USS Salinas (AO-19)

USS "Salinas" (AO-19) was laid down for the United States Shipping Board (USSB) as "Hudsonian" (219592) on 10 April 1919 by the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Newport News, Va.; launched on 5 May 1920; accepted by the USSB on 13 May 1920; transferred to the Navy on 29 October 1921; renamed "Salinas" and designated AO-19 on 3 November 1921; and commissioned at Mobile, Ala., on 16 December 1921, Lt. Comdr. H. S. Chase, USNRF, in command.

Assigned to the Naval Transportation Service, "Salinas" was initially in commission for only a little over six months. She was decommissioned at Norfolk on 20 June 1922 and remained in reserve until recommissioned at Norfolk on 12 June 1926. The following September, she commenced carrying fuel from naval fuel depots and Caribbean and Texas oil ports to Navy bases and stations on the east and west coasts, in the Caribbean, in the Panama Canal Zone, and, in the late 1920's, to Marine Corps units in Nicaragua. Periodically interrupted for overhauls and fleet exercises; and, in 1938, for a transatlantic run to Britain, she maintained a continuous operating schedule in those areas until late in the 1930's.

Then, with tension increasing in Europe, she confined her operations to runs between Gulf coast and Caribbean oil ports and bases in Cuba and on the east coast. In September 1939, World War II broke out in Europe. Hostilities soon spread across the ocean. The United States commenced neutrality patrols and escort services in the western Atlantic, and "Salinas", now armed, shifted her runs further north, and then east, to include bases in Canada and Iceland.

During August 1941, the AO served as station oiler at NS Argentia, Newfoundland. In September, she joined a convoy for Iceland. She arrived at Reykjavík early in October; and, on the 23d, departed that port, in ballast, for the mid-ocean meeting point where she rendezvoused with convoy ON 28 on the 25th. From there, the tanker moved west to return to the United States. At 0700 (GCT) on the 30th, her position was 46° 56'N, 37°46'W (about convert|700|mi|km|-2 east of Newfoundland) [http://www.america-at-war.net/wwii1941.html] . Visibility was about convert|1000|yd|m|-3. Twelve minutes later, "Salinas" took a torpedo, portside, at her number 9 tank. A second torpedo followed, hitting portside at tanks 2 and 3. "Salinas" settled to near her loaded waterline and remained there.

At 0730, a submarine was sighted on the surface, close aboard on the starboard quarter. The U-boat fired three torpedoes, all misses—two ahead, one astern of the damaged oiler; then submerged. "Salinas's" stern gun opened fire on the disappearing U-boat, possibly hitting it. USS "DuPont" (DD-152) then moved in and dropped a string of depth charges on the submarine's estimated position.

"Salinas's" crew, having suffered no serious injuries, began to clear the wreckage. "DuPont" and USS "Lea" (DD-118) stood by. At 1150, the oiler's engineering department signaled “ready to proceed”; and, at 1155, "Salinas"' continued westward with "Lea" as escort. On the 31st, USCGC "Campbell" rendezvoused with the damaged oiler and her escort. On 2 November, USS "Cherokee" (ATF-66) joined them; but her services as a tug were not needed; and, on the evening of the 3d, "Salinas" reached St. John's Bay.

From Newfoundland, "Salinas" moved south, to Brooklyn, N.Y., for repairs. Yard work was completed at midnight on 1 April 1942. On the 2d, she left the repair yard; and, on the 5th, she departed New York for Chesapeake Bay. On the 10th, she arrived at Norfolk to take on cargo fuel and miscellaneous cargo; and, on the 17th, she sailed north again. Routed first to Halifax, she joined convoy SC 81 there on the 22d; and, on the 23d, continued on to Reykjavík, arriving on 8 May. For the next 19 days, she fueled Allied ships in Icelandic anchorages. On the 27th, she moved west; and, on 12 June, she arrived at Boston. By July, she was back in Canadian waters to serve as station oiler at Argentia. On 1 August, she put into Sydney, Nova Scotia, to take on more cargo; and, on the 5th, she headed for Greenland where she supplied fueling services to units based at Kungnat Bay, Sondrestromfjord, and Tunugdliarfikfjord. On 24 September, she returned to Nova Scotia, whence she continued on to New York.

Through 1943, "Salinas" continued to move petroleum products to bases in the Atlantic provinces and in Greenland. On 9 January 1944, she completed her last run from St. John's to New York; and, on the 12th, she headed for the Caribbean. Into March, she shuttled fuel from the Netherlands West Indies to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; then moved south to the Panama Canal. She transited the canal on 19 March; arrived at San Pedro, Calif., on 2 April; and sailed for Alaska two days later.

"Salinas" arrived at Dutch Harbor, Unalaska, on 17 April. Routed on, she anchored in Massacre Bay, Attu, on the 21st and discharged her first cargo in the Aleutians. On that run, she also delivered fuel to Kuluk Bay and Dutch Harbor. Then, in May, she headed for Seattle, whence she shuttled gasoline, oil, diesel fuel, and cargo to the Aleutians until after the end of World War II.

"Salinas", ordered inactivated, departed Dutch Harbor for the last time in mid-October. A week later, she arrived at San Francisco where she was decommissioned on 16 January 1946. Her name was struck from the Navy list on 26 February 1946, and she was transferred to the Maritime Commission for disposal on 1 July of the same year.

See also

* List of ship launches in 1920
* List of ship commissionings in 1921
* List of ship decommissionings in 1946

References