USS Pecos ( AO - 6 ) USS " Pecos " ( AO – 6 ) was laid down as Fuel Ship No . 18 on 2 June 1920 by the Navy Yard , Boston , Mass . ; reclassified AO – 6 on 17 July 1920 ; launched 23 April 1921 ; sponsored by Miss Anna S . Hubbard ; and commissioned 25 August 1921 . During the two decades before the United States entered World War II , " Pecos " carried fuel to ships of the fleet wherever needed , operating in both Atlantic and Pacific Oceans . When Japan attacked Pearl Harbor , " Pecos " was in the Philippines supporting the ships of the Asiatic Fleet . She departed Cavite Navy Yard 8 December 1941 for Borneo and reached Balikpapan on the 14th . After filling up with oil and gasoline , the tanker pushed on to Makassar in Celebes , Netherlands East Indies where she refueled American warships fighting to slow the explosive advance of Japanese forces in the southwest Pacific . She departed Makassar for Darwin , Australia , 22 December . She headed for Soerabaja , Java early in 1942 where she fueled Allied ships until departing 3 February after a Japanese air raid there had made that base untenable . Tjilatjap then became the oiler ’ s base until her cargo fuel tanks were empty . She then got underway late in February toward India to refill . On the 27th , off Christmas Island , when the oiler was about to take survivors of " Langley " from destroyers " Whipple " and " Edsall " , land based planes attacked the three ships . After fighting off the raiders , the American ships steamed south out of range and completed the transfer 1 March . At noon that day , planes from Japanese carrier " Soryu " attacked " Pecos " and struck again an hour later . Finally at midafternoon , a third strike sent the veteran oiler to the bottom . Executive Officer Lt . Commander Lawrence J . McPeake ( Annapolis Class of 1924 - Posthumously promoted to Commander after the war ) was posthumously awarded the Silver Star for valor for his actions aboard the USS Pecos . After the order to abandon ship was given by the ship ' s Captain ( Commander Abernethy - was awarded the Navy Cross for his skillful maneuvering , defense of the ship , damage control operations , cool leadership , and command of the stricken vessel during the engagement ) , Lt . Commander McPeake was seen engaging Japanese warplane s ( Aichi D3A1 " Val " dive bomber s ) which were machine - gunning and strafing survivors in the sea , using a primitive deck - mounted . 50 caliber machine gun . At least one of the Vals was confirmed as being shot down and destroyed , with another aircraft listed as a probable kill . By some crewmembers ' accounts , he was reported to have made it off of the ship after it went down . Others reported him last being seen manning the machine gun . In fact , he did swim away from the vessel as it was going down with one other officer from the crew . However , his body was never recovered and he was eventually listed as Killed In Action after the War . A bridge in New Hampshire was named in honor of him , and a plaque on a building at the U . S . Naval Academy is inscribed with his name . Several members of her surviving crewmen thought that the Navy Cross should have been awarded to the Executive Officer , who by some accounts , went down fighting with his ship . Although quite heroic , McPeake ' s actions were by no means solitary . Several officers and men were to be commended for the heroism in fighting the dive bombers , tending to their critically wounded shipmates while under intense enemy fire , and performing superhuman feats fighting the fires and trying to save their doomed ship . After " Pecos " was sunk , the USS " Whipple " raced to the scene and rescued 232 survivors . Many of the survivors , although visible by crew members of " Whipple " , were unable to be picked up and were abandoned at sea , due to the detection of what was thought to be two enemy submarines in the area at extremely close range . According to pilot Shinsaku Yamakawa of the Imperial Japanese Navy , the final attack was conducted by Aichi bombers from the Japanese aircraft carrier " Kaga " .