View source for USS Neosho (AO-23)

{{short description|Oiler of the United States Navy}}
{{other ships|USS Neosho}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
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|Ship image=[[File:USS Neosho AO-23.jpg|300px|USS Neosho (AO-23)]]
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{{Infobox ship career
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|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag={{USN flag|1942}}
|Ship name=USS ''Neosho''
|Ship namesake=The [[Neosho River]] in [[Kansas]] and [[Oklahoma]]
|Ship ordered=
|Ship awarded=
|Ship builder=[[Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company]], [[Kearny, New Jersey]]
|Ship original cost=
|Ship laid down=22 June 1938
|Ship launched=29 April 1939
|Ship sponsor=Mrs. Emory S. Land
|Ship christened=
|Ship completed=
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned=7 August 1939
|Ship decommissioned=
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|Ship honors=
|Ship fate=Scuttled, [[Battle of the Coral Sea]], 11 May 1942
|Ship notes=
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{{Infobox ship characteristics
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|Ship class=[[Cimarron-class oiler (1939)|''Cimarron''-class]] [[United States Navy oiler|fleet oiler]]
|Ship displacement=*{{convert|7470|LT|t|0|abbr=on}} (standard)
* {{convert|24830|LT|t|0|abbr=on}} (full load)
|Ship length={{convert|553|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam={{convert|75|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship draft={{convert|32|ft|4|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship power={{convert|30400|shp|kW|lk=in|abbr=on}}
|Ship propulsion=*2 × geared [[steam turbine]]s
* 2 × shafts
|Ship speed={{convert|20|kn|mph km/h|lk=in|abbr=on}}
|Ship range=
|Ship complement=304
|Ship sensors=
|Ship armament= *4 × Single [[5-inch/38-caliber gun|5&nbsp;in (127&nbsp;mm) DP Guns]]
* 4 × [[Oerlikon 20&nbsp;mm cannon|{{convert|20|mm|in|2|abbr=on}} Oerlikon anti-aircraft]] [[Autocannon|cannons]] (4x1)
|Ship notes=
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{{Infobox service record
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|operations=[[World War II]]
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|awards=2 [[Naval Star Awards|battle stars]]
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'''USS ''Neosho'' (AO-23)''' was a [[Cimarron class oiler (1939)|''Cimarron''-class]] [[United States Navy oiler|fleet oiler]] serving with the [[United States Navy]], the second ship to be named for the [[Neosho River]] in [[Kansas]] and [[Oklahoma]].

After surviving the [[attack on Pearl Harbor]], ''Neosho'' operated in the South Pacific. During the [[Battle of the Coral Sea]] she was attacked and set alight, but managed to keep afloat until rendezvousing with an American destroyer on 11 May 1942.  The destroyer rescued the crew and sank the vessel.

== Construction and commissioning ==
She was laid down under [[United States Maritime Commission]] contract by [[Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company]], [[Kearny, New Jersey]], 22 June 1938; [[Ship naming and launching|launched]] on 29 April 1939; sponsored by Mrs. Emory S. Land, wife of [[Rear admiral (United States)|Rear Admiral]] [[Emory S. Land]] (Ret.), Chairman of the Maritime Commission; and [[Ship commissioning|commissioned]] on 7 August 1939.<ref name=DANFS>{{Cite web|url=https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/nhhc/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/n/neosho-ii.html|title=Neosho II (AO-23)|website=NHHC}}</ref>

Conversion at [[Puget Sound Naval Shipyard]] was completed on 7 July 1941, ''Neosho'' immediately began the vital task of ferrying aviation fuel from west coast ports to [[Pearl Harbor]]. On such a mission she arrived in Pearl Harbor on 6 December, discharged a full cargo to [[Naval Air Station Ford Island]], and prepared for the return passage.<ref name=DANFS />

== Service history ==
[[File:USS-California-Neosho (cropped).jpg|thumb|left|''Neosho'' (right) leaving her berth to escape the Japanese attack, 7 December 1941]]
Next morning, the surprise [[attack on Pearl Harbor]] found ''Neosho'' alert to danger; her captain—Commander [[John S. Phillips]]—got her underway and maneuvered safely through the Japanese fire, concentrated on the [[battleship]]s moored at [[Ford Island]], to a safer area of the harbor. Her guns fired throughout the attack, shooting down one enemy plane and driving off others. Three of her men were wounded by a strafing attacker.<ref name=DANFS />

For the next five months, ''Neosho'' sailed with the [[aircraft carrier]]s or independently, since escort ships—now few and far between—could not always be spared to guard even so precious a ship and cargo. Late in April, as the Japanese threatened a southward move against Australia and [[New Zealand]] by attempting to advance their bases in the Southwest Pacific, ''Neosho'' joined [[Task Force 17]] (TF&nbsp;17). At all costs, the sea lanes to the dominions had to be kept open, and they had to be protected against attack and possible invasion.<ref name=DANFS />

As the American and Japanese fleets sought each other out in the opening maneuvers of the climactic [[Battle of the Coral Sea]] on 6 May 1942, ''Neosho'' refueled the carrier {{USS|Yorktown|CV-5|2}} and the [[heavy cruiser]] {{USS|Astoria|CA-34|2}}, then retired from the carrier force with a lone escort, the [[destroyer]] {{USS|Sims|DD-409|2}}.<ref name=DANFS />
[[File:Coral Sea Neosho Burning.jpg|thumb|left|''Neosho'' burning, 7 May 1942.]]

