Six Oilers - USS Neosho, Cimarron, Platte, Guadalupe, Kaskaskia & Sabine - in early WWII
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- Опубліковано 14 сер 2023
- Six Oilers: The Epic History & Founding of the Supply Line Between America and Australia in 1942
What's Going on With Shipping
August 15, 2023
In this episode, Sal Mercogliano - maritime historian at Campbell University (@campbelledu) and former merchant mariner - is interviewed by Paul Woodadge of @WW2TV on his forthcoming article: Six Oilers: The Epic History & Founding of the Supply Line Between America and Australia in 1942.
#navalhistory #worldwar2 #oilers #logistics #pacificwar #usnavy #navystatus #history #militaryhistory
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Brings back memories when I was in the US Navy. On the USS Canberra CAG-2 in 1962 in the Med, we had a Russian Sub surface in from of us while we were port side line-to-line with an oiler and there was another ship on the starboard side. We had an emergency break-away. I tried to help one of the deck hands cut a line by holding as he cut when all of a sudden his knife slipped and into my arm. I was bleeding as I went to general quarters. I can still see that happening as I look at my arm.
Lol. That's dirty. A sub surfacing right in front of ships side by side for on the way replenishment.
USS Neosho at 0755 12/7/1941 ... Boy, that escalated quickly. I mean, that really got out hand fast.
When I was young, I met and was good friends with a WW2 USN Combat vet. He went aboard his first ship in late 1940. He was on that ship until early 1942, when they transferred the ship to Bremerton for repairs. USS Tennessee BB43. He got the Purple Heart for Pearl Harbor and was deaf in his right ear after the attack. After getting Tennessee back to Bremerton he was transferred to a new DD. He spent the rest of 42 and 43 fighting in the Guadalcanal Campaign. His Sea stories were epic.
My dad was Chief Boatswain's mate on the Escatapwa - Okinawa.
I was USN '66 Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club.
Drach level naval history! Top tier content. Thanks Sal! I'm looking forward to re-listening to this at work. Because for some reason, an arborist from northern Arizona, who can't swim, is fascinated by all of this...
This EE from central Arizona feels the same pull.
@@haldorasgirson9463 at the risk implied by my assumption, EE is Electrical Engineer?
Anywho, it's the tides brother, once you've felt it it stays. Believe it or not but I lived on a sailboat for six months, roving up and down the west coast with a bunch of young but experienced salt dogs. That time put a lot of things in perspective for me, made religion real, and vastly improved me for the better. I've been trying to figure out why, ever since.
The USS Chiwawa / USS Samoset, a T-3 type tanker now named the Lee A Tregurtha built in 1942 is still in service as a Great lakes bulk carrier.
Now, THAT'S amazing! That old girl still working hard after all these years with 10-year old cruise ships being cut up for scrap every day. Truly amazing.
I think there is aUA-cam Video of the Tregurtha, I recognised that name as soon as I saw it, didn't know she was formerly an Oiler, Great info.
Thank you for bringing back memories of my tme serving on a Fleet Oiler, 1969-70 (USS Chukawan (AO-100) was a Cimarron-class fleet oiler constructed for the U.S. Navy in the closing days of World War II.). Interestingly, we had regular encounters with elements of the Soviet Navy who were intent on learning all they could by observing us engaged in underway replenishment. At one point, in the Arctic well north of Murmansk, Russia, as we seemed to have completed routine refueling of our US NAVY and ROYAL NAVY destroyers, one more destroyer appeared and moved into line with crew set to receive our lines, which we quickly initiated. Something was amiss, however, as the hull number wasn't one of our Anglo-American destroyers. The low setting sun might have darkened recognition, too. In fact, it was a Soviet destroyer seeing how far it could get, apparently, in a live training exercise in underway refueling. So, there we were, two crews, bridge to bridge, waving and calling across the fifty yards or so of water. With a smile and a nod, their captain, in his black leather jacket, saluted ours, and our lines were returned to us. However, that wasn't the end of it as the engine & galley crews of both vessels, in the sterns, were making Frisbees of their round hats and trading such headwear. With a wave of the hand, their captain pulled his destroyer away.
