USS Neosho ( AO - 143 ) USS " Neosho " ( AO - 143 ) was the lead ship of her class of fleet oiler s of the United States Navy , in service from 1954 to the early 1990s . The fourth " Neosho " was laid down 15 August 1952 by the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation ' s Fore River Shipyard at Quincy , Massachusetts , and named " Neosho " on 29 September 1953 . She was launched on 10 November 1953 , sponsored by Mrs . Phillips , wife of Rear Admiral John S . Phillips , the last commanding officer of the , which survived the Attack on Pearl Harbor . AO - 143 was commissioned on 24 September 1954 , Captain Norman E . Smith in command . Service history . United States Navy , 1954 – 1978 . " Neosho " was the first of a class of U . S . Navy fleet oilers designed to combine speed and large cargo capacity for underway replenishment . She entered service at Norfolk , Virginia , in the Atlantic Fleet on 8 December 1954 . A unit of Service Forces , Atlantic Fleet , she operated along the U . S . East Coast and in the Caribbean until 7 September 1955 , when she got underway for her first Mediterranean deployment . After that initial deployment , " Neosho " rotated regularly between the United States Sixth Fleet and the United States Second Fleet . During her second 6th Fleet deployment in autumn 1956 , she supported units of the Sixth Fleet as they stood by in case they were called on to intervene in the Suez Crisis and the tense period which followed . In August – September 1958 she joined Task Force 88 for Operation Argus , making three nuclear weapons tests in the South Atlantic . Her commanding officer served as Commander Task Group 88 . 3 , the Mobile Logistics Group , consisted of : " Neosho " , equipped with USAF MSQ - 1 radar and communication vans , USS Salamonie ( AO - 26 ) , and assigned destroyers . In the fall of 1962 she provided logistical support to the ships during the Cuban Missile Crisis enforcing the Naval Quarantine of Cuba . Less than three years later , in 1965 , she serviced Atlantic Fleet ships during the political turmoil in the Dominican Republic , which later led to the United States 1965 Occupation of the Dominican Republic . By 1967 she had taken part in over 2 , 500 replenishments to transfer more than of petroleum products under both normal and crisis operational conditions . In January 1968 , " Neosho " emerged from overhaul at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard at Portsmouth , Virginia , to commence another three year employment cycle beginning with refresher training and local operations , followed by two seven month Mediterranean tours sandwiching duty with the 2nd Fleet , and ending , in late 1970 , with another overhaul . Military Sealift Command , 1978 – 1992 . " Neosho " was decommissioned on 25 May 1978 , and placed in service with the Military Sealift Command as USNS " Neosho " ( T - AO - 143 ) , continuing her service with a civilian crew . She was placed out of service in 1992 , and struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 16 February 1994 . Disposal . " Neosho " was transferred to the United States Maritime Administration ( MARAD ) on 1 May 1999 for lay up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet , James River , Fort Eustis , Virginia . The ship was returned to U . S . Navy custody six years later and sold for scrapping on 2 February 2005 . The scrapping was completed at International Shipbreaking of Brownsville , Texas on 8 November 2005 .