Assigned to the
Atlantic Fleet, the new fleet oiler spent the next two-and-a-half years steaming the
Atlantic seaways carrying oil for
Allied ships from
Argentia,
Newfoundland to
Montevideo,
Uruguay, and from ports along the
United States East Coast to staging areas in the
British Isles and the
Mediterranean. Her primary duty was fueling the escorts which protected Allied
convoys from German
U-boats.
Merrimacks most memorable crossing began on 23 October 1942 from
Hampton Roads,
Virginia, when she sailed with the Southern Attack Group of the Western Naval Task Force for
Operation Torch, the invasion of
North Africa. Twice during the passage she refueled the ships of the task force. A heavy storm broke on 4 November 1942 threatening the landings, but
Admiral H. Kent Hewitt kept to the original plan. The task forces mission was to capture the harbor at
Safi, Morocco, to cut off
French forces in southern
Morocco, and to enable the landing of
Major General George S. Pattons tanks for operations against
Casablanca. For more than a year and a half after the landings in Morocco,
Merrimack carried oil to support operations in North Africa,
Sicily,
Italy, and
France. On her
transatlantic voyages, besides oil, she carried passengers and a wide variety of equipment including
PT boats, patrol craft, and aircraft. While steaming toward Casablanca on 22 June 1943, she joined the
minesweeper in rescuing 113 survivors from
Lot, a French oiler that had been torpedoed.
Merrimack departed
Norfolk, Virginia, on 14 October 1944 for the
Panama Canal and
Ulithi in the
Pacific, arriving on 1 December 1944. Allied forces were retaking the
Philippine Islands and preparing for operations even closer to the
Japanese
Home Islands.
Merrimack joined the
United States Third Fleet's At-Sea Logistics Support Group to fuel the
fast carrier task force. She began the new year of 1945 supporting raids on
Formosa on 3 and 4 January 1945. The U.S. carriers struck enemy airbases on
Luzon, Philippines, on 6 and 7 January to help neutralize Japanese resistance to
the invasion of that strategic island which began on the beaches of
Lingayen Gulf on 9 January 1945. Naval aircraft which she supported returned to Formosa on the 15th and hit targets along the
China coast the following day. They again lashed out at Formosa on the 21st. From 16 February through 2 March,
Merrimack supported the ships covering
the landings on
Iwo Jima. During
the fight for
Okinawa,
Merrimack alternated between fueling ships involved directly in the landings and the aircraft carriers during raids to on the Japanese Home Islands. After Okinawa was secured, the Third Fleet concentrated on operations against Japan itself. From 10 through 29 July 1945,
Merrimack supported raids of overwhelming force on Japanese targets which hastened the end of the war. Following
Japan's capitulation on 15 August 1945,
Merrimack made several cruises between the
United States West Coast and
East Asia bringing oil for ships supporting the
occupation of Japan and operating along the coasts of China and
Korea. She was assigned to
Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS) in October 1949, shortly before beginning pre-inactivation
overhaul.
Merrimack was
decommissioned on 8 February 1950 and entered the
Atlantic Reserve Fleet at
Orange,
Texas. After the
Korean War began on 25 June 1950 when
North Korean forces invaded
South Korea,
Merrimack was recommissioned on 6 December 1950. Assigned to MSTS, she served the Atlantic Fleet, making periodic deployments to the Mediterranean until she was decommissioned again on 20 December 1954, and entered the
Pacific Reserve Fleet at
San Diego,
California. She was stricken from the
Navy List on 4 February 1959, transferred to the
Maritime Administration (MARAD), and placed in the
National Defense Reserve Fleet at
Beaumont, Texas.
Merrimack was disposed of by MARAD exchange on 19 March 1982. She was sold to Eckhardt & Company GmbH,
Hamburg,
West Germany, for scrapping, and delivered on 29 March 1982 at Beaumont. ==Honors and awards==