USNS Tonti (T-AOG 76, T1-M-BT2) Class

Quick Links Menu.

USNS Nodaway (T-AOG 78).
Click on this photograph for links to larger images of this class.

Class: TONTI (T-AOG 76, T1-M-BT2)
Design: MC T1-M-BT2
Displacement (tons): 2,059 light, 5,960 full
Dimensions (feet): 325' oa, 309' wl x 48' e/wl x 19' max nav
Armament: none
Accommodations: 11 officers, 23-25 unlicensed
Speed (kts.): 10
Propulsion (HP): 1,400
Machinery: Geared diesel (Nordberg), 1 screw

Construction:

AOG	Name	Acq	Builder	Keel	Launch	Svc
76	TONTI	18 May 1948	Todd Houston SB	16 May 1945	23 Aug 1945	24 Jun 1948
77	RINCON	1 Jul 1950	Todd Houston SB	24 Feb 1945	5 Jun 1945	1 Jul 1950
78	NODAWAY	7 Sep 1950	Todd Houston SB	19 Feb 1945	15 May 1945	11 Sep 1950
79	PETALUMA	7 Sep 1950	Todd Houston SB	3 May 1945	9 Aug 1945	11 Sep 1950
80	PISCATAQUA	7 Sep 1950	Todd Houston SB	23 May 1945	10 Sep 1945	19 Aug 1950

Disposition:

AOG	Name	T	Inact/Cust	Strike	Disposal	Fate	MA Sale
76	TONTI	T	20 Jul 1960/C	1974?	Jan 1965	Trf	--
77	RINCON	T	Feb 1982	23 Oct 1998	21 Feb 1982	Trf	--
78	NODAWAY	T	22 Jul 1984	None?	1 Oct 1995	MA/T	16 Dec 2006
79	PETALUMA	T	Feb 1982	29 Aug 1997	21 Feb 1982	Trf	--
80	PISCATAQUA	T	1974	1 Aug 1974	22 Jan 1975	MA/S	--

Fates: MA/S (Title to MA and ship sold by MA); MA/T (Title to MA, ship sold later)

Class Notes:
On 6 June 1944 the JCS asked the Maritime Commission (MC) to modify its building program for the first half of 1945 to include the construction as Naval auxiliaries of 12 "special type tankers" that were to be operated in the Pacific area for inter-island shuttle of light petroleum products. For these, AOG 64-75, the MC produced design T1-M-BT1. The MC also developed a similar design designated T1-M-BT2 for the British merchant fleet to which it built 20 ships. The T1-M-BT2's were similar to the T1-M-BT1's "except that main engines are by Nordberg Mfg. Co. and accommodations were intended for Lascar crews." (The T1-M-BT1's had diesels by the Enterprise Engineering & Foundry Co.) These, the largest of the MC's coastal tankers, had six main cargo tanks (divided port and starboard): #1 and 2 for aviation gas, #3 and 4 for commercial gas, and #5 and 6 for diesel oil. The approximate total cubic capacity was 30,000 barrels. The five T1-M-BT2's and the single T1-M-BT1 (PECONIC, ex AOG 68) that remained under U.S. government control after 1948 all ended up in the MSTS fleet by the end of 1950.

Although designed as wartime tonnage they had two unusual design refinements. The exhaust pipes from the main propulsion diesel engine were enclosed within the after end of an elliptical deckhouse shaped like a low streamlined funnel that also contained the emergency generator room, the repair lockers, and other compartments. RINCON, which had been taken over by the Army at the end of 1946, served MSTS in this configuration. The other four T1-M-BT2's when reactivated in 1948 and 1950 had a small funnel added at the after end of the elliptical deckhouse to raise the diesel exhausts. The other refinement was that the portion of the front end of the after superstructure that contained the main cargo pump room with an accommodation level above it was made semi-circular in shape.

On 25 Mar 1948 SecNav wrote to the Chairman of the MC stating that it had been found most unsatisfactory and uneconomical to depend upon commercial operators for delivery of split cargoes in small quantities to posts in the Atlantic, and that this condition could be alleviated by a 30,000 barrel tanker such as the T1-M-BT type. He requested one such ship. On 19 Apr 1948 the MC authorized transfer of TONTI, which had been laid up at Beaumont since April 1946. On 20 Apr 1948 CNO directed the Commander of the 8th Naval District to take over and reactivate the ship, also stating that the Marine Transport Lines, Inc., had been assigned as contractors for her operation. She was to be called U.S. Naval Tanker (USNT) TONTI (AOG 76). The Naval Station at Orange, Tex., reported that the contractor received the ship on 24 Jun 1948. At about the same time the mercantile T1-M-BT1 VOSHELL (ex PECONIC, AOG 68), then being operated by Marine Transport Lines for the MC under a General Agency Agreement, arrived at Boston on 31 March 1948 with a cargo of molasses. A day earlier her former Navy name PECONIC was assigned to her and she was "temporarily classified AOG-68 for BUSHIPS accounting purposes." Title and possession of the ship as a U.S. Naval Tanker (USNT) were transferred from the MC to the Navy as of 4 April 1948 and she was simultaneously returned to Marine Transport Lines for further operation.

