Conemaugh II (AOG-62)
1945-1946
A river in the state of Pennsylvania.
II
(AOG-62: displacement 2,270 (limiting); length 220'6" (overall); beam 37'0”; draft 13'1" (limiting); speed 9.5 knots (maximum), 8.5. knots (economical); complement 62; armament 1 3-inch, 2 40 millimeter, 3 20 millimeter; class Mettawee; type T1-M-A2)
The second Conemaugh (AOG-62) was laid down in 1944 at Bayonne, N.J., by the East Coast Ship Yard, Inc., under a Maritime Commission contract (M.C. Hull No. 2656); launched on 17 February 1945; sponsored by Mrs. F. J. Read; acquired by the Navy on 9 March 1945; converted at Brooklyn, N.Y., by the Marine Basin Shipyard; and commissioned , receiving her crew from the Naval Receiving Station, Pier 92 New York, on 21 March 1945, Lt. William A. Jump, Jr., (D), USNR, in command.
Conemaugh cleared the Naval Frontier Base, Tompkinsville, Staten Island, N.Y., on 10 April 1945 and set course for the Naval Operating Base (NOB) Norfolk, Virginia. She continued her voyage on 6 May 1945 and headed for Aruba to load fuel then continued on to arrive at San Diego, Calif., on 7 June.
She cleared San Diego on 17 June 1945 for San Francisco, Calif., Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii; Eniwetok, Marshall Islands, and Ulithi, the Carolines Here she had local fueling duties as well as making voyages to Peleliu from 2 August to 30 October. She then became station diesel tanker at Guam, continuing her fuel runs to Peleliu until 13 January 1946, when she sailed for Pearl Harbor on 13 February 1946, to proceed thence to the west coast of the U.S.
Conemaugh was decommissioned at San Francisco on 30 March 1946, having been returned to the War Shipping Administration, being laid up in the Maritime Commission's Reserve Fleet facility at Suisun Bay, Calif.. at 4:00 p.m. on 29 March. Subsequently, the Navy estimated [January 1948] that it would cost $300,000 to place the ship “in operable condition,” and so recommended that the vessel be scrapped.
Ultimately, ex-Conemaugh was advertised on 11 December 1963 for sale as a scrap hull. Bids opened on 3 January 1964, and the vessel was purchased by National Metals & Steel Corp., which removed her from Maritime Administration custody at 3:45 p.m. on 22 January 1964 to break her up for scrap.
Commanding Officers
Lt. William A. Jump, Jr., (D), USNR 21 March 1945
Lt. (j.g.) Werner E. Klemmer, (D), USNR 19 February 1946
Updated, Robert J. Cressman
8 June 2022
