SHIPS BUILT (18) Named after rivers and were mostlv Indian names Name: Laid Down Launched AOG-6 Agawam 9/7942 s/1943 1211943 Ut9s7 Building Ships AOG-7 Elkhorn 917942 sll943 21L944 71t972 AOG-B Genesee 7942 91L943 slL944 611972 AOG-9 Kishwaukee 9/1942 91L943 sll944 U1970 At Poft Cargill L942-t945 AOG-10 Nemasket L0lt942 t0lr943 611944 9/19s9 AOG-11 Tombigbee LLl7942 Ltlr943 7/1944 717972 Savage, Minnesota AOG-48 Chehalis LLl1943 411944 r2lL944 1011949 AOG-49Chestatee L2lL943 411944 L2lL944 41t946 AOG-50 Chewaucan t943 711944 21L945 unknown AOG-51 Maquoketa LlL944 211947 Launching the BATAAN towboat. Blt944 211945 AOG-52 Mattabesset 7/1944 LUL944 61L945 unknown The first towboat (christened the BATMN) launched AOG-53Namakagon B/1944 1U7944 6lt94s 9lL9s7 at Port Cargill ship yards in Savage Minnesota on AOG-54Natchaung BlL944 7217944 7lL94s 7lL9s9 Saturday September 4, 1943. AOG-55 Nespelen BlI944 41194s BlLg4s 7lt97s AOG-56 Noxubee LLlL944 4lL94s 10lr94s 71797s Three other $1,000,000 towboats were built for the AOG-57 Pecatonica L2lL944 3lL94s ttltg4s 41196t Army Corp of Engineers for use on inland water- AOG-SBPinnebog L211944 sltg4s L0lr94s s11949 ways of the United States. All the towboats were AOG-59 Wacissa LtlL944 6lL94s s17946 10/19s6 named after land and sea battles against the Japa- nese during WWII. FACT SHEET The towboats have two 1,000 horsepower steam (AOG) engines and are 180 feet long by 52 feet wide with Class & Type: Patapsco-class gasoline tanker USS Elkhorn (AOG-7) (lt) (tim) a 7 U2 foot draft. Displacement: 1,783 t. 4,35 t. Length: 310 ft. 9 inch Beam: 48 Ft. B inch TOWBOATS BUILT Draft: 15 ft. B inch Cargill fnc. Propulsion: 4 General Electric diesel-electric engines Name: Launched GT Twin shaft 3,330 horse power. DPC-607 Bataan 1,132 Sept 4, 1943 Diesel Fuel Capacity 2,240 barrels built 18 AOG Speed: 15.5 knots DPC-608 Coral Sea 7,132 L943 Capacity: 2,2t0 long tons deadweight 41000 Ton Tankers DPC-609 Milne Bay L,132 1943 Cargo Capacity: Fuel Oil 7,975 BBLS Gasoline / Water 410,50 gallons. DPC-610 BouArada 1,132 Au12,7944 Complement: 1 Officers for the US Navy 120 enlisted Armament: 4 x 3" 150 caliber guns t2xl2mmAA Cost: $1,600,000 in 1945 4 Towboats for Todays Cost: $15,750,000 in 2010 the Published by: Dan Patch American Legion Post #543 Army Engineers L2375 Princeton Avenue Savage, Minnesota 55378 Web Page www.SavageAmericanLegion.com \ TIME LINE: February 1942 60 days after Pearl Harbor the US Navy proposed that Cargill build six gasoline tankers for the war effort and issued a contract in March t942. Two tankers were to be delivered by April 1943 and the four others by December 1943. Spring 1942: Cargill purchased 350 acres of farm- land near Savage, Minnesota on the Minnesota River and immediately began construction on a ship-yard that included six 150 foot long ship building plat- forms, They also built a panel shop, warehouse, At the peak of construction Cargill employed blacksmith shop, administration building, doc( as over 31500 working men and women. well as roadways, 2 ll2 miles of railroad trac( and water sewer facilities. FACTS / HISTORY A nine foot channel from the ship launching site on AOGs (Auxiliary Oil and Gasoline tanker) were USS Agawam (AOG-6) the first tanker to be built the Minnesota River to the Mississippi River was dredged at a cost of the gas pipeline in the Pacific. The AOG carried going under the Mendota bridge from the Minnesota $180,000. gasoline, oil, and freshwater to battleships, River to the Mississippi River in November 1943. Ship building equipment from Cargill's Albany New cruisers, and destroyers. Not considered "front York shipyard was sent to the Savage facility, line" duty during wartime, but at Iwo Jima the The US Navy was pleased with the tanker design and US Tombigbee (AOG-1) carried potable water for production; as such the contract with Cargill was ex- the Marines on shore. panded to provlde an additional dozen more ships. By the end of the war, Port Cargill built 18 ocean-going The first and only Cargill ship sink was the to ships for the US Navy and four towboats for the Ar- USS Chehalis (AGO-48) which suffered an explo- my Corp of Engineers. sion in one of the cargo tanks while at Tutuila Harbor in American Samoa. (October 7, 7949) In January 1945 Cargill had earned its first Army- Navy "E" award for excellence in the production of Many of the AOGs were used during the Korean war equipment. War; of these the USS Elkhorn (AOG-7), USS Genesee (AOG-B), USS Kishwaukee (AOG-9), USS Nemasket (AOG-10), and USS Tombigbee Aerial view of the ship yards during the 1943 &1944 (AOG-11) all saw action. spring floods During the Vietnam War, AOGs played a very important role; providing a critical link to West- morland's supply chain in Nofthern Vietnam. The Supply liqe was made up of 6 US Navy AOGs: USS Patapsco (AOG -1), USS Elkhorn (AOG-7), USS Genesee (AOG-B), USS Kishwaukee (AOG- 9), USS Tombigbee (AOG-11), and USS Noxubee (AoG-s6). Many of the AOGs after they were decommis- sioned by the United States Navy were sold to other countries. June 2009 Hellenic Greek Navy decommissioned AOG-54 (USS Natchaug) one of USS Genesee AOG-8 launched into the Starting to build the ship which is over 310 feet long the last constructed at Cargill. Minnesota River in September 1943.