AOG 77 was among the Army ships then operating under commands in the Far East that were to be transferred to the Navy about 1 July 1950 for which names, classification, and hull numbers were approved on 7 Jun 1950. The Army had been operating her since December 1946.

On 11 August 1950 the Assistant SECNAV wrote to SECNAV that additional requirements for the transportation of petroleum products in connection with the present emergency (the outbreak of the Korean War) made it necessary to acquire three tankers of about 30,000 barrels capacity to provide for the resupply of certain outports and areas where small storages prevail. He requested that three MARAD T1-M-BT2 vessels then in the NDRF at Beaumont, Texas, be made available to the Navy as soon as practicable. The ships, BELRIDGE (MC 2639), CISNE (MC 2649), and RACOON BEND (MC 2647), became AOG 78-80. They were among three MARAD T1-M-BT2's then in layup and one Army C1-M-AV1 (APC 119) that were to be transferred to the Navy for which names, classification, and hull numbers were approved on 7 September 1950.

Ship Notes:

AOG	Name	MC	Notes
76	TONTI	2648	(ex-TAVERN, British Lend Lease name, completed 5 Dec 1945). Accepted by MC for later disposal and to Beaumont reserve fleet on completion. Title to Navy there 18 May 1948 as a U.S. Naval Tanker operated by a civilian crew. Leased 24 Jun 1948 to Marine Transport Lines for operation, first for the Naval Transportation Service and from its establishment on 1 Oct 1949 for MSTS. Contract-manned tanker until to MA custody 20 Jul 1960. Stricken and to MA (title) 1 Jul 1961. Requested by the Navy from the Commerce Dept. 11 Dec 1964 for the Navy's Latin American Program. Title from MA 4 Jan 1965 and loaned to Colombia 13 Jan 1965 under the "Grant Aid" program as MAMONAL (BT 62). Sold to Colombia Jul 1974, BU 1975.
77	RINCON	2640	(ex-TARLAND, British Lend Lease name, completed 5 Oct 1945). To Beaumont reserve fleet 30 Apr 1946, then to Army 10 Dec 1946 and MSTS 1950. Served in the Far East. She and PETALUMA, below, were replaced by ATLATNA and CHATTAHOOCHEE (AOG 81-82) and were loaned to South Korea as SO YANG (AO 55) on 21 February 1982 (five-year lease signed 22 Feb 1982 Korean time and transfer completed 23 Feb at Chinhae). Lease extended 8 Sep 1992. Replaced by a new CHUN JI class AOR and returned 23 Oct 1998, BU in Korea.
78	NODAWAY	2639	(ex-BELRIDGE, ex British TARCOOLA, completed 12 Sep 1945). To Beaumont reserve fleet 3 May 1946. Ship accepted by MSTS 19 Aug 1950 from MA and ready for sea 20 Sep 1950 after reactivation by Todd-Johnson, New Orleans. Delivered 28 Sep 1951 to Marine Transport Lines for contract operation. Out of service and to MA temporary custody 11 Dec 1959, MA permanent custody (title) 1 Apr 1961, stricken 1 Jul 1961. Title from MA 25 Aug 1965, to MSTS Dec 1965, served in the Far East. To MA custody 5 Oct 1984 (RRF at Pearl Harbor), Navy retained title. Moved to San Francisco Feb 1988 and Yokohama Aug 1992. Was RRF at Tsuneishi Japan in Oct 1996. From RRF to disposal status 30 Sep 2006, sold 16 Dec 2006 by MA to the Teroaka Co. of Japan.
79	PETALUMA	2647	(ex-RACCOON BEND, ex British TAVISPAN, completed 18 Nov 1945). Initially laid up at Todd, Houston, to Beaumont reserve fleet 18 Apr 1946. Secnav on 11 August 1950 asked the Secretary of Commerce for the ship. To MSTS 18 Aug 1950, served in the Far East. Replaced by AOG 81-82 and loaned to South Korea as CHIN YANG (AO 56) on 21 February 1982 (five-year lease signed 22 Feb 1982 Korean time and transfer completed 23 Feb at Chinhae). Lease extended 8 Sep 1992 and terminated 16 Sep 1997 after replacement by a new CHUN JI class AOR, BU in Korea.
80	PISCATAQUA	2649	(ex-CISNE, ex British TAVETA, completed 13 Dec 1945). To Beaumont reserve fleet 26 Apr 1946. To MSTS 19 Aug 1950, served in the Far East. During the Korean War her principal service was off loading aviation gasoline from T2 tankers in the harbor of Inchon for discharge at the shore terminal, although she also visited many other ports in Korea and Japan. On 24 July 1974 MSC reported to CNO that the ship was idle at Yokohama with hull damage due to grounding that did not warrant further retention. On 3 Sep 1974 the Navy asked MA to dispose of her, stating that she would be available in all respects after 30 Sep 1974. To MA custody (RRF, scheduled to scrap) 1974. To buyer at Yokohama 13 Feb 1975.