Kennebec - class oiler The " Kennebec " - class oilers were sixteen United States Navy medium oilers built during World War II to three related designs at Bethlehem Sparrows Point Shipyard of Sparrows Point , Maryland and Sun Shipbuilding & Drydock Co . of Chester , Pennsylvania , all of which survived the war . Two are still in commercial service as of 2011 . All of the ships of the class initially were to be built for private companies , but the outset of World War II , the ships were transferred to the United States Maritime Commission and given new names . Later , when allocated to the U . S . Navy , they were renamed again . In some cases the " Kennebec " class is divided into three classes , the Kennebec class ( AO - 36 to AO - 40 , AO - 48 ) , the Mattaponi class ( AO - 41 to AO - 44 , AO - 47 ) and the Chiwawa class ( AO - 68 to 72 ) . The first two classes were of the T2 and T2 - A designs , built by different shipbuilders , and the " Chiwawa " s were of the T3 - S - A1 design , mainly differing in having only a 7 , 000 shp engine and a top speed of 15 . 3 knots . History . One of the first acts of the War Shipping Administration , established in February 1942 , was to address the Navy ' s pressing need for oilers by requisitioning five tankers in service or under construction for civilian companies . Three of these were 16 . 5 - knot Type T2 " national defense tankers " designed by the Maritime Commission with potential militarization in mind and built by Bethlehem Steel for Socony - Vacuum Oil Co : the " Corsicana , Caddo " and " Calusa . " A month later the WSA requisitioned six more : Socony ' s " Colina " and " Conastoga " , together with four similar ships building at Sun Shipbuilding and Drydock for Keystone Tankships to an enlarged design , later called T2 - A : " Kalkay , Ellkay , Jorkay " and " Emkay . " " Corsicana " was commissioned as USS " Kennebec " , becoming the lead ship of the class ; " Kalkay " was renamed " Mattaponi " and gave that name to the T2 - A subclass . In June the WSA moved to acquire the remaining member of each group , " Aekay " and " Catawba . " The T2 design had itself been based on two ships built by Bethlehem Steel in 1938 - 39 , " Mobilfuel " and " Mobilube " ; the T2 ' s principal difference was MarCom ' s inclusion of more powerful engines to produce the Navy ' s desired 16 . 5 knots . In the meantime MarCom under the State of Emergency had ordered thirteen duplicates of " Mobilfuel " for the merchant marine ; the first of these were nearing completion in late 1942 when the Navy , still very short of oilers , requisitioned the first five starting with " Samoset " ( ex - " Mobiloil " ) , renamed USS " Chiwawa . " Other than being limited to 15 knots , the " Chiwawas " were effectively identical to the " Kennebecs , " despite being assigned the confusing design code T3 - S - A1 . All sixteen ships survived the war , but were decommissioned shortly afterwards in favor of the larger , faster " Cimarron " class . " Kennebec " , " Merrimack " , " Kankakee " , " Mattaponi " , " Monongahela " , " Tappahannock " , and " Neches " were recommissioned for the U . S . Navy after World War II . " Mattaponi " and " Tappahanock " were reactivated four times , serving until 1970 . " Chiwawa " ( now " Lee A . Tregurtha " ) and " Neshanic " ( now " American Victory " ) are still in commercial service on the Great Lakes .