USS Rio Grande (AOG-3)

USS Rio Grande (AOG-3) was a Patapsco-class gasoline tanker acquired by the U.S. Navy for the dangerous task of transporting gasoline to warships in the fleet, and to remote Navy stations.

Gasoline tanker Rio Grande was laid down 30 June 1942 by Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corporation, Seattle, Washington; launched 23 September 1942; sponsored by Mrs. R. D. Kirkpatrick; and commissioned 10 April 1943, Lt. Comdr. Lawrence J. Hasse, USNR, in command.

World War II service
Following shakedown Rio Grande was assigned to the U.S. Pacific Fleet as a unit of the mobile support group and carried petroleum products to help provide the lifeline of fuel for the fighting ships of the fleet in their advance toward Japan. After the end of World War II, she continued to operate with Service Force, Pacific Fleet until she decommissioned 28 June 1946.

Post-war activity
In April 1948, she was transferred to Norfolk, Virginia, and placed in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet.

Reactivated during Korean War
Rio Grande recommissioned 12 October 1950, Lt. Milton L. Elchinger in command. Early the next year she resumed her mission of providing petroleum logistic support in the mid-Pacific. In September 1952 she began seven months of service in the western Pacific, supplying gasoline and diesel oil to United Nations forces in Japan and Korea, with an occasional run to French Indochina. She returned to Pearl Harbor in May 1953 and resumed her fueling duties there. The following March she sailed for Alaskan waters and seven weeks of service transporting fuel between Shemya Island and the Alaskan mainland before returning to the mid-Pacific.

Decommissioning
Rio Grande decommissioned at San Diego, California, 6 January 1956. On 30 June 1960 she entered the Maritime Administration Reserve Fleet at Puget Sound, Olympia, Washington, where she remained until sold for scrapping on 7 February 1972 to General Metals, Tacoma, Washington. Her bell is located in the navy wing of the ROTC building at Texas A&M University.

Military awards and honors
Rio Grande’s Navy crew members were eligible for the following medals:
 * China Service Medal (extended)
 * American Campaign Medal
 * Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal
 * World War II Victory Medal
 * Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp)
 * National Defense Service Medal
 * Korean Service Medal
 * United Nations Service Medal
 * Republic of Korea War Service Medal (retroactive)