You touched briefly on the learning curve of engineering and technical procedures to make all that stuff happen. One thing that strikes me is that most of these guys were pretty much what I might think of as kids, but they pulled off some pretty sketchy and often dangerous jobs, that never gets attention when everything goes ok. Young people were handed great responsibilities and risk.
Thanks for a great presentation!
That is always the way with the young. They don't have the experience to know when to be scared. They also haven't had the time to convince themselves that something can't be done.
If you are young your response will be WTF is he talking about. If you are older you in all probability have done shit in the past that you didn't realise that you shouldn't have done till later, often much later.
For sure. The older I get, the stupider I look when I was 22. Dumb luck I made it this far.@@Agnemons
Great presentation.
I recall reading a book ("The Forgotten Fleet: The Story of the British Pacific Fleet , 1944-45" by John Winton) about the British Pacific Fleet as it ramped up for operations in 1944-45. One of the hurdles specifically mentioned with the deployment of this fleet was their need to improve their fuel/supply logistics. Operations for the Royal Navy were very much based on having land ports and bases all across the globe that would enable RN ships to refuel/resupply from. When the British Pacific Fleet was ramping up for operations in the final push against Japan they would be operating in waters that the Allies had either not fully recaptured, or had just recently recaptured within which these resupply bases were not always available. (For example, keep in mind that Singapore was not recaptured/reoccupied by the British until Sept. 1945. Hong Kong was not reoccupied until 30 August 1945. Even then, it would take time before these ports were resupplied and back up in running order). The Royal Navy didn't have a sufficient number of fleet replenishment ships like the US Navy did. Some US Navy Admirals gave priority to US Navy ships in resupply--they didn't want the Royal Navy around for what they felt should be a US Navy operation. In some cases Royal Navy ships were *unofficially* asking captains on US Navy oilers for fuel (outside of any approved fleet orders), and the US Navy captains were covertly refueling them.
Nimitz had told King that the only way he would accept the BPF into the theater was if it was responsible for its own logistic, was he didn't have sufficient resources to support them. The became the US position at meetings of the Combined Chiefs of Staff
I did UNREP back in the 70s on a Destroyer with a few of the old Tankers .
You could feel the weariness in the old gals but they worked just fine .
I was Rig Capt on the forward fuel intake and had a beautiful view of them .
History on the move .
Oil was the lifeline of the war and made the difference in who eventually won the conflict. Glad to see that the oilers finally get some recognition.
Oilers and Malta. You have to go there.
Ohio.
Oil is the cause of wars today.
@@ABrit-bt6ce The Ohio was bad ass!
@@timpetta2974 There is a movie of Operation Pedestal. I fear a modern remake will miss the point.
There is a book about the Ohio and the Malta convoy, I wish I could remember the name, but it was a very interresting read!
Sal,
Great presentation! After reading Beans, Bullets, and Black Oil years ago this was a great addition to what was presented there. Another area that I believe is under appreciated is the contribution of Naval repair ships and the floating dry docks in the Pacific. I have never really found much on them, maybe there is but it has escaped me. Keep up the good work, I look forward to your book.
Sal this was phenomenal. Having studied WW2 Naval History with EB Potter as the professor we never covered the logistics issues as much as you did here. The progression of UNREP practices was fantastic. Was wondering if you knew when the phone-distance line was first used. Definitely adds to the understanding of the various battles as well as why the early island raids were conducted. BRAVO ZULU Sal!
Definitely wasn’t expecting a history lesson, but as I’m ex Navy, this is right up my alley.
Love the variety
All I remember about my Uncle Frank Mitchell was that he ended up a Master Marriner in the Merchant Marine, And that during World War II he was in a convoy going to England where every ship around him was sunk. 😢
Holy crap Sal! A remarkable history tour de force, just unbelievable info dump!! I had no idea the detail, speed, recall, could come out of one human!!
Amazed how many of the cimarron oilers made it into the 80s as jumboized ships... Love hearing about war logistics.
I spent two years 1987-1989 serving on the USA Canisteo AO-99. She was a good ship.
Yeah, total waste of money. All of them barely served seven years after jumboization
Excellent program. The contribution of the merchant seaman has to be most overlooked history of the war. Thank you for sharing this.
Nice seeing a video about the fleet oilers. Unsung hero’s that kept the fleet moving. My father served on the Cimarron class oiler USS Taluga AO-62 during the Vietnam War.
