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2025-02-04T15:57:24Z

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{{short description|Oiler of the United States Navy}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2021}}

{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=[[File:USS Chiwawa (AO-68) at anchor off Okinawa on 7 September 1945.jpg|300px|USS Chiwawa (AO-68)]]
|Ship caption=USS ''Chiwawa'' at anchor off [[Okinawa Island|Okinawa]] on 7 September 1945
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship country= [[United States]]
|Ship flag={{USN flag|1945}}
|Ship name=USS ''Chiwawa''
|Ship namesake=[[Chiwawa River]] in [[Washington (state)|Washington]]
|Ship owner=
|Ship operator=
|Ship route=
|Ship ordered=as T3-S-A1 tanker hull, MC hull 516
|Ship awarded=
|Ship builder= [[Bethlehem Hingham Shipyard]]
|Ship original cost=
|Ship yard number=
|Ship way number=
|Ship laid down=as SS ''Samoset''
|Ship launched=25 June 1942
|Ship sponsor= Mrs. H. G. Smith
|Ship christened=
|Ship completed=
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned=24 December 1942
|Ship recommissioned=
|Ship decommissioned=6 May 1946
|Ship maiden voyage=
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship renamed=
|Ship reclassified=
|Ship refit=
|Ship struck=25 September 1946
|Ship reinstated=
|Ship identification=*{{IMO Number|5385625}}
*{{MMSI Number|366904950}}
*[[Maritime call sign|Callsign]]: WUR8857
|Ship motto=
|Ship nickname=
|Ship honours=
|Ship honors= Two [[File:Bronze-service-star-3d-vector.svg|18px]] [[Service star#Navy warships|battle stars]] for her [[World War II]] patrols
|Ship captured=
|Ship fate=Sold by the [[MARAD]] in 1961, currently in service as the MV Lee A. Tregurtha, a [[Great Lakes]] [[Freighter (cargo ship)|freighter]] for the [[Interlake Steamship Company]]
|Ship status=
|Ship notes=
|Ship badge=
| Ship registry = [[File:Flag of the United States.svg|20px]] [[Cleveland, Ohio]]
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship class= ''Chiwawa''-class oiler
|Ship type= [[MARAD]] T3-S-A1
|Ship tonnage=16,543 DWT
|Ship displacement=21,077 tons

|Ship length={{convert|501|ft|7.75|in|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam={{convert|68|ft|abbr=on}}
|Ship height=
|Ship draught=
|Ship draft={{convert|29|ft|10.5|in|abbr=on}}
|Ship depth={{convert|37|ft|abbr=on}}
|Ship hold depth=
|Ship decks=
|Ship deck clearance=
|Ship ramps=
|Ship ice class=
|Ship propulsion=*geared [[steam turbine]]
*single screw
|Ship power={{convert|7000|shp|abbr=on|lk=in}}
|Ship sail plan=
|Ship speed={{convert|15.3|kn|km/h|lk=in}}
|Ship range={{convert|14500|nmi|abbr=on}}
|Ship endurance=
|Ship test depth=
|Ship boats=
|Ship capacity={{Bbl to t|133800|lk=on|abbr=on}}
|Ship complement=13 officers 200 enlisted
|Ship crew=
|Ship time to activate=
|Ship sensors=
|Ship EW=
|Ship armament=one [[5"/38 caliber gun|{{convert|5|in|mm|abbr=on}}]] dual purpose [[gun mount]], four [[3"/50 caliber gun|{{convert|3|in|mm|abbr=on}}]] guns, four twin [[Bofors 40 mm Automatic Gun L/60|40 mm]] gun mounts, four twin [[Oerlikon 20 mm cannon|20 mm]] gun mounts
|Ship armour=
|Ship armor=
|Ship aircraft=
|Ship aircraft facilities=
|Ship notes=
}}
|}

'''USS ''Chiwawa'' (AO-68)''' is a former [[T3 Tanker|T3-S-A1]] {{sclass|Kennebec|oiler||ship}} constructed for the [[United States Navy]] during [[World War II]]. She was the only U.S. Navy ship named for the [[Chiwawa River]] in [[Washington (U.S. state)|Washington]].

