USS Merrimack (AO-179)
USS Merrimack before the jumboization, 1985
History
United States
NameUSS Merrimack
NamesakeMerrimack River
BuilderAvondale Shipyards
Laid down16 July 1979
Launched17 May 1980
Commissioned14 November 1981
Decommissioned18 December 1998
Stricken18 December 1998
IdentificationIMO number: 7702437
FateScrapped 5 June 2013
General characteristics
Displacement36,977 tons full load
Length700 ft (210 m)
Beam88 ft (27 m)
Draft32 ft (9.8 m)
PropulsionSteam Turbine
Speed20 kn (37 km/h)
Complement12 officers, 148 enlisted
Armament

USS Merrimack (AO-179) was the third ship of the Cimarron-class of fleet oilers of the United States Navy. Merrimack was built at the Avondale Shipyards in New Orleans, Louisiana starting in 1978 and was commissioned in 1981 for service in the Atlantic Fleet. Total cost for the ship was $107.1 million. She was last homeported at Norfolk, Virginia. Between 1989 and 1991 Merrimack was "jumboized", meaning that, after cutting the ship into two sections after about a third from the bow, a 35.7 m long section was added to increase the fuel load. Merrimack was decommissioned on 18 December 1998 and struck from the Naval Vessel Register on the same day. Her title was transferred to the Maritime Administration. She was scrapped in Brownsville on 5 June 2013.

Merrimack after refueling USS Iowa (BB-61) in 1985.

References

    • Navsource
    • Wildenberg, Thomas (1996). Gray Steel and Black Oil: Fast Tankers and Replenishment at Sea in the U.S. Navy, 1912-1995. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. Retrieved 2009-04-28.
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