crew, with a Navy detachment aboard. As USNS MISPILLION, she resumed operational service in early 1975. Her first underway replenishment with a civilian crew took place on February 15, 1975. She subsequently operated from Subic Bay on a prolonged forward assignment, with individual crew members rotating while the ship remained overseas.

MISPILLION's recognized service during Operation Frequent Wind covered April 29, 1975, and April 30, 1975. The operation evacuated Americans and Vietnamese from Saigon during the final collapse of South Vietnam. Her participation qualified for the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal and the Humanitarian Service Medal. Her operational record also includes the Mayaguez operation on May 15, 1975, after Cambodian Khmer Rouge forces seized the American merchant ship SS MAYAGUEZ.

In August 1976, MISPILLION supported the naval response to the killing of two American officers by North Korean troops at Panmunjom on August 18, 1976. The carrier force put to sea from Yokosuka and entered the Sea of Japan. In addition to USS MIDWAY (CV 41), the force included USS GRIDLEY (CG 21), USS COCHRANE (DDG 21), USS KIRK (FF 1087), USS MEYERKORD (FF 1058), USS LANG (FF 1060), USS LOCKWOOD (FF 1064), and USS ASHTABULA (AO 51). MISPILLION provided oiler support during the confrontation surrounding Operation Paul Bunyan, the guarded removal of the disputed tree at Panmunjom on August 21, 1976.

In late February 1977, WHITE PLAINS resupplied MISPILLION during a replenishment sequence that also serviced MIDWAY and USS WORDEN (CG 18). MISPILLION continued her western Pacific assignment through the later 1970s. Her recognized Iran and Indian Ocean service included January 14, 1979, through March 7, 1979, during the Iranian Revolution.

On July 1, 1979, MISPILLION departed Subic Bay in company with USS BADGER (FF 1071), USS BREWTON (FF 1086), and USS RATHBURNE (FF 1057), heading toward Singapore.

By early November 1979, MISPILLION was at Mombasa with the MIDWAY force. MIDWAY and BAINBRIDGE remained outside the harbor, while MISPILLION, USNS NAVASOTA, USS STEIN (FF 1065), and USS SAN JOSE (AFS 7) berthed inside. Other ships associated with the carrier force during this Indian Ocean assignment included USS PARSONS (DDG 33) and USS KNOX (FF 1052). The seizure of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran on November 4, 1979, led to an extended American naval presence in the Indian Ocean and northern Arabian Sea. MISPILLION's credited service in connection with the Iran crisis included November 21, 1979, through December 14, 1979.

Indian Ocean support continued during 1980, when MISPILLION also used the anchorage in Diego Garcia's lagoon. Her recognized service included January 13, 1980, through March 19, 1980, April 1, 1980, through April 17, 1980, and July 1, 1980, through September 21, 1980. On December 1, 1980, she replenished USS LEAHY (CG 16) and USS SAMPLE (FF 1048). During the 1980-1981 deployment of USS RANGER (CV 61), she also refueled that carrier and BADGER. Further credited Iran and Indian Ocean operations extended from January 13, 1981, through March 11, 1981.

During May 1981, MISPILLION accompanied USS WADDELL (DDG 24), USS RICHARD S. EDWARDS (DD 950), and USS HARRY W. HILL (DD 986) on a two-day freedom-of-navigation operation in the Sea of Okhotsk. The operation formed part of American naval activity close to the Soviet Far East during the later Cold War. Further Iran and Indian Ocean service followed from July 27, 1981, through September 23, 1981. Her replenishment partners around 1981-1982 also included CONSTELLATION and USS SOMERS (DDG 34).

On January 10, 1982, MISPILLION collided with the Navy-contracted tanker TEXAS TRADER during a routine fuel transfer in the Indian Ocean. Both ships sustained minor damage, and no injuries were reported.

During the first half of 1983, MISPILLION supported naval forces in the Indian Ocean and in the northern Pacific off Korea and Japan. On April 13, 1983, she replenished MIDWAY during FleetEx 83 near the Aleutian Islands. The exercise involved the U.S. Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard together with Canadian naval forces. On June 5, 1983, MISPILLION was again underway with the MIDWAY battle group. On July 7, 1983, she operated in formation with MIDWAY, MEYERKORD, USS JOHN A. MOORE (FFG 19), the reactivated battleship USS NEW JERSEY (BB 62), and USS FRANCIS HAMMOND (FF 1067).

During 1983, MISPILLION also refueled NEW JERSEY near Guam. One of MISPILLION's steering engines malfunctioned during the replenishment, but the problem was corrected without an emergency breakaway. She subsequently refueled six additional ships before noon that day.