Please do more history Sal, this was really good. I will watch your logistics channel and I'm not alone.
The 'safe' transportation of troops in both world wars is something I wanna know more about.
Fantastic interview. I have watched your channel off and on for a while and I thought it was mainly about current events in shipping. I hope you can do more videos about the history of naval logistics.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Fabulous presentation, Sal! Your command of the material is unquestioned and your presentation of it was outstanding! I am looking forward to more of your historical lessons on logistics and also your book on WW1 logistics! Bravo! 👏👏👏👏👏
My stepfather sailed out of Houston TX on a merchant tanker at 17 years of age. He had been rejected from the Navy as too young. The merchant marine was desperate for men as most of the oil for Europe sailed from Texas and the U boat were shooting the, from the Gulf all the way across. Thankfully he was very lucky and survived - I say lucky as the death rate for the merchant marine was the highest of any of the men fighting the war. Thankfully his service was finally recognized late in life - but it didn’t keep him from being drafted by the Army during the Korean War. Not the Navy which would have made much more sense. I am very proud that his headstone memorializes his service in the merchant marine. To do that at 17 still amazes me.
This is a great talk on the most important issue for a Naval force. Supply! It just amazes me that when we’re in Vietnam we could supply everything that was needed. From Fuel, Bombs, Parts, etc. also MAIL. It is just amazing what we did. This is were the U.S. Navy is supreme. No other Navy can match how we supply ships. The Chinese have a lot to learn.
Tim Murphy
My dad was a participant (VF-19, USS Lexington, 1944 - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwin_Foresman_Schoch), and I've been reading about WW 2 in the Pacific for more than half a century, but this is the first time I've come across a genuine focus on the fuel logistics involved. Fascinating stuff, and well done. Kudos!
Served on the USS Caloosahatchee AO98 as a Bosun 77 - 81. Great memories. I recall a collision with the America. Almost took our aft gun off. No major damage otherwise.
Another memorable moment, we were operating off the coast of Greece. I'm looking a head and see this small fishing boat ahead. It passes between us as we were refueling. The water between the ships is pretty choppy. The guy on the boat must have been drunk. The boat passes between us unharmed. How he avoided getting tangled up in the hoses and lines is beyond me. Nor can I figure out why no one on either bridge saw the guy.
Little known fact: Before a US Navy Captain can take command of an aircraft carrier he has to do a tour as the CO of an oiler. It is said that this is so he has time on a deep draft ship, but I can't help but think that it is also so he can learn about the logistics of getting JP5 for the carrier's air wing.
All oilers are now crewed by civilian merchant mariners. Aviators get their sea time on amphibs.
As has already been said this now cannot be true with the Military Sealift Command in place.
When did this allegedly occur? Name some specific officers who followed this path.
I retired from the Navy 20 years ago and I believe this was the normal career path at that time. Another reviewer has said that aviators now do their first CO at sea tour on Amphibs--makes sense to me.@@davidpnewton
Makes perfect sense for both reasons!
This use to be true until MSC took control of the AOE's, as what happened to my ship USS Rainier in 2003/2004.
While working a design engineer at the San Francisco Naval Shipyard back in the early 1960s I was drawn to work on the auxiliary ships. I'm not sure just why. Maybe it was because they and their crews did their jobs in a quiet and professional way without a lot of fanfare. A few years I was on the USS Ponchatoula in the Suisun Bay reserve fleet getting some parts for a museum ship. In looking at the "sailor art" on the mess deck and on some of the lockers I could feel the presence of the crew.
I am EX British Merchant Seaman, I worked for RFA for a while. I was on RFA OLNA in 82 refueling the Carriers and Destroyers in the Falklands war. They did not want me to go because I was only 17 but told them that my birthday was two weeks away. They let me go.
"Admiral Kimmel was husbanding his fuel". You knew what you were doing..
🤣
😂 that’s a dad joke right there
Fantastic Sal loved this. Do more of this deep dive into logistics of war!
All seven naval battles fought during the Guadalcanal campaign were ultimately about the IJN trying to land supplies and reinforcement for their troops on Guadalcanal Island and the USN trying to stop that resupply.
