USS Maumee ( AO - 2 ) The second USS " Maumee " ( AO - 2 ) was laid down as Fuel Ship No . 14 on 23 July 1914 by Navy Shipyard , Mare Island , Calif . ; launched 17 April 1915 ; sponsored by Miss Janet Crose ; and commissioned 20 October 1916 , Lt . Comdr . Henry C . Dinger in command . When the Navy ’ s ship classifications were introduced 17 July 1920 , " Maumee " was designated AO - 2 . " Maumee " was the first surface ship in the U . S . Navy to be powered by diesel engines . Supervising their installation and operation was her Executive and Chief Engineering Officer , Lt . Chester W . Nimitz . Early career . Prior to the entry of the United States into World War I , " Maumee " operated off the east coast and Cuba . Following the declaration of war , 6 April 1917 , she was assigned duty refueling at sea the destroyers being sent to Britain . Stationed about 300 miles south of Greenland , " Maumee " was ready for the second group of U . S . ships to be sent as they closed her 28 May . With the fueling of those six destroyers , " Maumee " pioneered the Navy ’ s underway refueling operations , thus establishing a pattern of mobile logistic support which would enable the Navy to keep its fleets at sea for extended periods , with a far greater range independent of the availability of a friendly port . This independence proved crucial to victory in World War II by the ships commanded by Fleet Admiral Nimitz who as " Maumee ’ s " executive officer had played a key role in the refueling developments . By 5 July " Maumee " had refueled 34 Ireland ‑ bound destroyers in mid ‑ Atlantic . During the remainder of the war she completed two further ocean crossings to Europe where she refueled naval units attached to the American Expeditionary Force . Following the end of the war , " Maumee " operated off the east coast until decommissioning 9 June 1922 for layup in reserve at Philadelphia . World War II . With the opening of hostilities in Europe , " Maumee " was brought out of reserve , given an extensive overhaul at Baltimore , Maryland during which she received conventional steampower propulsion , and recommissioned 2 June 1942 . Assigned to the Atlantic Fleet she was employed as a training ship for PCs , SCs , YNs , and ARs off the North Carolina Capes with periodic refueling runs to the Bermuda training area until 6 November 1942 . At that time she commenced her first transatlantic crossing since World War I . Steaming from Norfolk via Bermuda , she arrived Casablanca 25 November and refueled small craft during the liberation of North Africa . She sailed for home 22 December , returning to Norfolk 9 January 1943 and completing an oil run to Aruba before getting underway again for North Africa 19 March . " Maumee " continued to transport fuel to north Africa until 8 July , when she was ordered to carry oil from the Netherlands West Indies to east coast Navy bases . For the next 8 months she operated between the Caribbean and bases as far north as NS Argentia , Newfoundland . On 25 March 1944 , the oiler resumed transatlantic runs , this time along the North Atlantic convoy route to Northern Ireland and England . After completing two voyages , she returned to coastal fueling runs between Aruba and the east coast 22 November . In May 1945 " Maumee " received orders to join the Pacific Fleet . She departed Norfolk 20 June and arrived at Pearl Harbor 15 July , the same day she was redesignated AG - 124 . After a month at Pearl Harbor , she departed for China , arriving off the Yangtze River 30 September . Three days later she ascended the Whangpoo River to Shanghai where she served as a station fuel ship until 16 November , when she sailed for Pearl Harbor . Postwar Service . Reassigned to the Atlantic Fleet , she departed Hawaii 13 December , transited the Panama Canal , 1 January 1946 , and arrived at Portsmouth , Virginia , on the 8th . She steamed south to Guantanamo Bay 12 February , where she reported to TG 23 . 9 , a shakedown group composed of former U . S . Navy vessels under lend lease to the Nationalist Chinese Government . For the next 2 months she rendered repair , tender , and fuel services to the group in Cuban waters and then was assigned to accompany them to China . The task group sailed for the $ 3 14 April . The following month " Maumee " received word that she too was to be transferred to the Nationalist Chinese Government under lend lease . The group arrived at Tsingtao 19 July and on 5 November ended 30 years of service to the US Navy . Transferred to the Chinese Government on the same day , she commissioned on 5 November as RCN " Omei " ( AO - 509 ) . Transferred to the Republic of China permanently on 7 February 1948 , her name was struck from the U . S . Naval Vessel Register 12 March . " Maumee " saw continuous service in the Republic of China Navy until she was decommissioned at Kaoshiung , Taiwan , in the summer of 1967 . Stricken from the Chinese Naval Vessel Register shortly after , she was scrapped at the Kaoshiung Naval Base from August to October 1967 .