USS Alameda (AO-10)

Alameda was laid down on 16 December 1918 as SS Alameda at Philadelphia, by William Cramp & Sons for the United States Shipping Board (USSB). Alameda was launched on 15 July 1919, sponsored by Helen Mull Widdows, daughter of Cramp's president, J. H. Mull. As built, the ship was in length (overall), abeam, and had a depth of . She drew with of freeboard. She was powered by a single triple-expansion steam engine (also manufactured by Cramp) with cylinders of 27, 45½, and 76 inches (69, 115, and 190 cm) diameter with a stroke. Operating at , her three boilers had a grate area of and heating surface of . The engine generated , and could move the ship with a top speed of . == U.S. Navy service, 1919–1922 ==

Alameda was acquired by the U.S. Navy from the United States Shipping Board on 17 October 1919. She was commissioned that same day at the Philadelphia Navy Yard as USS Alameda (Fuel Ship No. 10). Soon after commissioning, Alameda was assigned to the Naval Overseas Transportation Service. She embarked upon her first voyage—to Port Arthur, Texas, on the gulf coast—took on a cargo of oil there, and headed back to the east coast. She entered port at Norfolk, Virginia, on 27 November 1919 and underwent repairs there until 5 December 1919. Alameda remained afloat and was towed into Norfolk on the 20th. There she remained until formally decommissioned on 29 March 1922. Her name was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 8 August 1922, == Commercial service ==

Her new owner repaired her, and she entered mercantile service as SS Olean in 1925. By 1930, she was sailing for the Vacuum Oil Company, Another death of an Olean crewman was reported by The New York Times in September 1939, when a fireman aboard the ship was stabbed to death by a mess attendant while the ship was anchored in the Delaware River at the Port of Paulsboro. Around the time that the United States entered World War II in December 1941, Olean was defensively armed and assigned a crew of four Naval Armed Guardsmen. On 14 March 1942, Olean was sailing from Norfolk, Virginia, to Beaumont, Texas. The ship was sailing unescorted and—according to Theodore Bockhoff, the ship's master—with all lights extinguished. One survivor, however, reported that a dim light was burning on one of the masts. At 23:05, while near position , about from Cape Lookout, North Carolina, Olean was hit in the engine room by a single torpedo launched from under the command of Kapitänleutnant Erwin Rostin. Damage from the torpedo caused the ship to veer out of control. The Naval Armed Guard spotted U-158, but were unable to depress their gun far enough to be able to hit the U-boat. At 23:45 the order to abandon ship was given and the 36 officers, men, and gunners took to the lifeboats. As the no. 3 boat reached the water, however, a second torpedo launched by Rostin hit the engine room and destroyed the lifeboat, killing one officer and six men. Lifesaving stations at Cape Lookout and Fort Macon sent motor launches and were able to rescue the remaining 30 men from Olean nine hours after the attack, and landed them at Morehead City. As with her November 1921 fire, Olean did not sink from the twin torpedo hits. She was towed to Hampton Roads and dry docked, but was declared a constructive total loss. The need for shipping was great, and despite the severity of Oleans damage, the ship was acquired by the War Shipping Administration (WSA) in April 1942. The WSA had the vessel reconditioned and repaired at Baltimore. The ship was re-engined with a triple-expansion steam engine built in 1941 by Hooven-Owens-Rentschler of Hamilton, Ohio. The cylinders of the new engine were 22½, 41½, and 68 inches (57, 105, and 170 cm) in diameter and had a stroke, which generated a nominal . The ship was also re-boilered with two water tube boilers that had a heating surface of and operated at . The newly reconditioned ship was renamed Sweep and was employed in duties in the Pacific. == U.S. Navy service, 1944–45 ==

In October 1943, the U.S. Navy selected Sweep for use as a mobile floating storage tanker in the Pacific and in November chose the name Silver Cloud for her. The ship was accepted and commissioned at Eniwetok in the Marshall Islands on 12 July 1944. The Navy acquired Sweep for use as a mobile floating storage tanker for fuel oil, and commissioned her as USS Silver Cloud (IX-143) the same day. On 15 July, Silver Cloud fueled her first ships, two destroyers. She remained in the Marshall Islands until 17 August, when she departed for Manus Island in the Admiralty Islands. She dropped anchor there in Seeadler Harbor on 28 August and fueled almost 200 ships before departing for Hollandia, New Guinea, on 28 December. After calling at Hollandia, Silver Cloud moved to San Pedro Bay at Leyte in the Philippine Islands. She arrived there on 15 January 1945, and remained in the Philippines until 30 December, when she departed for the Panama Canal and from there to New Orleans, for disposal. She arrived at New Orleans on 10 March 1946 and departed the next day for Mobile, Alabama, arriving there on 12 March. Silver Cloud was decommissioned and delivered to the War Shipping Administration on 29 March. She was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 17 April and sold to Pinto Island Metals Company for scrapping on 21 January 1947. ==Notes==