USS Cacapon, a 7470-ton Cimarron class oiler, was built under a Maritime Commission contract at Sparrows Point, Maryland. Acquired by the Navy and commissioned in September 1943, she carried fuel from the West Indies to Hawaii on her maiden voyage, then continued further into the Pacific to refuel ships participating in the Gilbert Islands operation. For the rest of the Second World War, Cacapon continued to support operations against Japan, carrying vital oil cargo to replenish ships of the 3rd, 5th and 7th fleets.
During the last months of 1945, Cacapon assisted with post-war occupation efforts in the Far East, and in 1946 was assigned to transport oil from the Persian Gulf to the Pacific. However, an accidental grounding cut short that job and sent her back to the U.S. for repairs. In 1947, the oiler participated in the Operation "Highjump" Antarctic operation. She continued her Pacific Fleet employment for the rest of the decade and made four deployments to Asian waters during the 1950-53 Korean War.
Cacapon's Pacific Fleet career lasted for two decades after the Korean Armistice. During this time, she freqently voyaged to the western Pacific to support the U.S. Seventh Fleet, including further combat operations during the Vietnam War from 1965 into the early 1970s. After almost thirty years' in commission, USS Cacapon was decommissioned in August 1973. She was simultaneously stricken from the Naval Vessel Register and transferred to the Maritime Administration to be sold for scrapping.
This page features all our views of USS Cacapon (AO-52).
If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions." |
Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.
Photo #: NH 85783 USS Cacapon (AO-52) Underway in ballast, circa the later 1940s U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 80KB; 740 x 555 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 97541 USS Cacapon (AO-52) Underway at sea, 14 January 1964. Photographed by Moen. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Online Image: 94KB; 740 x 605 pixels |
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Photo #: USN 1117156 USS Cacapon (AO-52) (right) Rides high in the water while transferring her remaining fuel oil to USS Sacramento (AOE-1), off the coast of South Vietnam, 1 August 1966. Official U.S. Navy Photograph. Online Image: 70KB; 740 x 480 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system as Photo # 428-N-117156. |
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Photo #: K-92247 USS Cacapon (AO-52) At sea on 12 January 1972. Note the red "E" with a single hashmark on her smokestack. Official U.S. Navy Photograph. Online Image: 69KB; 740 x 460 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system as Photo # 428-K-92247. Though reproductions of this photo from the Naval Historical Center's collections are available in black & white only, those from the National Archives should be available in color. |
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Photo #: NH 97542 USS Cacapon (AO-52) Replenishing USS Hancock (CVA-19) from three refueling stations, circa 1972. Note red "E" with one hashmark painted on Cacapon's smokestack. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Online Image: 72KB; 740 x 530 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 65845-KN (Color) Insignia: USS Cacapon (AO-52) This drawing was sent by the ship on 27 April 1960. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 131KB; 590 x 675 pixels |
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If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions." |
Page made 31 March 2001