USS BRAZOS

USS BRAZOS (AO-4): "At the Boston Navy Yard, Boston, Massachusetts, on 2 November 1919."

Naval History and Heritage Command, NH 56563.

Type: Fleet Oiler, Fuel Ship
Laid down: June 21, 1917
Launched: May 1, 1919
First Commissioned: October 1, 1919
Decommissioned: February 8, 1946
Fate: Sold January 6, 1947 to Boston Metals Co. for scrapping

USS BRAZOS (AO-4): "Photographed on 2 May 1927."

Naval History and Heritage Command, NH 55543.

As the United States Navy assumed worldwide responsibilities, it developed the need for a massive "Fleet Train" of supporting ships. To address this need, the Navy converted merchant vessels into these ships. In 1916, Congress authorized the construction of a new series of ships, which served as the heart of the auxiliary forces in the years between the two World Wars.

Workers at the Charlestown Navy Yard constructed five of these vessels, including three "fuel ships," better known as "oilers." The first of these vessels, USS Brazos (AO-4), was fitted out in 1919. The ship survived World War II, unlike its other two matching ships, Neches (AO-5) and Pecos (AO-6), which Japanese forces sunk in early 1942.