The U.S.S. Neosho at Pearl Harbor
In July of 1941, my uncle, Bill Leu, signed onto the new Navy oil tanker, the U.S.S. Neosho, in Bremerton, Washington. When it was launched in 1939, the 553-foot long Neosho was the largest oil tanker in the world. Bill, a 19-year old Fireman Third Class, worked down in the engine room in the "black gang," a moniker held over from the days of coal-fired ships.
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| Above: The U.S.S. Neosho (AO-23) in Norfolk, Virginia on August 7, 1939, just after being commissioned. | |
The main task of the Neosho in the days before World War II was to carry fuel from the U.S. mainland to the Pacific Fleet's new base at Pearl Harbor, on the island of Oahu in Hawaii. Oahu had been a sleepy island, but that changed fast with the arrival of the Pacific Fleet in the spring of 1940 (see Prelude to War).
One of the most important tasks for the Navy at that time was to build up an adequate supply of diesel and aviation fuel at Pearl Harbor, which meant shipping it in with tankers, such as the Neosho. From July through November of 1941, the Neosho shuttled back and forth, carrying diesel and aviation fuel from San Pedro, California, to its destination in Pearl Harbor.