''Chiwawa'' was [[Ship launch|launched]] 25 June 1942 by [[Sparrows Point Shipyard|Bethlehem Steel Co.]], [[Sparrows Point, Maryland]], under a [[Maritime Commission]] contract as SS ''Samoset'', [[Ship sponsor|sponsored]] by Mrs. H. G. Smith, acquired by the Navy 24 December 1942 and [[Ship commissioning|commissioned]] the same day, reporting to the [[United States Fleet Forces Command|Atlantic Fleet]].

''Chiwawa'' was designated a T3-S-A1 design, where "T" stood for tanker, "3" meant longer than {{convert|500|ft|m}}, "S" stood for single-screw steam propulsion, and "A1" meant first design of its kind.<ref>{{cite book |last = Strupp |first = Jon L. |title = King of the Oilers: The Story of the U.S.S. Chiwawa A0-68 |location = Edina, Minnesota |publisher = Beaver's Pond Press |year = 2007 |pages = 5–6 }}</ref><ref> The ''Chiwawas'' were in fact near duplicates of SS ''Mobilfuel'', the basis of the T''2'' design, but waterline length had crept over {{convert|500|ft|m}}.</ref>

==History==
===Military service===
{{stack|[[File:USS Chiwawa (AO-68) underway, circa in 1943.jpg|thumb|right|Aerial view of USS ''Chiwawa'' (AO-68), circa. 1943]]}}
''Chiwawa'' cleared [[Norfolk, Virginia]], 13 February 1943 to load oil at [[Aruba]], and returned to [[New York City|New York]] 25 February to join a convoy for [[Casablanca]], Morocco, which sailed 4 March. Attacked by a [[Wolfpack (naval tactic)|wolfpack]] east of the [[Azores]], the [[convoy]] lost four ships, but aircraft from [[Port Lyautey]], Morocco, drove the [[U-boats]] away, and the remainder of the convoy arrived safely 21 March. ''Chiwawa'' put out of [[Casablanca]] in convoy 11 April for Norfolk, arriving 28 April after a quiet passage. Between 4 May and 17 July she ferried oil on the east coast, loading at [[Aruba]], [[Netherlands West Indies]], and [[Port Arthur, Texas]], and discharging her cargo at [[Bermuda]], [[Argentia, Newfoundland]] and Norfolk. She made three convoy crossings, to [[Scotland]], Wales, and [[Casablanca]], between 17 July and 4 December, then resumed operations to Port Arthur and Aruba, except for the period 25 January-8 March 1944, when she again crossed to [[North Africa]].

After two convoy crossings to the [[British Isles]] in May and July 1944, ''Chiwawa'' sailed 14 July from Norfolk for [[Mers el Kebir]], Algeria, and [[Naples|Naples, Italy]], arriving 5 August. From Naples, ''Chiwawa'' fueled the ships carrying out the invasion of southern [[France]] until she retired to [[Oran]], Algeria, on 2 September. She returned to New York 14 September to resume coastal oil runs until her next convoy to Casablanca in November.

A series of runs between Aruba and New York, then to [[Guantánamo Bay]] and [[Bermuda]], and later to [[Argentia]] occupied ''Chiwawa'' until 31 May 1945, when she entered [[Norfolk Navy Yard]] for overhaul until 1 July. She cleared Norfolk to load oil at [[Baytown, Texas]], and on 1 August reached Pearl Harbor. Five days later she sailed for [[Ulithi]] and [[Okinawa Island|Okinawa]], where from 30 August to 29 November she served as station tanker, making one voyage in September to fuel the [[U.S. 7th Fleet]] at sea. Homeward bound, ''Chiwawa'' put in at [[San Francisco]], California, and [[Balboa, Panama|Balboa]], arriving at New York 7 January 1946.

She sailed 19 January 1946 from [[Melville, Rhode Island]], for ports in [[England]], Germany, and [[France]], called at [[Casco Bay]] and Argentia, and put back to [[Iceland]] before her arrival in New York 18 March. ''Chiwawa'' was decommissioned 6 May 1946 and transferred to the [[Maritime Commission]] 23 August 1946 and was laid up in the [[National Defense Reserve Fleet]] where she remained until 1961 when she was sold by the Maritime Administration.