Ohh, gee, I'll give it 10 minutes max. Well, I gave it the entire video. So fascinating of a behind the scenes going on. Hope you can show more of this. As you stated these sailors did not get their just recognition of their true contribution to the war effort.
Thanks so much!
I worked for MSC when the USNS Neosho,Truckee and others were replaced with the Kaiser class tankers. I was a fireman/watertender on a bunch of the old steamers.
My brother was an EM2 on the USS Cimarron AO22 for her last WESTPAC tour and was aboard when she returned to Long Beach and was Decommissioned prior to scrapping.
The "Cims" bell is outside the high school at Cimarron, New Mexico.
We had a relative that joined the Navy 1939, assigned to the USS Ramapo AO 10 sailed through the Panama Canal to Hawaii where he was transferred to the original Sub tender USS Holland as an apprentice Seaman to begin his schooling. Later transfered to USS Swordfish SS193, MIA Jan 1945.
I’m so glad to see this again. I was just thinking it was time to watch it again (this is my third time). Please let us know when your article is published. This is a fascinating story.
Good presentation. I spent most of my Navy enlistment, and several years of civmar service on replenishment tankers. Based on some of the equipment they were using back in WWII, I am very impressed by the development of underway replenishment. I was stunned to learn that they were doing night unreps back then. Slack-wire rigs and all. Damn.
I was on Civmar shipps: USNS Kawishiwi, Spica, Kilauea...in the 80's. Kawishiwi still had a couple of slack wire rigs and trained Navy ships out of San Diego. Tied up at Broadway pier then...out on Monday morning, back in port by Friday afternoon. It was a great time for me!
@@MrRainrunner The Passumpsic had two slack wire rigs as well.
@@janerkenbrack3373 i remember that! I Never served on her tho.
Thank you Sal, fascinating history on Navy logistics and evolution of underway replenishment. Your photos bring back memories of going along side jumbo WWII oilers during Westpac deployments in the ‘80s as 1st Lt on DDG and Stream Officer on an AOE.
Really enjoy your presentations.
Excellent presentation Sal, absolutely fascinating! Thanks, and I'm really looking forward to your book coming out.
In my American Legion post some 12 years ago, we had the honor of having a WW2 Atlantic merchant mariner as part of our post. We had to special order a flag to represent his branch of service. It still stands with all the other branch flags, in memoriam.
My first time being made aware of the merchant marine was in the 7th grade (early 80's) when I learned my school bus driver was a merchant mariner in the pacific. About the same time, learning my uncle was also a current merchant seaman - an engineer.
My uncle also served prior in the U.S Navy in Vietnam, where he worked as part of the engine room crew on a frigate. My uncle retired about 10 years ago from the merchant marine. I don't think he much likes being land locked!
At a very young age, I was introduced to not just the value of the merchant marine but, the immense importance and sacrifices of our merchant mariners in our history.
Although I was army myself, I especially salute the merchant marine and the fallen in service of our nation and it's freedom, this young one and his grandchildren are able to enjoy to this day.
While in the USMC, I cross the Atlantic on the USS Austin (LPD-4). We refueled mid-ocean from, if I am not mistaken, an oiler named Neosho. Obviously not the same ship as discussed in the video. We were taking on fuel from the oiler's starboard side while at the same time a destroyer was taking on fuel on the oiler's port. Now that is seamanship on the part of the oiler's crew.
Found this spellbinding.Definitely want to encourage your further work on looking at the crews' experiences. Thank you so much, Sal!
Thank you for having our backs - an Australian.
And a Kiwi.
I have heard the saying that amateurs think strategy. Professionals think logistics.
The is a song from WWII that goes, "The man behind the man behind the gun." The song was about manufacturing. The same can be said about supply. Without supply, nothing works. Yet, when everything is working, supply is invisible. When it doesn't...
You could also do a show along this same line with the many ships sailing the Great Lakes bring the iron ore from the mines to the steel mills. Without our civilian fleet of ore boats, much fewer navy ships of all types are built. These ships faced massive storms, and seasonal ice conditions that would force shipping to stop. Ships would sail as late as possible or try to be the first out risking being stuck in the ice. These ships sailed without radar in terrible visibility at times in narrow passages. Sal, want to tackle the story? A fresh water mostly untold story of logistics with ships.
