Cimarron-class fleet replenishment oiler

USS Cimarron before the jumboization, 1983
Class overview
Name:	Cimarron class fleet replenishment oiler
Builders:	Avondale Shipyards
Operators:	United States Navy
Preceded by:	Wichita-class replenishment oiler
Succeeded by:	Henry J. Kaiser-class oiler
In commission:	1981–1999
Completed:	5
Active:	0
Laid up:	5
Retired:	5
General characteristics
Displacement:	36,814 tons full load after modification
Length:	598 ft 6 in (182.42 m) as built, 708 ft 6 in (215.95 m) after modification
Beam:	88 ft (27 m)
Draft:	32 ft (9.8 m) max
Propulsion:	two boilers, one steam turbine, single shaft, 24,000 shp
Speed:	20 knots
Complement:	135 (12 officers) plus 90 spare berths after modification
Armament:	2 x 20mm Vulcan Phalanx Mk 15 (CIWS)
Aircraft carried:	Helicopter platform only

The Cimarron class was a class of five replenishment oilers which served in the United States Navy between 1981 and 1999. These ships were sized to provide two complete refuelings of a fossil-fueled aircraft carrier and six to eight accompanying destroyers. All five of the class were jumboized in 1990-92 by being cut in two and a 108-foot (35.7 m) section inserted, increasing their capacities from 120,000 bbls to 180,000 bbls, adding capacity for 300 tons of munitions and improving underway replenishment capabilities. The class was retired in 1998-99 after less than 20 years of service as a result of post-Cold War force reductions, and the advent of the more economical diesel-powered Henry J. Kaiser-class oilers.

Ship	Keel laid	Launched	Commissioned	Decommissioned	Struck
Cimarron (AO-177)	01978-05-1818 May 1978	01979-04-2828 Apr 1979	01981-01-1010 Jan 1981	01998-12-1515 Dec 1998	01999-05-033 May 1999
Monongahela (AO-178)	01978-08-1515 August 1978	01979-08-044 Aug 1979	01981-09-055 Sep 1981	01999-09-3030 Sep 1999	01999-09-3030 Sep 1999
Merrimack (AO-179)	01979-07-1616 Jul 1979	01980-05-1717 May 1980	01981-11-1414 Nov 1981	01998-12-1818 Dec 1998	01998-12-1818 Dec 1998
Willamette (AO-180)	01980-08-044 Aug 1980	01981-07-1818 Jul 1981	01982-12-1818 Dec 1982	01999-04-3030 Apr 1999	01999-04-3030 Apr 1999
Platte (AO-186)	01981-02-022 Feb 1981	01982-01-3030 Jan 1982	01983-01-2929 Jan 1983	01999-06-3030 Jun 1999	01999-06-3030 Jun 1999

See also

United States Navy oiler
Replenishment oiler
List of auxiliaries of the United States Navy

External links

• navsource.org: AO-180 Willamette
• Wildenberg, Thomas (1996). Gray Steel and Black Oil: Fast Tankers and Replenishment at Sea in the U.S. Navy, 1912-1995. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/GSBO/index.html. Retrieved 2009-04-28.