USS MERRIMACK
- Name: USS MERRIMACK
- Ship Class: Oiler
- Ship Number: AO-179
- Date Commissioned:
- Status:
Ship History:
As third ship of the CIMARRON Class of Fleet oilers, her mission is to provide logistics support to various units by transporting bulk petroleum products, Fleet freight, mail, and personnel from shore depots to combatants and Support Forces Afloat, effecting delivery underway. As the first ship of the class to undergo jumboization, her capabilities have been expanded to include an increased cargo fuel capacity, ordnance supply, and limited dry-reefer provisions. MERRIMACK is simultaneously capable of providing three double-probe fuel rigs to port, and two single-probe fuel rigs to starboard, delivering a maximum of 900,000 gallons-per-hour of diesel fuel marine. She is also capable of delivering cargo, Fleet freight, mail, and personnel via connected underway replenishment or by helicopter vertical replenishment. Her ballast and cargo transfer systems are fully automated and designed to effect safe and efficient transfer of bulk petroleum cargo. Habitability has been improved over previous designs, and labor-saving devices have been incorporated to promote a reduced manning plan. MERRIMACK has a crew of 16 officers, 14 Chief Petty Officers, and about 200 other enlisted personnel.
Early in 1801, MERRIMACK escorted a convoy of merchantmen home to Boston. She was stripped of naval equipment in April, and was sold later in the year. Subsequently, while operating in merchant service under the name of MONTICELLO, the ship was lost off Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
The second MERRIMACK was launched by the Boston Navy Yard 15 June 1855, and commissioned 20 February 1856. The ship displaced 3,200 tons, was 275 feet in length, with a beam of 38’6" and a draft of 24’3". Her speed was 12 knots, and she was armed with fourteen 8" guns, two 10" guns and twenty-four 9" guns. Shakedown took the new screw frigate to the Caribbean and to Western Europe. MERRIMACK visited Southhampton, Brest, Lisbon, and Toulon before returning to Boston and decommissioning 22 April 1857 for repairs. Recommissioned 1 September 1857, MERRIMACK got underway from Boston Harbor 17 October as flagship for the Pacific Squadron. Upon returning to Norfolk, she decommissioned 16 February 1860. MERRIMACK was still in ordinary service during the crisis preceding Lincoln’s inauguration. Soon after becoming Secretary of the Navy, Gideon Welles took action to prepare the frigate for sea, planning to move her to Philadelphia. The day before the firing of Fort Sumter, Welles directed that “great vigilance be exercised in guarding and protecting Norfolk Navy Yard and her ships.” On the afternoon of 17 April 1861, the day Virginia seceded, Engineer-in-Chief B. F. Isherwood managed to get the frigate’s engines lit-off; but the previous night, secessionists had sunk light boats in the channel between Craney Island and Sewell’s Point, blocking MERRIMACK. On the 20th, before evacuating the Navy Yard, the U.S. Navy burned MERRIMACK to the water-line and sank her to preclude capture. The Confederates, in desperate need of ships, raised MERRIMACK and rebuilt her as an ironclad ram. Commissioned as C.S.S. VIRGINIA 17 February 1862, the ironclad was the hope of the Confederacy to destroy wooden ships in Hampton Roads, and to end the Union blockage, which had already seriously hurt the South. Despite an all-out effort to complete her, VIRGINIA still had workmen on board when she sailed into Hampton Roads 8 March 1862. During the ensuring engagements on that date, she sank the wooden-hulled Union ships USS CUMBERLAND and USS CONGRESS. VIRGINIA did not emerge unscathed. Her stack was riddled, causing loss of power; especially critical because she was inherently underpowered. Additionally, two large guns were out of action, her armor loosened and her ram lost. On the following morning, VIRGINIA returned to battle, but during the night the Union ironclad USS MONITOR had arrived in the nick of time to defend the Fleet in Hampton Roads. The ensuring inconclusive battle, the first ever fought between powered ironclads, revolutionized naval warfare. When forced to evacuate Norfolk, the Confederates tried to take VIRGINIA up the James River, but her deep draft prevented it, so they destroyed her 11 May 1862.
The third USS MERRIMACK (AO 37) was laid down as CADDO under Maritime Commission contract 12 September 1940 by Bethlehem Steel Co., Sparrows Point, Maryland; launched 1 July 1941; acquired by the Navy from Sacony Vacuum Co., New York City, New York 31 December 1941; renamed MERRIMACK 9 January 1942; and commissioned 4 February 1942. MERRIMACK displaced 21,580 tons with a length of 501’ 5", and a beam of 68’. She had a regular complement of 243 men. Her speed was listed at 16.7 knots, and she was armed with one 5", and four 3" guns. MERRIMACK was of the KENNEBECK Class of Fleet oilers. Assigned to the Atlantic Fleet, the new Fleet oiler spent the next two and one-half years steaming the Atlantic seaways, carrying oil for Allied ships from Argentia, Newfoundland to Montevideo, Uruguay, and from ports along the East Coast to staging areas in the British Isles and the Mediterranean. Her primary duty was fueling the tireless escorts which protected the Allied convoys from U-boats. MERRIMACK departed Norfolk 14 October 1944 for the Panama Canal and Ulithi, arriving 1 December. Allied Forces were retaking the Philippines and preparing for operations to move closer to the Japanese home islands. MERRIMACK joined the Third Fleet-At-Sea Logistics Support Group to fuel the Fast Carrier Task Force, which spearheaded the titanic offensive. Following Japan’s capitulation 15 August 1945, MERRIMACK made several cruises between the West Coast and the Far East, bringing oil for ships supporting the occupation of Japan, and operating along the coasts of China and Korea. MERRIMACK decommissioned 8 February 1950, and entered the Atlantic Reserve Fleet at Orange, Texas. When Communist Forces invaded South Korea, MERRIMACK recommissioned 6 December 1950. Assigned to MSTS, the Fleet oiler served the Atlantic Fleet, making periodic deployments to the Mediterranean until decommissioned 20 December 1954, and placed in the Pacific Reserve Fleet at San Diego. She was struck from the Navy List 4 February 1959, transferred to the Maritime Administration, and placed in the National Defense Reserve Fleet at Beaumont, Texas. MERRIMACK received eight battle stars for World War II service.
BUILT BY Avondale Shipyard, JUMBOIZED 22 April 1991
New Orleans, LA LENGTH 699.5 Feet
KEEL LAID 16 July 1979 BEAM 88 Feet
LAUNCHED 17 May 1980 DISPLACEMENT (FULL LOAD)
COMMISSIONED 14 November 1981 34,800 Tons