How many ore boat loads of ore does it take to build an Iowa class battleship? An Essex class carrier?
Pacific islands - military bases we hold today - are fueled by oilers. Kwajalein has for time times before WWII to today is the mid Pacific Refueling port. They service supply ships to from the island and massive Tracker trips as they traverse the loops in the Pacific. Lived there.
The tanker USS Chiwawa from WW2 (1942) is still sailing today on the Great Lakes as the Lee A. Tregurtha. Sal you able to do a video on the history of her?
My grandfather was on the USS escambia AO-80. There's not much Info on these ships glad to see this.
Sal, the s is superb work, thank you.
History has many lessons lurking between the dates, locations and events. WW2 and the interwar period provide many lessons. From the top:
The distinguishing attribute of the allies was cooperation. That was our most powerful tool.
Looking at the combatants, only 2 successfully fielded a complete program of all areas of warfare, the UK and US. All things naval, including extensive logistics organization, air power including heavy bombers, and every aspect of land warfare. I guess only the Germans had ballistic missiles, but that was more of a terror weapon.
The Pacific was the ultimate challenge. Logistic and Construction Battalions performed miracles. By 1944 the Fast Carriers had evolved into a force never before seen. No longer was land airpower superior to sea power. Not only were the Fast Carriers powerful, but they operated at sea for unheard of periods. Underway replenishment was as much an integral part of the Fast Carrier force projection as the aircraft themselves. The USN aggressively perfected replenishment to include food, ammunition and ordnance, and other supplies. The replenishment groups were protected by their own escort carriers. Additional CVEs provided fresh airplanes and pilots. Damaged but repairable aircraft were transported to repair islands recently constructed by CBs. All the working parts tell the story. Want to know how the fast carriers could be on the attack for weeks at a time, just look at the support. The whole story is beyond amazing.
Deja vu all over again! It was a great episode on #WW2TV and I am sure it will be just as good here!
This was a great presentation Sal and it is what brought me to your site.
You Gentlemen made what I expected to be boring into a very riveting discussion and history lesson. Thank you for sharing this information.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Fantastic history! My grandfather was a gunners mate on the USS Saranac AO74. Unfortunately he passed away before I was born and didn't talk much about his service, so I've only been able to piece together little bits from the few documents and photos I've found. This is the first time I feel like I've gotten a real glimpse of what he experienced. Thank you!
Wow unsung heroes. Sal that was really gripping stuff. It came up on my feed and I thought "Great", "Oh an hour don't really have an hour, I'll just watch a bit now." Now I'm late, great stuff, and that was hugely generous of you to wait 3 months before airing. I don't follow sport but I'm a sucker for good sportsmanship. Great job.
My father had joined the Navy in 1940, they sent him to the Ford school of machine tools. He was sent to Pearl Harbor on an oiler which I recall was the USS Neosho. It was towing something behind. At some point the Marines on board cut tow line and sank the craft so the ship could make better time. They arrived at Pearl on December 14, fires were still burning. He was assigned to a floating machine shop and worked twelve hour shifts for some time. He was eventually assigned to the USS Sperry and later the USS Sandoval.
I may be becoming psychologically "addicted" to your youtube castings, Mr. Sal Mercogliano & will be looking into Paul's postings as by recommendation and this exchange; thank you, stay well & keep rocking it 🤟😷👍!
Paul is terrific.
There are a number of channels that focus on the Pacific war. "Unauthorized History of the Pacific War" and "hypohystericalhistory" are both excellent and very focused on this subject. And Drachinifel has a wonderful channel about all things naval from the age of sail to the end of WW2. His episode on the Mark 14 torpedo is one of my favorites. It is both informative and tinged with a droll humor. ua-cam.com/video/eQ5Ru7Zu_1I/v-deo.html.
Love this! I served on the USS Mount Baker AE34 as well as the USS Barry DD933 UnREP and Vertrep Just does not get much Glory but it is an amazing procedure.
Who thought, think this 1:08 video would be so incredibly interesting! Well done, Professor Sal you're amazing 👏
As a former an UNREP'er on AOE's and AE's, I am always appreciative of the attention Fleet Oilers have been getting on youtube history sites recently. Long live the "Working Navy".
