USS Hassayampa AO-145

Dry Dock - Subic Bay 1977.........................................................Photo courtesy of Jim Andrick

USS Hassayampa AO-145 in rough seas off Formosa 23 Oct 1958. The wind was up to 50 knots and the waves were 30 feet high. One refueling hose broke right away causing about 500 gallons to be lost into the sea. In this photo Hassayampa had just broken off from trying to refuel the USS Midway.

The Midway was also taking water almost continuously over the flight deck. A man was washed overboard off the oiler but was picked up OK by the Midway helicopter. As anyone who has manned a refueling station knows, it is long, hard and dangerous work. Even in calm seas, the wash from an aircraft carrier carries back to the other ship and with low freeboard like a tanker or a destroyer, many men get washed around and some end up in the sea. The two ships are locked together by the refueling hoses and cannot maneuver to pick up anyone in the water so the helicopter or a following destroyer usually effects the rescue. Note: In this photo there are no top outrigger booms on the after mast assembly like there are on later Neosho class oilers such as the Ponchatoula AO-148. I don't know if these were included on the later ships of this class or they were added on and Hassayampa doesn't have hers yet.

Photo by MIDWAY-Joe

......Beans, Bullets and Black Oil June, 1965 ............................................ Photo courtesy of Dennis Hitchcock