USS Kankakee ( AO - 39 ) USS " Kankakee " ( AO - 39 ) was a " Kennebec " - class fleet oiler of the United States Navy . The ship was built as SS " Colina " by Bethlehem Steel Co . , Sparrows Point , Maryland ( hull number 4358 and Maritime Commission number 146 ) , launched on 24 January 1942 , sponsored by Mrs . D . A . Little , acquired for the Navy on 31 March through the Maritime Commission from her owner , Socony - Vacuum Oil Company ( later renamed Mobil Oil ) , New York City , and commissioned as " Kankakee " at Norfolk , Virginia , on 4 May , Captain W . H . Mayes in command . Service history . 1942 – 1943 . Departing Norfolk on 1 June 1942 , " Kankakee " transported a cargo of fuel oil from Baton Rouge , Louisiana , to Coco Solo , Panama Canal Zone , and arrived San Francisco via San Pedro on 14 July for additional conversion . She cleared the Golden Gate on 27 August and steamed to Nouméa , New Caledonia , arriving on 18 September to commence duty as a unit of ServRon 8 . Sailing between New Caledonia , the New Hebrides , the Fijis , and Pearl Harbor , she spent the next seven months refueling combat ships and convoys engaged in the bitter , protracted struggle for the Solomon Islands . She departed Nouméa on 18 April 1943 and arrived San Pedro on 3 May for a six - week overhaul before returning to the South Pacific on 19 June . Reaching Nouméa on 8 July , she resumed refueling , cargo , and passenger runs , serving the 3rd Fleet between the New Hebrides and Solomon Islands . Sailing to the south of Guadalcanal on 1 November , she refueled Admiral Frederick C . Sherman ' s fast carriers , and , on 3 to 4 November in preparation for a surprise air strike against Japanese shipping at Rabaul on the 5th . 1944 . From 21 February to 2 March 1944 she replenished destroyers to the east of New Ireland as they battered the Bismarck Barrier with bombardments on Kavieng and Rabaul . Captain Arleigh Burke , Commander of the " Little Beavers " ( DesRon 23 ) and later Chief of Naval Operations , commended " Kankakee " as the " most efficient tanker we have met . " And while on a similar mission on 22 to 30 March , she refueled carriers of a task force as they sailed to launch destructive air strikes on 30 March to 1 April against the enemy - held Palau , Yap , and Woleai Islands in the Western Carolines . Loaded with fuel oil and gasoline , she next refueled escort ships engaged in the Saipan landings . On 14 July she returned to San Diego for a short upkeep . " Kankakee " departed the West Coast on 24 August ; she arrived at Kossol Roads , Palaus , on 10 October to serve as station tanker until 1 November when she shifted her base to Ulithi , Western Carolines . From there she provided logistics support to ships that were hitting the enemy from the Philippines to the " home islands " . 1945 . Throughout November and December 1944 and January 1945 she replenished Task Force 38 . This Task Force struck the enemy devastating blows at Luzon , Formosa , the China Coast , and French Indochina . Departing Ulithi on 8 February , she steamed northward and remained at sea until 3 March to refuel carriers , battleships , cruisers , and destroyers of the 5th Fleet engaged in the savage struggle for Iwo Jima and the supporting carrier air strikes on Tokyo . After renewing her cargo at Ulithi , she sailed on 13 March to supply carriers , including and as they were conducting air strikes on Kyūshū , the Inland Sea , and the Ryukyus . On 1 April , as landings on Okinawa progressed , " Kankakee " departed Southern Anchorage , Ulithi , for logistic support duty off Okinawa . Under the operational command of Rear Admiral Donald B . Beary , Commander ServRon 6 , she furnished fuel and supplies at sea to ships of the 5th Fleet . During much of the next three months she helped maintain their striking power and mobility in the last great amphibious campaign of the war . Completing her Ryukyus duty on 14 June , she resumed support on 3 July for the 3rd Fleet as Task Force 38 conducted devastating aerial and naval bombardments on the " home islands " from Hokkaidō to the Inland Sea . " Kankakee " steamed southeast of Japan as offensive operations ceased on 15 August ; but she maintained logistic support until her return to Ulithi on 5 September . After putting into Tokyo Bay on 20 September , she proceeded to the United States , arriving San Pedro on 18 November for overhaul . 