Intro
Many people might think “ah, what is the big deal, it is just an oiler” and they might be partially right. Oilers aren’t exactly sexy like a destroyer, battleship or an aircraft carrier. However…that also under-values the complexity of naval warfare in far away locales.
Before I get into the details of this specific wreck, it might help to to understand what a crucial role logistics and oilers played in the Pacific theater in WW II. Sun Tzu once wrote “The line between order and disorder lies in logistics.” As the US Navy got further and further from their home bases in California and Pearl Harbor, the need for complex logistics increased exponentially. Without oil and aviation gas, nothing moves and when nothing moves, it gets attacked.
Near the end of the war, in the battles around Leyte Gulf, the Japanese were making battle plans based upon how much fuel they had and which ships they could fuel and not fuel. They were not making plans based upon the effective use of the ships they had in their fleet. They had largely been cut off from their remote sources of fuel and their logistics supply chain was badly broken.
Logistics is one of the seven key joint war fighting functions and provides the means “to enable freedom of action and endurance and to extend operational reach. Sustainment determines the depth to which the force can conduct decisive operations, seize, retain, and exploit the initiative.” It was during the Pacific campaigns that the US really began to realize the importance of logistics and began perfecting the art of supplying a far flung and massive naval fleet. We were not perfect (for sure), but we were a lot better than our enemies and it was one the key factors in winning the war in the Pacific.
So, the next time you think “ah, it is just an oiler” realize that oilers played a key function in winning World War II.
USS Kanawha
The USS Kanawha (AO-1) was originally designated “Fuel Ship No. 13” when she launched and was the first purpose-built oiler of the US Navy. The “AO” designation is used for Fleet Oilers in the US Navy and Kanawha was the first (hence, AO-1). She was laid down on 8 December 1913 at Mare Island Navy Yard in California (way before WW II) and launched on 11 July 1914, and commissioned on 5 June 1915.
At her sinking, in terms of armament, she had 2 x 5″ / 51 guns on the stern, 4 x 3″ / 50 guns (one at the stern, one at the bow, and two amidships), at 8 x 20mm cannons. Sometime during the 1970s, the 3″ gun at the bow was salvaged. Over time, the bridge area collapsed and, along with it, 4 of the 20mm guns. Below is a diagram from Kevin Denlay produced after our discussion Scubaboard.
She began service on the opposite coast in the Atlantic Fleet and made numerous trips between the eastern seaboard and Port Arthur, Texas for fuel oil and gasoline. She entered service for World War I in April 1917 and crossed the Atlantic to serve in Europe. She supplied fuel to the naval force in Atlantic waters and carried fuel from Halifax to the UK and French ports.
In between wars, she transited to California and largely operated in the Pacific for the following 10 years from 1919 to 1929. She was originally decommissioned in late 1929 but recommissioned in 1934 and served on the west coast for six years. She was back at Mare Island undergoing an overhaul when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. Note the lettering on the stern in the photo below. Some of those letters are still evident in the wreck today.
She departed San Pedro in March 1942 and headed for Hawaii and made runs back and forth for a while before starting refueling operations further west for the Pacific war campaigns.
The Wreck
She was servicing ships in the Solomon Islands in 1943 when a group a Japanese “Val” bombers slipped through our defenses and attacked the Kanawha as she was lumbering out of the harbor in Tulagi. The first five planes hit an oil tank under the bridge and fires quickly spread along the deck. Below are photos from Navsource of the ship as she burned
The order to abandon ship was given the avoid loss of lives and volunteers later returned to extinguish the first while ammunition was exploding throughout the ship. She was towed by the tug Rail to the west side of Tulagi where she was beached and later slid off into deep water and sank. Nineteen crew were lost.
The wreck lies on a slope relatively close to the shoreline. She was salvaged in the 1970s and the salvors blew holes in the hull to get ready access to the engine room spaces and to make it easy to remove materials. Below is a drawing by Neil Yates depicting the wreck:
I did two dives on the wreck with a maximum depth of 180 fsw. The first dive was a tad over two hours long but I had a three hour dive on the second dive. The first dive involved mainly the forward structures and amidships and visiting the cargo holds near the bow and checking out all the ropes. The second dive was mainly concentrated on amidships and the stern area. Some of the key areas I visited and took pictures of include the guns at the stern, the engine room, the stern to see the letters of the ship name, and then quite a few other small areas.
The bridge area is completely collapsed since the fire started under the bridge in an oil tank. There is still a lot of pipes and pumping equipment which is typical of an oiler.
Photos
Forward Cargo Hold
The first set of pictures is going into the cargo hold area where there were all of the ropes and also some pipes and what I assume is pumping equipment. There is also evidence of burned wood in this area. Further down into the hold were a bunch of boxes which Neil later told me were cases of drinking water.
Below is what appears to be a pump station on the deck in that same area:
Truck chasis
There is also the remains of some sort of truck on the deck. The rear axle is there and further along the engine block. It is pretty well overgrown and covered in sediment so it is a bit hard to make it all out.
Dual Purpose AA Gun
Below are some pictures of the dual purpose 3″ guns that are in the amidships area.
Stern Area
Near the stern area is a set of skylights which I believe are above the engine room (we entered through the hold the salvors made).
In addition, you can see the prop guards, some machinery inside the very stern area (looks like pumping machinery given the pipes?), and if you look close you can see part of the outline of the “Kanawha” lettering.
Stern Guns
At the stern, there are three guns: two 5″ guns on either the port and starboard side and also a 3″ on a raised gun tub in the center. The port side 5″ gun is pointing slightly up and the starboard side gun is resting on the edge of the ship. The 3″ gun is pointing slightly to the port side. In addition there are a couple 20mm cannons just forward of the stern area and near the skylights for the engine room.
Below are pictures of the different guns.
5″ x 51 Caliber Starboard Side Gun
3″ Stern Gun & Ammo
5″ x 51 Caliber Port Side Gun – in the middle right photo, you can see the 3″ gun in the background in the gun tub.
20mm Gun near the Engine Room
Engine Room
We made our way into the engine room via the big hole in the hull on the port side of the wreck and started on the bottom and worked our way around an up to the deck and then finished our dive.
Thanks To…
Kevin Denlay for his assistance identifying the different armament
References
Love reading the history and your pictures of the tanker! Thank you!
I’m glad you enjoyed it!