USNS Ponchatoula ( T - AO - 148 ) 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 star s 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 ) . " 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 .