The next day at 1000, Japanese search planes spotted the two ships and misidentified them as a carrier and her escort.<ref name=DANFS /> 78 aircraft from ''[[Japanese aircraft carrier Shōkaku|Shōkaku]]'' and ''[[Japanese aircraft carrier Zuikaku|Zuikaku]]'' soon arrived and began searching in vain for the "carrier" force.{{citation needed|date=October 2015|reason= Likely true but not in citation given}} Eventually, they gave up and returned to sink ''Sims'' and leave ''Neosho''—victim of seven direct hits and a suicide dive by one of the bombers—ablaze aft and in danger of breaking in two. She had shot down at least three of the attackers.<ref name=DANFS /> One of her crewmen, [[Oscar V. Peterson]], was posthumously awarded the [[Medal of Honor]] for his efforts to save the ship in spite of his severe injuries suffered in the attack.<ref name="citation">{{cite web | url= http://www.history.army.mil/html/moh/wwII-m-s.html | title= Medal of Honor recipients – World War II (M–S) | work= Medal of Honor citations | publisher= [[United States Army Center of Military History]] | date= 3 August 2009 | access-date= 7 April 2010 | archive-date= 30 April 2008 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080430113840/http://www.history.army.mil/html/moh/wwII-m-s.html | url-status= dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/nhhc/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/p/peterson.html|title=Peterson (DE-152)|website=NHHC}}</ref>
[[File:OscarPeterson.jpeg|right|150px|thumb|CPO Oscar V. Peterson]]
Sound seamanship and skilled damage control work kept ''Neosho'' afloat for the next four days. The stricken ship was first located by a [[Royal Australian Air Force|RAAF]] aircraft, then an American [[Consolidated PBY Catalina|PBY Catalina]] [[flying boat]]. At 13:00 on 11 May, the destroyer {{USS|Henley|DD-391|2}} arrived, rescued the 123 survivors and sank by gunfire the ship they had kept afloat. With ''Henley'' came word that the American fleet had succeeded in turning the Japanese back.<ref name=DANFS />

== Awards ==
''Neosho'' received two [[Service star|battle stars]] for her service.<ref name=DANFS />

== References ==
* {{DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/n/neosho-ii.html}}
{{reflist}}

== Further reading ==
* {{cite web|last=Phillips|first=John S.|date=25 May 1942|url= http://ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/ships/logs/AO/ao23-Coral.html|title=U.S.S. ''Neosho'' Detail: Engagement of U.S.S. ''Neosho'' with Japanese Aircraft on May 7, 1942; Subsequent Loss of U.S.S. ''Neosho''; Search for Survivors|format=Memorandum|publisher=United States Navy| access-date=2008-11-06}} ([[WP:PSTS|Primary source]])
* {{cite book|last=Wildenberg|first=Thomas|year=1996|url=http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/GSBO/index.html|title=Gray Steel and Black Oil: Fast Tankers and Replenishment at Sea in the U.S. Navy, 1912–1995|location=Annapolis, Maryland|publisher=Naval Institute Press|access-date=2009-04-28
|isbn=978-1-55750-934-5|oclc=32924773}}
* {{cite web |url= http://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/b/battle-of-the-coral-sea-combat-narrative.html |title= Battle of the Coral Sea – Combat Narratives |website= Naval Historical Center |access-date= 3 October 2015 }}
* {{cite book|last=Keith|first=Don|year=2015|title=The Ship That Wouldn't Die: The Saga of the USS Neosho – A World War II Story of Courage and Survival at Sea|publisher=Penguin |isbn=9780698157804}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|USS Neosho (AO-23)}}
* [http://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/n/neosho-ii.html Naval Historical center: USS ''Neosho'']
* [http://www.navsource.org/archives/09/19/19023.htm navsource.org: USS ''Neosho'']
* [http://www.hazegray.org/danfs/auxil/ao23.htm hazegray.org: USS ''Neosho'']
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20140513061631/http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-usn/usnsh-n/ao23.htm Web Archive.org of Naval Historical Center, USS ''Neosho'' (AO-23), 1939–1942 images]
* [http://www.delsjourney.com/uss_neosho/neosho_home.htm The ''U.S. Neosho'' (AO-23)] Details the survivors' ordeal.
* [http://www.maritimequest.com/warship_directory/us_navy_pages/auxiliary/oilers/neosho_ao23_roll_of_honor.htm Roll of Honor]

{{Cimarron class oiler (1939)}}
{{Type T3-S2-A tankers}}
{{May 1942 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Neosho (AO-23)}}
[[Category:Cimarron-class oilers (1939)]]
[[Category:Ships built in Kearny, New Jersey]]
[[Category:1939 ships]]
[[Category:World War II auxiliary ships of the United States]]
[[Category:World War II tankers of the United States]]
[[Category:Ships present during the attack on Pearl Harbor]]
[[Category:World War II shipwrecks in the Coral Sea]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in May 1942]]
[[Category:Ships sunk by Japanese aircraft]]