I can see how this topic would be dull to a lot of folks. As a retired Navy Supply Officer...I eat this stuff up. Great material.
wonderful!!! As an old carrier sailor during the Vietnam conflict, I really appreciate the logistics. I was aboard USS Midway CVA 41.
Ahh yes, I remember UNREPS with the Midway off Vietnam, not only did they want fuel for the ship and and aviation fuel for the aircraft, they were always short of potable water, which we, USS Hassayampa AO-145, supplied. Takes a lot of steam to run the catapults.
Awesome job! Really enjoyed the strategic framing of the topic.
Amazing information and video delivery!
My grandfather was a WT1 on an oiler in WW2. His oiler was a ship that was confiscated from Italy. He was severely injured at the battle of Dutch Harbor. He was a merchant mariner on the great lakes before the war.
Thank you for covering these fine ship. The Saganon cless were escort carriers but they could fuel ships including their own escorts. Oil is the tip of the logißtics iceburg.
Magnificent video, it was fascinating. And nice job going to bat for Fletcher, who got (and still gets) unfairly criticized for being too fussy with fuel. The old saying "Amateurs talk tactics, professionals talk logistics" is germane here. Whenever I've read such jabs at him, I've always wondered "well, was he supposed to just let his destroyers run bone-dry...not to mention the carrier's aircraft as well? What do you think he should've done instead?". And I've always noticed that such alternative proposals are rarely if ever articulated by those taking Fletcher to task.
Just want to mention one thing (which isn't relevant to the specific WW2 topic here, but you got me feeling a little nostalgic with this episode). I served 22 yrs in the USN, and about 70% of that time was in the actual fleet, including seven deployments. UNREP is a perfect example of something that can be routine and majestic at the same time. It never got old for me. Two ships (say, a DDG and the oiler itself) is impressive enough, but a fleet AOE topping off an entire carrier strike group over the course of a morning is a sight to behold, whether "routine" or not.
I can attest to the bit about "Low fuel percentage is anathema to naval officers". Captains and commodores start getting antsy around 60% if there's not an oiler imminently on the horizon. Because when fuel goes below 50% (without a sound pre-arranged/briefed plan in place), 3-star admirals start taking notice. Rear admirals and captains absolutely do NOT like their ships showing "in the red" during the fleet commander's daily brief.
i served on uss canisteo [ao-99] in early 70's; she didnt serve in the big one; i'm so glad you all know about the history of the oilers. thanks so much for the wonderful presentation...
Great presentation, thank you!
dang, already seen it over on ww2tv. On the bright side, I subscribed to your channel after your interview on ww2tv. lots of good stuff. 👍
At least 60% of WWII global petroleum production was sourced from US oil fields and was never interrupted by enemy action. This gave the western Allies logistical security, which made victory at least possible up until it made victory inevitable
U.S. Navy has taken delivery of the USNS John Lewis (T-AO 205), the first in a new class of fleet replenishment oilers in June 2022.
PS - wonder if destroyer I served on, USS Hollister (DD-788), ever did an UNREP with one of the oilers in this class?
This is good news. I saw this video title and started wondering what our current support ship situation is.
@@scottyfromthe80s - The US Navy christened the third fleet replenishment oiler vessel, the USNS Earl Warren (T-AO 207), in San Diego, California in January 2023.
I served onboard USS Guadalupe AO 32 on two deployments to the Western Pacific which included Vietnam. I was part of the cargo gang. The black oil was kept at the proper temperature for refueling, and the JP5 (jet fuel) was tested constantly for purity before passing off to the Carrier. Our most respected fuel onboard was aviation gasoline, which was stored in one fuel tank, forward of the bridge. That tank had a void that surrounded all four sides. Each corner of the void had a hatch that before we filled that tank we dropped dry ice down each hatch. We maintained an acceptable level of CO2 in that void at all times with a bank of CO2 cylinders. That fuel was so respected that we only filled that tank in Pearl Harbor on our way overseas. Guadalupe was a very good ship and always underway!
