Navy Oilers derived their names from Cities, Mountains and the Rivers shown in yellow.
OILERS ARE DETAILED BELOW - BORDER STATES ARE LINKED
This list starts in Maine and works it's way south. View ship details through link on ship number
AO = Fleet Oiler Ship. AOT = Oil Transporter.
| Ship
Name History |
Ship
Number NavSource Link |
Construction Data |
River
Name Data |
| USS Allagash |
AO-97 | Launched, 14 April 1945 |
The Allagash River is a tributary of the St. John River, approximately 92 mi long, in northern Maine.It drains a remote and scenic area of wilderness in the Maine Woods north of Mount Katahdin. The community name derives from Algonquian for "bark-shelter" |
| USS Sebec |
AO-87 | Launched, 29 July 1943 |
The name Sebec is derived from the Indian name Sebecco,
meaning "Great Lake". |
| USS
Kennebec |
AO-36 | Launched, 19 April 1941 |
The Kennebec River is a river, 230 mi long, in the state of
Maine. The Kennebec, named for the Kennebec Indians,
runs past the shipbuilding center of Bath, thence to the Gulf of Maine
in the Atlantic Ocean. The Virginia of Sagadahoc, the first
oceangoing vessel built in the New World by English speaking
shipwrights, was launched into the river. The first ship was USS
Kennebec (1861) |
| USS Kennebago |
AO-81 | Launched, 9 May 1943 |
The Kennebago River is in western Maine and empties
into Umbagog Lake |
| USS Mount Washington | AOT-5076 | Laid down in 1963 |
Mount Washington is the highest peak in the Northeastern United States at 6,288 ft . It is famous for its dangerously erratic weather, holding the record for the highest wind gust directly measured at the Earth's surface, at 231 mph on the afternoon of April 12, 1934. It was known as Agiocochook, or "home of the Great Spirit". |
| USS
Merrimack USS Merrimack |
AO-37 AO-179 |
Commissioned. 4 February 1942 ...................................................... Launched, 17 May 1980 |
The Merrimack River is a 110-mile long river in the
northeastern United States. It rises in New Hampshire, flows southward
into Massachusetts, and then flows northeast until it empties into the
Atlantic Ocean at Newburyport. The Merrimack
tribes, among whom the Pennacooks appear to have held the highest
position, had located the seat of their government at the Amoskeag
Falls, a name denoting the abundance of beaver on that stream. The
first ship was USS Merrimack (1855) |
| USS Mascoma | AO-83 | Launched, 31 May 1943 | The Mascoma River is a 31.6 mile long river located in western New Hampshire in
the United States. It is a tributary of the Connecticut River, which
flows to Long Island Sound. The river bears the name of the hunting territory of the Indian Mascommah. |
| USS Contoocook | AO-104 | Canceled, 18 August
1945 |
The Contoocook River is a 71 mile long river in New Hampshire. It flows from Pool
Pond and Contoocook Lake and empties into the Merrimack River. There was a ship USS Contoocook (1864) |
| USS Passumpsic |
AO-107 | Launched, 31 October 1945 |
The 40 mile long Passumpsic River is a tributary of the Connecticut River, in Vermont. Passumpsic is an indian word meaning " running water". |
| USS
Winooski |
AO-38 | Launched, 12 November 1941 |
The Winooski River is a tributary of Lake Champlain,
approximately 90 miles long, in northern Vermont. The river's name comes from an Indian word meaning “wild
onion.” The first ship was USS Winooski (1863) |
| USS Housatonic | AO-35 | Launched, 7 September 1941 |
The Housatonic River is a river, approximately 149 mi long,
in western Massachusetts and western Connecticut. The river's name
comes from the Mohican phrase "usi-a-di-en-uk", translated as "beyond
the mountain place". The first ship was USS
Housatonic (1861) |
| USS
Pioneer Valley .................................. .. |
AO-140 | Laid down in 1943 | The Pioneer Valley is a region consisting of the three counties that the Connecticut River passes through in Western Massachusetts, and especially those towns that are in the lowlands of the Connecticut River Valley. A group of businessmen interested in promoting tourism gave the name to the region in 1939. A Suamico Class Oiler |
| USS Chicopee | AO-34 | Launched, 6 September 1941 | The Chicopee River originates in Palmer, Massachusetts and
joins the Connecticut River at the edge of the city of Chicopee,
Massachusetts. The land was purchased for Chicopee in 1641 from the
Nipmuck Indian tribe. The city name derives from the Indian word,
“Chicopee”, and is translated to mean “Violent or Raging Waters”. The first ship was USS Chicopee (1863) |
| USS Pamanset | AO-85 | Launched, 25 June 1943 |
A short river in South East Massachusetts running west of New Bedford into Buzzards Bay via Apponagansett Bay. Other names: Aponiganset, Paskamanset, |
| USS Chepachet | AO-78 | Launched, 10 May 1943 |
The Chepachet River is a river in Rhode Island. It flows approximately 8 mi. There are eight dams along the river's length. The indian name means "Devil bag place." |
| USS Ponaganset | AO-86 | Launched, 10 July 1943 | The Ponaganset River is a river in Rhode Island. It flows approximately 10 mi. The river's source is Ponaganset Reservoir in Glocester, where water still flows naturally out of the lake, unimpeded by a dam. It then flows roughly southeast through Foster. |
| USS Pawcatuck | AO-108 | Launched, 19 February 1946 |
The Pawcatuck River is a river in Rhode Island and Connecticut flowing approximately 30 mi. It's source is in South Kingstown. It proceeds through the villages of Kenyon, Carolina, and Bradford. It then past Potter Hill and between the towns of Westerly, Rhode Island and Pawcatuck, Connecticut until it finally empties into Little Narragansett Bay on Long Island Sound. The first known users of the Pawcatuck River were the Native American Indian tribes of Niantic, Pequot, and Narragansett. |
| USS
Saugatuck |
AO-75 | Launched, 7 December 1942 |
The Saugatuck River is a short river in southwestern Connecticut, approximately 25 mi long. It drains part of suburban and rural Fairfield County west of Bridgeport, emptying into Long Island Sound. Saugatuck (aka Westport, Connecticut) has a fascinating Native American and Colonial history. While a rich archaeological record exists going back thousands of years, the term "Saugatuck" (or "river that pours out" was first used to designate one of several Paugusset Indian settlements along a 30 mile stretch of coastline that stretched from Norwalk to New Haven, and as far inland as present day Waterbury and Danbury. There is a town named Saugatuck in SW Michigan, the region was a stomping ground for this web sites author. |
