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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

Lost to enemy action, 7 May 1942

USS Neosho (AO-23)

1938 International Radio Call Sign:
Negat - Easy - Juliet - Baker NEJB

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Combat Action Ribbon (retroactive, 7 December 1941, 7 May 1942) - American Defense Service Medal (with Fleet clasp)
Bottom Row - American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (2) - World War II Victory Medal
Personal Awards

Purple Hearts (3-WIA, Pearl Harbor and at least 9-KIA/WIA, Coral Sea))

Cimarron Class Fleet Oiler:

Laid down, 22 June 1938, as a Maritime Commission type (T3-S2-A1) tanker hull, under Maritime Commission contract (MC-6) at Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Co., Kearny, N.J.

Launched, 24 April 1939

Commissioned USS Neosho (AO-23), 7 August 1939, CDR. E. A. Mullan in command

During World War II USS Neosho was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater and participated in the following actions:

Campaign and Dates	Campaign and Dates
Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns
Pearl Harbor, 7 December 1941	Coral Sea, 4 to 8 May 1942

Lost to enemy action at the Battle of the Coral Sea, fatally damaged by enemy air attack, 7 May 1942, sunk by gunfire from USS Henley (DD-391), 11 May 1942

Crew Dissolution and ship struck from the Naval Register aboard USS Wright (AV-1) at Sydney Australia, 28 May 1942

USS Neosho earned two battle stars for World War II service

Specifications:
Displacement 7,470 t.(lt) 25,425 t.(fl)
Length 553'
Beam 75'
Draft 32' 3"
Speed 18.3 kts.

Complement

Officers 34

Enlisted 267

Largest Boom Capacity 10 t.

Armament

four single 5"/38 cal dual purpose gun mounts

four twin 40mm AA gun mounts

four twin 20mm AA gun mounts

Cargo Capacity 16,500DWT

Oil 122,400 Bbls

Gasoline 805,000 Gals

Fuel Capacity 14,850 Bbls

Propulsion

two Westinghouse geared steam turbines

four Babcock and Wilcox header-type boilers, 450psi 750°

double Westinghouse Main Reduction Gears

two turbo-drive 400Kw 230V A.C. Ship's Service Generators

twin propellers. 13,500shp

Click On Image For Full Size Image	Size	Image Description	Source
091914331	42k	*Namesake* Neosho - The Neosho River is a tributary of the Arkansas River in eastern Kansas and northeastern Oklahoma. (Wikipedia)	Tommy Trampp
200(S) LA-1 (page 5)	292k	Launching of Neosho (AO-23) at Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company, Kearny, New Jersey, 29 April 1939. US Navy photo #'s 200(S) LA-1 (page 5), 200(S) LA-1 (page 6) and 200(S) LA-1 (page 7) *200(S) LA* is from a donation entitled, “Admiral Land’s Albums of Merchant Ship Construction, 1938-1949.”	Michael Mohl
200(S) LA-1 (page 6)	388k
200(S) LA-1 (page 7)	213k
200(S) LA-1 (page 7)	415k	Launching of Neosho (AO-23) at Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company, Kearny, New Jersey, 29 April 1939. Color drawing that resembles the aft part of the ship on page five of pamphlet. US Navy photo #'s 200(S) LA-1 (page 7). 200(S) LA is from a donation entitled, “Admiral Land’s Albums of Merchant Ship Construction, 1938-1949.”	Michael Mohl
	162k	*USS Neosho* (AO-23)** as delivered to the US Navy, 10 1939. View looking forward from after deck house shows complex piping typically found on oilers. A US National Archives photo from "Gray Steel and Black Oil: Fast Tankers and Replenishment at Sea in the U.S. Navy 1912 - 1992", by Thomas Wildenburg.	Robert Hurst
	244k	*USS Neosho* (AO-23)** as delivered to the Navy, 10 August 1939. Looking aft from the bridge. US Navy Yard Philadelphia US Navy Bureau of Ships photo now in the collections of the US National Archives.	Yu Chu
	208k	*USS Neosho* (AO-23)** as delivered to the Navy, 10 August 1939. Starboard king post. US Navy Yard Philadelphia US Navy Bureau of Ships photo now in the collections of the US National Archives.	Yu Chu
	84k	*USS Neosho* (AO-23)** just after commissioning, 7 August1939. US Navy photo NH 63448 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center
	86k	*USS Neosho* (AO-23)** under way at New York City, date unknown. Photo courtesy Auke Visser's Famous T - Tankers Pages	Robert Hurst
	201k	*USS Neosho* (AO-23)** in her berth next to Battleship Row on Ford Island during the attack the by Japanese on 7 December 1941.	Yu Chu
	203k	*USS Neosho* (AO-23)** underway shortly after the attack at Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941.	Yu Chu
	293k	*USS Neosho* (AO-23), cautiously backs away from her berth (right center) in a successful effort to escape the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, 7 December 1941. At left the battleship USS California (BB-44) lists after aerial blows. Other crippled warships and part of the hull of the capsized USS Oklahoma (BB-37)** may be seen in the background. US Library of Congress's Prints and Photographs Division digital ID fsa.8e01821, a US Navy photo now in the collections of the US Library of Congress.	Robert Hurst
	46k	*USS Neosho* (AO-23)** under way, date and location unknown. US Navy photo	David Merrill
	126k	Drawing by unknown artist of *USS Neosho* (AO-23)** under way, date unknown. US Navy photo.	Jim Kurrasch Battleship Iowa Pacific Battleship Center
	20k	*USS Neosho* (AO-23) refueling USS Yorktown (CV-5), 1 May 1942, shortly before the Battle of Coral Sea. Note use of Yorktown*'s aircraft crane to support her end of the refueling rig. US National Archives photo # 80-G-464653*, a US Navy photo now in the collections of the US National Archives.	US Naval History and Heritage Command
	23k	a wave breaks over main deck, engulfing hose crew, as *USS Neosho* (AO-23) refuels USS Yorktown (CV-5)** early in May 1942, shortly before the Battle of Coral Sea. US National Archives photo # 80-G-13106, a US Navy photo now in the collections of the US National Archives.	US Naval History and Heritage Command
	20k	*USS Neosho* (AO-23) refueling USS Yorktown (CV-5)** in heavy seas shortly before the Battle of Coral Sea. US National Archives photo # 80-G-16444, a US Navy photo now in the collections of the US National Archives	US Naval History and Heritage Command Yu Chu
	310k		US Naval History and Heritage Command Yu Chu
	754k	Aerial view of *USS Neosho* (AO-23)** on fire and sinking in the Coral Sea after an attack by Imperial Japanese Navy dive bombers, 7 May 1942 during the Battle of the Coral Sea. From Wikimedia Commons. Photo from "Beyond Pearl Harbor: The Untold Stories of Japan's Naval Airmen", by Ron Werneth, Schiffer Military History, Atglen, PA, 2008, p. 66. (Japanese Defense Agency, War History Section photo).	Charles Ainsworth

USS Neosho (AO-23)
Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)

Commanding Officers
01	CDR. