Oconee I AOG-34

Oconee I
(AOG-34: dp. 2,270; 1. 220'6"; b. 37'; dr. 13'1", s. 10 k., cpl. 62; a. 1 3", 2 40mm, 3 20mm; cl Mettawee; T. T1-M-A2)

Oconce (AOG-34), formerly MC Hull 1531, was laid down under a Maritime Commission contract 18 October 1944 by East Coast Shipyard, Inc., Bayonne, New Jersey, Iaunched 19 November 1944; sponsored by Miss Ethel Borst, acquired by the Navy 23 December 1944gand commissioned 12 January 1945, Lt. Joseph T. Collins, lJSCG, in command.

Following shakedown in the Chesapeake Bay, Oconce manned by a Coast Guard crew, sailed to Bermuda and Aruba before transiting the Panama Canal 15 March 1945. Stopping briefly at San Diego, the gasoline tanker proceeded to Pearl Harbor, arriving there 4 May. After a short upkeep period she sailed unescorted to Eniwetok, Marshall Islands, thence on to Ulithi. From mid-June to the end of July she serviced all sizes of ships and craft in the huge anchorage then steamed to Okinawa with her vital cargo. She remained there through the end of the war, serving ships of the mighty U.S. fleet and riding out two treacherous typhoons.

On 12 November Oconce sailed fot San Francisco, stopping at Pearl Harbor before arriving on 28 December. She decommissioned there on 28 March 1946, was struck from the Navy List on 1 May and returned to the Maritime Commission on 1 July. see now flies the Brazilian flag as SS Piratini.