Observing the underway replenishment of an Essex Class carrier in the Atlantic in the late '60s (as a Naval Aviator aboard, I was strictly an observer). I always noted that the sea in between the ships was several feet above that at the bow and stern. Later in talking with a coxswain of the carrier he informed me that they actually steered slightly toward each other as the water pressure tended to push them apart. What was really interesting was when the USS Randolph was on the port side of the oiler while one of the destroyers was on the starboard side of the oiler. Of course because of the overhang of the angle deck and no replenishment stations on the port side, the carrier always had the oiler on the starboard side. I don't know if they could use both sides of the carrier for replenishment in WWII when they were all still straight decks or not
Thanks Sal, that was fun
I think Typhoon Cobra was the refueling nightmare of WW2. Excellent video
Halsey's Typhoon, the requirement now is at least 75% fuel on board after that tragedy, it was a huge Task Force, they lost three ships, some 800 men...
so very well said.... i can't stop watching.......
very interesting topic! thanks for the very detailed and comprehensive information
i absolutly loved this...TY
Love the channel and all your content thank you for teaching us all 🇺🇸😎🙏 it's my birthday today what a treat to watch your video today.
Happy Birthday Dan!
Sal, as always a superb video! Yours is the best explanation of the logistical challenges of supplying fuel to the Pacific in WWII. I’ve always been a student of WWII naval history, and your explanation should be required watching for the younger maritime history students.
I remember my first underway replenishment in the Navy. It was near midnight and were cruising at maybe 10kts and the oiler is all lit up next to us. It looked like a floating truck stop and the oil probe had chem lights on it……just a weird scene in the middle of the pacific.
Logistics today is the main problem that Russia has in Ukraine, food, water, fuel and shells. They just haven't a clue how to keep their army going, and logistics is so important but little attention is paid to this vital part of warfare. Thanks Sal.
It was said that here aren't any stories of ship having problems due to fuel but I would argue that the outcome of Typhoon Cobra was heavily influenced by low fuel levels.
Fantastic episode!
Sal, thanks much for all this information. My first Ship (USS Concord AFS-5) was a fast combat store ship. UNREP and VERTREP was our stock and trade and I've always wondered as to teh lack of detail in all the volumes that I've read regarding logistics during WW2. Lastly, after 4 Med cruises watching these ops especially when we would ships on both sides, I was consistently amazed at the seamanship.
thank you for the great presentation. I served on USS Taluga AO62 in the tonkin gulf for 2 1/2 years the cimmaron and TolovanaAO64, were there too.these old ships worked hard for many years before being scraped. I had an uncle who was on the California on December 7 .
I was on AO64, Leaky "T". We were in the Phillipines in 75 when the war ended. A InServ team came out to inspect
her, scheduled for 3 days, they were there 2 hours & sent us home to be scrapped. My Uncle Mac, USS Arizona survivor... Grand Uncle Bill served with Teddy R. Cheers!
I remember the U.S.N.S. Hasayampa.toured the IO back in1978
Great Info.
This was brilliant. Subscribing.
As part of the workup to be a carrier commander nowadays, many of them command another large ship like the oilers first.
All of the oilers today are under Military Sealift Command with civilian masters.
Always great! Very interesting
Excellent work!
Great presentation! Fascinating! Amateurs talk about tactics, professionals talk about logistics. Warships without fuel, food, and ammo are just expensive markers---unrealized potential, or worse, targets.
Excellent Video Sal.... I would like to see one about the Liberty Ships coming out of Brunswick Georgia in WW2. I think they produced more than any other yard, one per month I think...
Fantastic presentation 👍
I served on the USS Missisinewa AO144 during the early 70’s.
Extremely interesting. The point about there not enough tankers for the US to send four carriers to Coral Sea was especially interesting.
Brad at OTD Canadian Military History posted a short on Pearl Harbor, one of the clips shows Neosho getting underway and away from Barrleship Row. I'd never seen the clip before, it was fascinating. Have you seen the clip?
Loved the show by the way, both times!
Subscribed. Logistics win or lose a war. History has show this over and over.
Outstanding ep
WOW!!! I love your history episodes!
Excellent presentation, lots of new things to learn from this. I was aware, from my own research on interwar and World War II destroyers that there had been an increase in endurance ranges and speeds from 1934 through 1944 and the Gearing class, but this video showed me the background as to why that was important when contemplating war in the Pacific.
Thanks!
Thanks for the support!