===Civilian service===
[[File:Lee A. Tregurtha-2011.jpg|alt=A bulk cargo ship sailing on Lake Superior|thumb|MV ''Lee A. Tregurtha'' leaving the upper harbor at [[Marquette, Michigan]]. after loading iron ore.]]
She was then rebuilt as a [[Straight decker|straight-decked]] bulk [[cargo ship|freighter]] for [[Great Lakes]] service, at [[American Shipbuilding]], [[Lorain, Ohio]], renamed SS ''Walter A. Sterling'' sailing for the [[Cleveland-Cliffs|Cleveland Cliffs Steamship Company]] and launched, 15 July 1961. That conversion included the integration of a {{convert|510|ft|m|0|abbr=on}} midbody cargo section constructed in [[Germany]] and towed across the [[Atlantic Ocean]].<ref>{{Cite web
| url = http://www.interlake-steamship.com/index.php/our-fleet/mv-lee-a-tregurtha.html
| title = MV ''Lee A. Tregurtha''
| website = www.interlake-steamship.com
| access-date = 2016-02-27
}}</ref> She was sold in 1985 to [[Ford Motor Company]], renamed SS ''William Clay Ford (II)''. In 1989, she was sold again, this time to Lakes Shipping Co. and renamed SS ''Lee A. Tregurtha''. Now owned by [[Interlake Steamship Company]], MV ''Lee A. Tregurtha'' had her steam turbine replaced with two 3000 kW (4050 HP) [[Rolls-Royce Power Systems|Rolls-Royce]] [[Bergen Engines|Bergen]] B32:40-L6A diesel engines during the 2005-2006 lay-up. Throughout the summer of 2020 she was docked at [[Fraser Shipyards]] in [[Superior, Wisconsin]], due to the downturn of shipping demand caused by the [[COVID-19 pandemic]]. She rejoined the lakes fleet in March 2021 and is currently active.

As a civilian vessel, MV ''Lee A. Tregurtha'' has a crew of 21, comprising 7 officers and 14 crew, compared to the ''Chiwawa''{{'s}} wartime complement of about 225 officers and enlisted men.<ref>{{cite book |last = Strupp |first = Jon L. |title = King of the Oilers: The Story of the U.S.S. Chiwawa A0-68 |location = Edina, Minnesota |publisher = Beaver's Pond Press |year = 2007 |page = 149 }}</ref>

== Awards and honors ==
[[File:WWII Veteran still in service (7314833760).jpg|thumb|[[World War II]] campaign ribbons on the MV ''Lee A. Tregurtha''.]]
''Chiwawa'' received two [[Service star#Navy warships|battle stars]] for [[World War II]] service.

She was authorized:
{|style="margin:1em auto; text-align:center;"
|colspan="4"|{{ribbon devices|number=0|type=service-star|ribbon=American Campaign Medal ribbon.svg|width=100}}
{{ribbon devices|number=2|type=service-star|ribbon=European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign ribbon.svg|width=100}}
|-
|{{ribbon devices|number=0|type=service-star|ribbon=Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal ribbon.svg|width=100}}
|{{ribbon devices|number=0|type=service-star|ribbon=World War II Victory Medal ribbon.svg|width=100}}
|{{ribbon devices|number=0|type=service-star|ribbon=Army of Occupation ribbon.svg|width=100}}
|}
{| class="wikitable" style="margin:1em auto; text-align:center;"
|-
|colspan=4|[[American Campaign Medal]]
|-

|[[European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal]] (Two)
|[[Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal]]
|[[World War II Victory Medal (United States)|World War II Victory Medal]]
|[[Navy Occupation Service Medal]] (with [[Asia]] clasp)
|}

== References ==
<references/>
* {{DANFS|https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/nhhc/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/c/chiwawa.html}}

== External links ==
* {{navsource|09/19/19068|Chiwawa}}
*{{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}}
* [https://www.interlake-steamship.com/our-fleet/m-v-lee-a-tregurtha/ Official M/V Lee A. Tregurtha Webpage]

{{Kennebec class fleet replenishment oiler}}
{{Type T3-S-A1 tankers}}{{Interlake Maritime Services}}{{DEFAULTSORT:Chiwawa (AO-68)}}
[[Category:Chiwawa-class oilers]]
[[Category:Ships built in Sparrows Point, Maryland]]
[[Category:1942 ships]]
[[Category:World War II auxiliary ships of the United States]]
[[Category:World War II tankers of the United States]]
[[Category:Great Lakes freighters]]
[[Category:Ships built in Lorain, Ohio]]

USS Chiwawa - Revision history

imported>Ternera: (GR) File:Bronze-service-star-3d.png → File:Bronze-service-star-3d-vector.svg png --> svg