Noxubee (AOG-56)
1945-1975
A river in the state of Mississippi.
(AOG-56: displacement 4,130 (full load); length 310'9"; beam 38'6"; draft 15'8"; speed 14.0 knots; complement 124; armament 4 3-inch, 12 20 millimeter; class Patapsco; type T1-MT-M1)
Noxubee (AOG-56) was laid down on 17 November 1944 at Savage, Minn., by Cargill, Inc.; launched on 3 April 1945; sponsored by Mrs. Wilbur F. Bagley; and commissioned at New Orleans, La., on 19 October 1945, Lt. John Lande, D-M, USNR, in command.
After training in the Gulf of Mexico out of Galveston, Texas, Noxubee carried petroleum products to overseas bases and ships, and replenished ships at sea, occasionally carrying light freight and provisions. For several months she delivered supplies to fleet tugs enroute to Bermuda, and on 25 April 1946 arrived at Norfolk, Va., her first home port. From this base and, after 16 November 1947, from Newport, R.I., she carried motor and aviation gasoline to bases in Newfoundland, Labrador, the Azores, and Iceland, often voyaging to oil ports in the Gulf States.
In 1950 and 1951, Noxubee made brief Atlantic crossings to deliver fuel to Casablanca and Naples, and in July 1951 she began the first of five lengthy deployments to the Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean. On each of these, she operated out of Tripoli, Libya, whence she took part in the vital peacekeeping missions of the fleet by replenishing its ships at sea and carrying petroleum to the various ports used by the fleet.
Noxubee used the intervals for necessary overhauls, training and assignments in the Western Atlantic, twice accompanying small convoys to the Azores to provide at-sea replenishment. She was decommissioned at Green Cove Springs, Fla., on 6 March 1959, and lay in reserve there until transferred to the Maritime Administration (MarAd) at 11:45 a.m. on 19 January 1960, berthed in the James River berthing area. She was permanently transferred to MarAd on 30 June 1960 at 12:00 midnight, and stricklen from the Navy List on 1 July 1960.
The logistical demands of the Vietnam War, however, compelled the Navy to bring the tanker back into the active fleet. She was permanently transferred from MarAd to the Navy, being withdrawn from the James River at 9:15 a.m. on 23 August 1965. She was recommissioned at Norfolk on 10 September 1966, Lt. Howard L. Pabst, commanding, and she arrivied at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, her new home port, on 8 November. She operated in the mid and western Pacific serving ships of the Seventh Fleet, operating off Vietnam during 1967 (5 April---23 May, and 29 June --- 1 August), during 1968 (9 May --- 30 June, 1 July -- 11 August, and 18 September --- 25 November), during 1969 (23 June -- 25 September, and 17 -- 31 October, 1 -- 13 November) and from 13 November 1969 to 9 January 1970.
Simultaneously decommissioned and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 July 1975, Noxubee was permanently transferred to the Maritime Administration on 24 March 1976, and was sold the same date to Union Minerals & Alloys Corp. to be broken up for scrap.
Noxubee received six engagement stars for her service during the Vietnam War.
Updated, Robert J. Cressman
4 April 2024