1946 – 1955 . Assigned to the Naval Overseas Transportation Service ( NOTS ) on 28 February 1946 , " Kankakee " departed San Pedro on 13 March to serve as station tanker in Japan and China . For much of the next five years , she cruised the North Pacific Ocean from Alaska to the Philippines . During 1946 and 1947 she transported fuel oil from Bahrein in the Persian Gulf to Japan and the Philippines . Now assigned to the Military Sea Transportation Service ( MSTS ) , she had an overhaul at Mare Island . " Kankakee " departed Seattle on 2 February 1951 for duty with the 6th Fleet . She loaded aviation gasoline at Marcus Hook , Pennsylvania , and sailed on 13 March to join in the Mediterranean on 2 April . Spending four months in support of the 6th Fleet she returned to San Pedro on 7 September . She departed Wilmington , California , on 23 December with a cargo of Korea - bound gasoline . Reaching Pusan on 10 January 1952 after discharging her cargo , she returned via Sasebo , Japan , to San Francisco on 2 February . " Kankakee " departed San Francisco on 1 April ; after loading fuel oil at Houston , Texas , she sailed on 19 April for the Mediterranean , arriving Oran , Algeria , on 4 May to fuel 6th Fleet carriers . Completing this important duty on 21 November , she transported aviation gasoline from St . Rose , Louisiana , to the West Coast , arriving at Wilmington on 20 December . She conducted fueling operations along the Pacific coast and sailed from San Pedro on 26 August 1953 for deployment with the 6th Fleet . From her departure at Beaumont , Texas , on 12 September to her arrival at New York on 31 May 1955 she conducted two , seven - month deployments to the Mediterranean in support of 6th Fleet operations . Placed in commission in reserve at Norfolk on 17 August , she was towed to Baltimore on 14 October , thence to Philadelphia on 29 November . She decommissioned on 30 November 1955 and entered the Atlantic Reserve Fleet . 1956 – 1957 . " Kankakee " recommissioned on 20 December 1956 , Comdr . G . R . Wells in command . Reassigned to MSTS , she departed Philadelphia on 26 December for eight months of Atlantic fuel - shuttle duty that carried her from the eastern seaboard and Venezuela to Newfoundland , Labrador , and the coast of western Europe . From 14 to 21 September 1957 she operated out of Portland , England , to support the NATO exercise " Operation Strikeback . " Following return to Norfolk on 1 October , she sailed via New York for Port Arthur , Texas , arriving on 4 November . She decommissioned the next day and entered the Maritime Defense Reserve Fleet . 1961 – 1973 . Placed in reserve on 1 February 1959 , " Kankakee " was reinstated on 1 September 1961 and recommissioned on 29 November at New Orleans , Captain M . O . Slater in command . Assigned to ServRon 4 , she departed New Orleans on 9 December , arriving Newport , Rhode Island , on 15 December . After a Caribbean cruise from 8 January to 8 March 1962 , she operated along the Atlantic coast . On 24 October , two days after President Kennedy imposed a naval quarantine against the shipment of Russian offensive missiles into Cuba , " Kankakee " departed Newport to furnish logistic support for the powerful fleet swiftly assembled there . Before returning to Newport on 5 December , she refueled 89 ships at sea , pointing out the self - sufficiency and mobility of seapower . Operating out of Newport , the oiler engaged in a variety of missions between 25 February 1963 and 5 June 1964 . During June 1963 she participated in joint U . S . - French convoy exercises , and in August she supported Atlantic anti - submarine warfare exercises . " Kankakee " deployed to the Mediterranean on 3 July . While serving with the 6th Fleet , she refueled and serviced 269 ships and supplied them with more than 29 million US gallons ( 110 , 000 m ) of fuel oil and aviation gasoline . During August she supported the Fleet ' s Cyprus patrol as the United States continued its role of keeping the peace in the Middle East . Her deployment completed , " Kankakee " returned to Newport on 22 December . " Kankakee " operated along the East Coast and in the Caribbean into 1967 . One of the highlights of her service occurred in March 1965 when she acted as a recovery unit for NASA ' s Gemini 4 space flight . On this operation , besides her recovery duty , she refueled other ships of the recovery team . " Kankakee " was decommissioned ( date unknown ) , and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 January 1973 . Transferred to the Maritime Administration ( MARAD ) for lay up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet , she was sold on 1 April 1976 . Awards . " Kankakee " received six battle star s for World War II service and one for Korean War service .