By early 1984, MISPILLION was operating under civilian master Captain Richard E. Thomas with approximately 105 civil-service mariners and a Navy detachment of 16. During April and May 1984, she also replenished KITTY HAWK. Her Military Sealift Command service from July 27, 1982, through May 1, 1984, was recognized with a Meritorious Unit Commendation.

During 1985, MISPILLION supported Battle Group Alfa, centered on MIDWAY. The formation's Indian Ocean movement began with its departure from Subic Bay on June 24, 1985. Other ships included ENGLAND, USS REEVES (CG 24), USS TOWERS (DDG 9), COCHRANE, USS OLDENDORF (DD 972), KNOX, KIRK, SAN JOSE, USNS KILAUEA (T-AE 26), and USS KANSAS CITY (AOR 3). The force reached the North Arabian Sea on July 3, 1985, and conducted an exercise and turnover with the departing CONSTELLATION force on July 6, 1985, and July 7, 1985. Subsequent operations took place in the North Arabian Sea and Gulf of Oman during the continuing Iran-Iraq War.

During a carrier force's anchorage at Masirah, Oman, from November 7, 1986, through November 11, 1986, MISPILLION operated with USS CARL VINSON (CVN 70), LEAHY, USS JOUETT (CG 29), USS GARY (FFG 51), SAN JOSE, USS MARVIN SHIELDS (FF 1066), USS FLINT (AE 32), and USS SAMUEL GOMPERS (AD 37). Later that month, she was among the ships at anchor during the carrier force's Mombasa visit from November 17, 1986, through November 23, 1986. Ships present included CARL VINSON, LEAHY, GARY, USS ROANOKE (AOR 7), MARVIN SHIELDS, USS PAUL F. FOSTER (DD 964), USS VINCENNES (CG 49), and SAN JOSE.

On January 2, 1987, MISPILLION and USNS PASSUMPSIC were moored at the Naval Ship Repair Facility at Subic Bay. Later in the year, MISPILLION again operated with the MIDWAY force. A formation underway on September 26, 1987, included MIDWAY, REEVES, ENGLAND, TOWERS, COCHRANE, OLDENDORF, KNOX, KIRK, SAN JOSE, KILAUEA, KANSAS CITY, and MISPILLION.

On December 1, 1987, MISPILLION was operating in the Indian Ocean with a force that brought together MIDWAY and USS IOWA (BB 61). Ships operating with the force during December included USS STERETT (CG 31), USS TICONDEROGA (CG 47), USS HORNE (CG 30), OLDENDORF, USS DEYO (DD 989), TOWERS, KNOX, FRANCIS HAMMOND, WHITE PLAINS, USS CIMARRON (AO 177), and KILAUEA. MISPILLION replenished FRANCIS HAMMOND on December 10, 1987, December 16, 1987, and December 24, 1987. These operations coincided with Operation Earnest Will, the American protection of reflagged Kuwaiti tankers during the Iran-Iraq War. MISPILLION supported the wider naval force through replenishment in the Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea.

On October 6, 1988, MISPILLION replenished USS HALSEY (CG 23). By May 1989, she had returned to Oakland after the long forward assignment that had begun in early 1975. A repair programme involving replacement of her reduction gears was planned at that time.

On February 8, 1990, MISPILLION entered the National Defense Reserve Fleet at Suisun Bay, near Benicia, California. By May 1990, a protective sealing and dehumidification system had been installed in San Francisco to preserve her machinery and enclosed spaces. The installation included a moisture-monitoring alarm system and a dehumidifier rated at approximately 600 cubic feet per minute. The reserve arrangements contemplated an emergency reactivation period of approximately 50 to 90 days.

MISPILLION was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on February 15, 1995. Navy ownership continued until May 1, 1999, when title passed to the Maritime Administration. On June 21, 2005, the California State Historic Preservation Officer cleared the ship for disposal through the historic-preservation review process. She remained in the Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet during the following years. In late 2011, MISPILLION was sold to ESCO Marine of Brownsville, Texas, for approximately $1.8 million. On January 5, 2012, she left the reserve fleet and was taken to Mare Island for hull cleaning and preparation for the voyage to the dismantling yard. On January 27, 2012, she began the tow to Texas. MISPILLION arrived at Brownsville on March 4, 2012, and was subsequently dismantled there.

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USS / USNS MISPILLION Image Gallery:

The photo below was taken by me and shows the MISPILLION laid-up at Suisun Bay, Calif., on March 27, 2010. The large dark barge on the left is the Hughes Mining Barge (HMB 1) housing the Sea Shadow.

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