USS Monongahela ( AO - 42 ) The second USS " Monongahela " ( AO - 42 ) was a ( " Mattaponi " subclass ) in the United States Navy which saw service during World War II and the Korean War . She was the second U . S . Navy ship named for the Monongahela River in West Virginia and Pennsylvania . The ship was built in 1942 as the commercial oil tanker " ElKay " , a type T2 - A tanker , by the Sun Shipbuilding & Drydock Co . in Chester , Pennsylvania as hull number 227 and USMC number 158 . Acquired by the United States Navy from the Maritime Commission on 31 July 1942 , she was commissioned at Norfolk , Virginia , on 11 September 1942 , Capt . Thomas H . Bell in command . Service history . 1942 – 1950 . Assigned to the Pacific Fleet , " Monongahela " departed Norfolk in November 1942 for Aruba , Netherlands West Indies , where she loaded oil and then steamed to Nouméa , New Caledonia , via the Panama Canal to supply American forces engaged in the struggle for Guadalcanal . For the next year , the tanker shuttled fuel oil , aviation gasoline , diesel oil , various dry cargoes , and ammunition between San Pedro , California , and Allied supply bases in the Solomons , New Caledonia , and New Zealand as part of the long seaborne pipeline supplying fuel for victory in the South Pacific . In January 1944 , following a stateside overhaul and a Pearl Harbor fuel run , the big auxiliary joined the 5th Fleet support group for the invasion of the Marshall Islands , supplying various ships and small bases at Kwajalein , Eniwetok , and Majuro as those atolls were captured during the campaign . In March 1944 , " Monongahela " joined the At - Sea - Replenishment Group for Fast Carrier Task Force 58 , for the remainder of the war operating continuously with the fast carriers , participating in every major central Pacific operation from the Hollandia , New Guinea , invasion in April 1944 to the invasion of Okinawa a year later . The oiler supported the flattops during the second strikes on Truk , the invasion of the Marianas , the Battle of the Philippine Sea , the Palaus invasion , the Leyte campaign , and the liberation of the Philippines . In November 1944 , she was one of those oilers in Capt . Jasper T . Acuff ' s At - Sea - Refueling Group that made the perilous run through Surigao Strait into the East China Sea to refuel Admiral William F . Halsey ' s 3rd Fleet / TF 38 during its raids on the Indochinese and China coasts . The ship also supported the invasions of Iwo Jima and Okinawa , narrowly escaping damage from suicide air attacks at Kerama Retto , on 16 April 1945 . At the end of the Okinawa operation in June , " Monongahela " steamed to San Francisco for a much needed overhaul which was still in progress when hostilities ceased on 15 August . Following the war , the auxiliary remained active in the Pacific , participating in the occupation of Japan and operations in China in 1945 - 46 and then giving support to Pacific Fleet ships and stations for five years , decommissioning at San Diego on 9 June 1950 . 1951 – 1959 . The veteran tanker recommissioned on 9 January 1951 for the Korean War . Assigned to the Military Sea Transportation Service , " Monongahela " remained active in the Pacific , supplying U . N . forces in the Far East , until transferred to the Atlantic Fleet in March 1953 , joining the 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean for extended operations 13 months later . On 9 June 1955 , the ship arrived at Philadelphia where she decommissioned the next day and was placed in reserve . The ship once again recommissioned as part of MSTS on 28 December 1956 , operating along the Atlantic coast for eight months and then decommissioning on 22 August 1957 to enter the Maritime Administration ' s Reserve Fleet , at Beaumont , Texas . She was stricken from the Navy List on 1 February 1959 , and sold for scrapping on 25 March 1982 to Eckhard and Co . , Brownsville , Texas . Awards . " Monongahela " received ten battle star s for World War II service , and two battle stars for Korean War service .