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USS ''Ponchatoula'' (AO-148) was one of six ''Neosho''-class fleet oilers built for the United States Navy, in service from 1956 to 1992, and named for the Ponchatoula creek which rises in Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana, and flows into the Natalbany River, west of Ponchatoula, Louisiana. She was the second U.S. Naval vessel to bear the name. ''Ponchatoula'' was laid down at the New York Shipbuilding Corporation, Camden, New Jersey, on 1 March 1954, launched on 9 July 1955, sponsored by Mrs. I. N. Kiland, and commissioned on 12 January 1956 with Capt. William R. Wilson in command. ==Service history== After fitting out at Philadelphia, ''Ponchatoula'', the sixth of a class designed to combine speed and large cargo capacity for rapid underway replenishment over extended operational periods, got underway for the Pacific. Arriving at Long Beach, California, on 10 March, she underwent shakedown and training exercises off the California coast and in September deployed to the Far East. En route she assisted ''SS Venus'', a Panamanian merchantman lying helpless on the fringes of two typhoons. Taking ''Venus'' in tow on the 26th, ''Ponchatoula'' was relieved of her tow on the 28th, and continued on to Sasebo to join the 7th Fleet. Rotated regularly to the western Pacific, ''Ponchatoula'' was homeported at Pearl Harbor in early 1958 and received her introduction to support under hostile conditions while operating with 7th Fleet units during the Quemoy-Matsu Crisis in the fall of that year. Support for experimental operations highlighted 1962 as she provided POL (petroleum, oil, lubricants) services to Joint Task Force 8 engaged in "Operation Dominic I" (the Christmas Island nuclear test series), then operated with Project Mercury recovery ships during the ''Sigma 7'' splashdown. Repeating that support with ''Faith 7'' in 1963, she shifted to combat operations in October 1964 and deployed to the South China Sea to refuel ships employ the coast of Vietnam. After 279 refuelings, she returned to Hawaiian waters. In June 1965 she participated in recovery operations for ''Gemini 4'', then deployed again to Vietnam. In December she interrupted operations there to support the recovery ships for ''Gemini 6'' and ''Gemini 7'' and in April 1966 returned to Hawaii after having set a new record in the Pacific Fleet by bringing 503 ships alongside, 464 of which she refueled. Deployed to WestPac again in November 1967, she pumped over of fuel through her hoses before returning home in June 1968. In October she again joined ships in the Pacific splashdown area, this time to recover ''Apollo 7'', the first U.S. three-man flight. By 8 December, ''Ponchatoula'' was back in the Philippines, whence she got underway for "Yankee Station" in the Gulf of Tonkin on the 15th again to replenish ships operating in support of Allied operations in Vietnam. ''Ponchatoula'' earned twelve battle stars for Vietnam War service. In July 1969, she returned home and into 1970 remained in Hawaiian waters. In 1972 she refueled USS ''Berkeley'' (DDG 15) homebound from the Vietnam War. Decommissioned in the 1980s, ''Ponchatoula'' was placed in service with the Military Sealift Command (MSC) as USNS ''Ponchatoula'' (T-AO-148) where she served with the Seventh Fleet in the Persian Gulf during Operation Fiery Vigil, Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm. She was badly damaged in a collision with the guided missile cruiser ''USS Chancellorsville (CG62)'' in August of 1991. The ''Chancellorsville'' suffered a steering casualty during underway replenishment operations and heeled sharply to port, ramming the ''Ponchatoula's'' starboard side at the Bridge, then sliding down the starboard side of the ship, buckling the upper deck plates of the ''Ponchatoula'' to the engine house and damaging the ''Chancellorsville's'' hurricane bow and sonar dome. ''Ponchatoula'' was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 31 August 1992; her title was transferred to MARAD on 1 May 1999 for lay-up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, Suisun Bay, Benicia, California. MARAD listed ''Ponchatoula'' still at Suisun Bay in February 2007. She was towed from Suisun Bay on June 5th, 2014 to be dismantled in Brownsville, Texas. Her final voyage is chronicled at ''http://navy.memorieshop.com/Ponchatoula/Last-Voyage.html''. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「USNS Ponchatoula (T-AO-148)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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