USS Chewaucan (AOG-50) / ARC Tumaco (BT-160)

 Chewaucan: A river in Oregon.

Patapsco Class Gasoline Tanker:

• Laid down (date unknown) at Cargill Inc., Savage, MN.
• Launched, 22 July 1944
• Commissioned USS Chewaucan (AOG-50), 19 February 1945, Lieutenant J. M. Price, USNR, in command
• Decommissioned (date unknown)
• Struck from the Naval Register, 1 July 1975
• Sold under the Security Assistance Program to Colombia, 1 January 1976, renamed ARC Tumaco (BT-7)
• Final Disposition, fate unknown
  

"1953 through 1957, the Complement varied from 136 to 68. Top speed on full power run was just over 16 kts. and full load draft was considered to be 16'-6" although seldom loaded deeper than 15'10" fwd and 16'-2" aft. The optical range finder, originally mounted on the flying bridge, has been moved to just forward of the stack so that a new gun director could be mounted in the forward location. When traveling with a full cargo there was only 30" of freeboard at the after end of the tank deck. (36" at the forward end). In rough seas, even a slight roll would bring water aboard which would run aft at whatever speed Chewaucan was traveling and smash into the poop deck bulkhead. The only passage between fore and aft. in rough weather was the catwalk which was 4 feet above the expansion trunk which in turn was 4 feet above the main deck. It was considered great sport to stand at the forward end at the 01 level, where it was totally dry, and make bets as to who would get soaked in the process of traversing the catwalk." (Partial quote by Larry Bohn)

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Specifications:
Displacement 1,850 t.(lt) 4,570 t.(fl)
Length 310' 9"
Beam 48' 6"
Draft 15' 8"
Speed 15.5 kts.
Complement 124 to 68
Armament four 3"/50 dual purpose guns, twelve 20mm guns, reduced to three 3:/50s and no 20mm
Cargo Capacity 2,210 DWT
Propulsion four 980 hp GE diesel engines, electric drive, twin shafts, 3,300shp

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Laden with oil, vital fluid of war, Chewaucan cleared Baytown, Tex., 22 March 1945, and reached Pearl Harbor 6 May. Attached to the Hawaiian Sea Frontier she carried oil among the Hawaiian Islands, Midway, Johnston, Canton, and Christmas Islands until 16 June 1946 when she sailed for San Pedro, arriving 25 June.

Between 23 September 1946 and 4 July 1947, Chewaucan operated out of Seattle on cargo duty to various Alaskan ports, then sailed in the Pacific, calling at Pearl Harbor and Kwajalein and ferrying oil until 6 January 1948. She sailed from San Pedro 8 January 1948 and entered Philadelphia Naval Shipyard 4 February for conversion to a combination oiler-tanker.

Chewaucan put out from Norfolk 7 July 1948 to become one of the original 12 ships of the 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean. Home ported at Naples, Italy, in support of the 6th Fleet, she remained in the Mediterranean except for periodic overhauls in the United States through 1960. Her duty changed from direct replenishment of the 6th Fleet to supplying various shore storage facilities when, on 2 August 1957, she was transferred from the 6th Fleet to Commander, Naval Activities, Italy, for operational control.