USS Saranac ( AO - 74 ) USS " Saranac " ( AO - 74 ) , originally named the SS " Cowpens " , was a Type T2 - SE - A1 " Suamico " - class fleet oiler of the United States Navy , and the fourth ship of the Navy to bear the name . Laid down under Maritime Commission contract ( MC hull 337 ) on 27 August 1942 as " Cowpens " by Sun Shipbuilding & Drydock Co . of Chester , Pennsylvania , the ship was launched on 21 December 1942 , sponsored by Mrs . A . Poestrak . She was renamed " Saranac " on 16 September 1942 , acquired by the Navy on 31 December 1942 , and commissioned on 22 February 1943 , Comdr . John G . Cross in command . Service history . 1943 . After shakedown along the Atlantic coast , " Saranac " sailed from Norfolk for Aruba on 20 April 1943 . There , she took on fuel and proceeded to the Pacific , arriving at Pearl Harbor on 26 May . Sailing two days later , she underwent repairs at San Francisco from 5 to 19 June and departed on the 23rd for the Aleutian Islands . After arriving at Adak on the 30th , she serviced ships , underway and in port , from 9 July until departing on the 14th to reload at San Pedro , California . She then returned to the Aleutians and fueled ships at anchor in Kulak Bay from 4 to 16 August . Between 30 August and 12 October , she made one voyage transporting oil from San Pedro to tanks ashore at Tutuila , Samoa , and at Espiritu Santo . " Saranac " then began replenishment operations in support of the Navy ' s advance in the central Pacific . She left Pearl Harbor on 25 November and fueled fleet units at Espiritu Santo from 13 to 21 December . With an underway replenishment group , she refueled units of a fast carrier force headed by the on 27 December . She then resumed in - port fueling operations based on Port Purvis and Eniwetok . 1944 . " Saranac " departed Eniwetok on 12 January 1944 for overhaul at San Pedro . Underway again from the west coast on 4 March , " Saranac " arrived at Majuro on the 21st . She operated there for almost three months , fueling ships in port , sortieing three times as a unit of an underway replenishment group to refuel fast carrier forces at sea , and making a fast run to Pearl Harbor in April to refill her tanks . On her third underway refueling assignment , her luck ran out as her group was located on 18 June by Japanese aircraft searching for escort carrier s in the vicinity , and all three oilers were hit . " Saranac " s after superstructure and her fire room were badly damaged , and she lost nine men ; seven killed and two missing . She was underway , under her own power , early the next morning ; and , after emergency repairs at Eniwetok , she arrived at San Pedro , California , on 18 July for permanent repairs . " Saranac " departed San Pedro on 6 September and joined an underway replenishment group at Purvis Bay , on arrival , on the 28th . After three sorties from that port to fuel fleet units , she shifted her base to Kossol Roads , Palau , on 19 October in preparation for the Leyte assault . She departed the next day and fueled ships in the transport anchorage off Leyte from 23 to 27 October . Returning to Kossol Roads on the 30th , she sailed the next day for Hollandia , where she arrived on 4 November . After fueling numerous ships in port there , she departed Hollandia on 5 December . The oiler suffered a turbine casualty the next day and put into Manus for repairs , which lasted until 21 December . She then returned to $ 3 , but left on the 28th for permanent engine repairs at Pearl Harbor . 1945 – 1946 . Her overhaul at Pearl lasted from 13 January to 9 March 1945 . Back at Ulithi on 23 March , " Saranac " resumed fueling fleet units there until getting underway on 1 April to support the invasion of Okinawa . While the troops ashore fought to secure the island and fleet units battled kamikaze s offshore , " Saranac " carried out underway replenishment off the island as part of the logistics support group , until getting underway on 12 April to refill her tanks at Ulithi . She rejoined the underway replenishment forces off Okinawa on 22 April and provided continuous services until sailing once again for Ulithi on 8 June . On her return to Okinawa on 3 July , she anchored at Kerama Retto and provided fuel to ships there . She continued this duty for the next three months , leaving the area only to return to Ulithi for more fuel and to ride out typhoons off Okinawa . The oiler departed Okinawa on 5 October bound for Shanghai , China , where she provided fuel to United States ships operating off China after the Japanese surrender . She left for Yokosuka on 21 December 1945 and , on 3 January 1946 , sailed for Pearl Harbor . 1946 – 1956 . She returned to Yokohama on 20 February 1946 , and Shanghai on 27 February ; but , on 4 March , steamed from that port for the United States and arrived at San Francisco on 21 March . " Saranac " was then selected for conversion to a floating power plant to support dredging operations at Guam . At Alameda , California , she was stripped of all military equipment not required for the passage to Guam and fitted with power regulators and transformers . The ship sailed for Guam on 19 June 1946 and decommissioned there on 19 July , soon after arrival . After continuous use as a power facility , she commenced overhaul at the Ship Repair Facility , Guam , on 24 May 1951 . She was loaned to the Army on 25 August 1951 , and departed Guam on 26 October under tow to Inchon , Korea , where she provided power to Army installations ashore . The ship was returned to Navy custody on 15 October 1953 , reclassified YFP - 9 ( Floating Power Barge ) on 1 September 1954 , and struck from the Navy List on 26 March 1956 . Sale . She was sold to Hugo Neu Corporation , New York , on 4 December 1957 for use as a power facility abroad by the International Steel and Metal Corporation . The ship was renamed " Somerset " in 1959 . Awards . " Saranac " received five battle star s for her World War II service .