USS Escatawpa (AOG-27)

USS Escatawpa (AOG-27) was a Mettawee-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.

Escatawpa was launched by the East Coast Shipyard, Inc., Bayonne, New Jersey, on 3 June 1944 and commissioned on 18 August 1944, Lieutenant H. T. Nottage, USCGR, in command.

World War II service
She was assigned to the U.S. Pacific Fleet, operating thereafter in fueling ships and craft on an inter-island circuit in the central Pacific Ocean.

Driven aground in a typhoon
A typhoon drove her aground at Kagoshima Kaiwan on 17 September 1945.

Post-war decommissioning
She was refloated on 10 October and returned to San Francisco, California, where she was placed out of commission on 20 March 1946 and subsequently transferred to the Maritime Commission for lay up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet. She was sold for commercial service in April 1947 to a Brazilian firm. Final disposition: sunk in 1970.

Military awards and honors
Escatawpa’s crew was eligible for the following medals:
 * American Campaign Medal
 * Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal
 * World War II Victory Medal