(AOG-77: displacement 6,047; length 325-; beam 48-; draft 19-; speed 10 knots; complement 38; class Rincon; type T1-M-BT2)
Rincon, built under Maritime Commission contract, was laid down as Tarland (MC hull 2640), 24 February 1945; launched as Rincon, 5 June 1945; sponsored by Mrs. J. L. Baker; delivered to the Maritime Commission 5 October 1945 and operated under contract until 1950; transferred to the Navy at Yokohama 1 July 1950; and assigned to the newly formed Military Sea Transportation Service, Far East.
Placed in service and given the hull designation T-AOG-77 on her acquisition, Rincon immediately commenced shuttling fuel to the Japanese ports whence troops and supplies were being sent to the fighting front in Korea. In September the ship was assigned Sasebo-Pusan shuttle runs as facilities at the latter ort were expanded to meet the needs of U.N. forces being lifted into the embattled peninsula. Throughout the 3 years of conflict, Rincon interrupted that duty only once for runs to Saigon and Haiphong in March 1951. After the truce in July 1953, she continued her Japanese-Korean shuttle service until February 1959. Then transferred to MSTS, Pacific, she carried fuel from Pearl Harbor to Midway and bases in the Marshalls until reassigned to MSTS, Far East, in May 1961. She then returned to Sasebo, whence into 1974 she carried gasoline and other fuels to American and Allied forces in the western Pacific, particularly those in Vietnam.
Leased to South Korea on 21 February 1982, the gasoline tanker served as So Yang (AOG-55) until returned in the late 1990s as the Chun Jee class came into service. The tanker was struck from the Navy list on 23 October 1998.
Rincon earned two battle stars for her service during the Korean conflict.
29 September 2005
