Navy Looks to Rent its way out of Fleet Oiler Crisis for Pacific Ops

U.S. Pacific Fleet oiler USS Hassayampa (AO 145) refuels two ships simultaneously while underway at sea. To the right is the attack carrier USS Hancock (CVA 19), and on the left the destroyer USS McKean (DD 784) on Yankee Station during Vietnam at a time when the fleet had some 100 fleet oilers on the Naval List. NHHC L45-121.03.01 During the naval build-up for World War II, Maritime Commission standard T2 and T3 tankers were converted to US Navy oilers (AO)s with relative ease. By the time VJ-Day came, this fleet included 35 large (22,000-ton) T3 Cimarron-class, and 60 even larger 25,000-ton Kennebec/Suamico/Mission Buenaventura-class T2 oilers. And that’s not even including tankers requisitioned from trade, and older Kanawha/Patoka/Kaweah class oilers left over from the circa 1917 expansion. That’s well over 100 large tankers in haze grey. And Nimitz needed every single one. It is no secret that the lack of oilers to send to the Southwest Pacific in 1942 led Nimitz to hold back his…