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Chipola
T3-S2-A1
Cimmeron Class Fleet Oiler:
Laid down (date unknown) as a Maritime Commission type (T3-S2-A3) tanker hull, under Maritime Commission
contract, (MC hull 729) at Bethlehem Steel Shipyard, Sparrows Point, MD.
Launched, 21 October 1944
Commissioned USS Chipola (AO-63), 30 November 1944
Decommissioned, 1 August 1955, at Philadelphia, PA.
Recommissioned, 26 December 1956 for service with MSTS
Decommissioned, 7 November 1957
Recommissioned, 17 December 1960
Decommissioned (date unknown)
Struck from the Naval Register, 14 August 1973
Transferred to the Maritime Administration for disposal
Final Disposition, sold by MARAD, 15 July 1974, fate unknown.
( See photos below )
Specifications:
Displacement 7,236 t.(lt) 25,440 t.(fl)
Length 553'
Beam 75'
Draft 32'
Speed 18 kts.
Complement 314
Armament one single 5"/38 dual purpose gun mount, four single 3"/50 dual purpose gun mounts,
four twin 40mm gun mounts, four twin 20mm gun mounts
Cargo Capacity 146,000 barrels
Propulsion geared turbines, twin screws, 30,400hp.

View the Chipola (AO-63)
DANFS history entry located at the US Naval Historical Center web site

Photobucket
USS Chipola (AO-63) enroute from Norfolk, VA. to Belfast, Northern Ireland, 1952.
( Photo thanks to Stan Cochran )
Photobucket
USS Chipola (AO-63) with Deuel (APA-160) alongside, circa 1952, at Thule, Greenland during
"Operation Blue Jay". Note the hole in Chipola's bow.
( Photo thanks to George Panos )
Photobucket
USS Chipola (AO-63) refueling Princeton (LPH-5) during operations in the Pacific,
25 June 1968.     ( US Navy photo )
  Photobucket
USS Chipola (AO-63) underway, place and data unknown.
  Photobucket
USS Chipola (AO-63).       ( Art work by IAN HALL )
  Photobucket
USS Chipola (AO-63) at Pearl Harbor, March 1968
( Photo thanks to Jim McCoy )
  Photobucket
USS Chipola (AO-63) delivers NSFO to USS Bennington (CVS-20) while underway in the Pacific Ocean in the spring of 1964.
( Photo by Travis Moffat )
  Photobucket
USS Chipola (AO-63) delivers NSFO to USS Bennington (CVS-20) while underway in the Pacific Ocean in the spring of 1964.
( Photo by Travis Moffat )
  Photobucket
USS Chipola (AO-63) underway, 17 April 1964, location unknown.
( US Navy photo )

 Custody & Disposal CARDS by PMARS is MARAD's official repository of NDRF ships
of Chipola

Custody CARDS
Front of Card 1
Back of Card 1 No Image

Disposal CARDS
Front of Card 1
Back of Card 1 No Image