USS Salinas ( AO - 19 ) USS " Salinas " ( AO - 19 ) , a United States Navy , was laid down for the United States Shipping Board ( USSB ) as " Hudsonian " ( 219592 ) on 10 April 1919 by the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co . , Newport News , Virginia ; launched on 5 May 1920 ; accepted by the USSB on 13 May 1920 ; transferred to the Navy on 29 October 1921 ; renamed " Salinas " and designated AO - 19 on 3 November 1921 ; and commissioned at Mobile , Ala . , on 16 December 1921 , Lt . Comdr . H . S . Chase , USNRF , in command . Service history . Assigned to the Naval Transportation Service , " Salinas " was initially in commission for only a little over six months . She was decommissioned at Norfolk on 20 June 1922 and remained in reserve until recommissioned at Norfolk on 12 June 1926 . The following September , she commenced carrying fuel from naval fuel depots and Caribbean and Texas oil ports to Navy bases and stations on the east and west coasts , in the Caribbean , in the Panama Canal Zone , and , in the late 1920s , to Marine Corps units in Nicaragua . Periodically interrupted for overhauls and fleet exercises ; and , in 1938 , for a transatlantic run to Britain , she maintained a continuous operating schedule in those areas until late in the 1930s . Then , with tension increasing in Europe , she confined her operations to runs between Gulf coast and Caribbean oil ports and bases in Cuba and on the east coast . In September 1939 , World War II broke out in Europe . Hostilities soon spread across the ocean . The United States commenced neutrality patrols and escort services in the western Atlantic , and " Salinas " , now armed , shifted her runs further north , and then east , to include bases in Canada and Iceland . During August 1941 , the AO served as station oiler at NS Argentia , Newfoundland . She joined a convoy for Iceland in September . She arrived at Reykjavík early in October and departed that port on 23 October , in ballast , for the mid - ocean meeting point where she rendezvoused with convoy ON 28 on 25 September . From there , the tanker moved west to return to the United States . At 0700 ( GCT ) on the 30th , her position was 46° 56 ' N , 37°46 ' W ( about east of Newfoundland ) . Visibility was about . Twelve minutes later , " Salinas " took a torpedo fired by commanded by Hermann Rasch , portside , at her number 9 tank . A second torpedo followed , hitting portside at tanks 2 and 3 . " Salinas " settled to near her loaded waterline and remained there . A submarine was sighted on the surface at 0730 , close aboard on the starboard quarter . The U - boat fired three torpedoes , all misses — two ahead , one astern of the damaged oiler — then submerged . " Salinas ' s " stern gun opened fire on the disappearing U - boat , possibly hitting it . then moved in and dropped a string of depth charges on the submarine ' s estimated position . " Salinas ' s " crew , having suffered no serious injuries ( one man was lightly wounded ) , began to clear the wreckage . " Du Pont " and stood by . At 1150 , the oiler ' s engineering department signaled " ready to proceed " , and , at 1155 , " Salinas " ' continued westward with " Lea " as escort . rendezvoused with the damaged oiler and her escort on 31 September . joined them on 2 November , but her services as a tug were not needed ; on the evening of 3 November " Salinas " reached St . John Bay . From Newfoundland , " Salinas " moved south , to Brooklyn , New York , for repairs . Yard work was completed at midnight on 1 April 1942 . She left the repair yard on 2 April and departed New York for Chesapeake Bay on 5 April . She arrived at Norfolk on 10 April to take on cargo fuel and miscellaneous cargo ; on 17 April she sailed north again . Routed first to Halifax , she joined convoy SC 81 there on 22 April , and continued on to Reykjavík on 23 April , arriving on 8 May . For the next 19 days , she fueled Allied ships in Icelandic anchorages . She moved west on 27 May and arrived at Boston , Massachusetts on 12 June . By July , she was back in Canadian waters to serve as station oiler at Argentia . She put into Sydney , Nova Scotia on 1 August to take on more cargo ; on 5 August she headed for Greenland , where she supplied fueling services to units based at Kungnat Bay , Sondrestromfjord , and Tunugdliarfikfjord . On 24 September she returned to Nova Scotia , whence she continued on to New York . Through 1943 , " Salinas " continued to move petroleum products to bases in the Atlantic provinces and in Greenland . On 9 January 1944 , she completed her last run from St . John ' s to New York , and on 12 January she headed for the Caribbean . Into March , she shuttled fuel from the Netherlands West Indies to Guantanamo Bay , Cuba ; then moved south to the Panama Canal . She transited the canal on 19 March , arrived at San Pedro , California on 2 April , and sailed for Alaska two days later . " Salinas " arrived at Dutch Harbor , Unalaska , Alaska on 17 April 1944 . Routed on , she anchored in Massacre Bay , Attu and discharged her first cargo in the Aleutians on 21 April . On that run , she also delivered fuel to Kuluk Bay and Dutch Harbor . Then , in May , she headed for Seattle , whence she shuttled gasoline , oil , diesel fuel , and cargo to the Aleutians until after the end of World War II . " Salinas " , ordered inactivated , departed Dutch Harbor for the last time in mid - October . A week later , she arrived at San Francisco where she was decommissioned on 16 January 1946 . Her name was struck from the Navy list on 26 February 1946 , and she was transferred to the Maritime Commission for disposal on 1 July of the same year . It appears the " Salinas " was sold to the Hillcone Shipping Company . The " Salinas " was involved in a minor maritime accident in June 1950 , when it was delivering oil to the Time Oil Company docks near the Ballard Locks . The ship ran aground in Shilshole Bay . No reported oil spill was recorded at that time , and the ship was reported taken back to San Pedro , California for repairs to its hull plates .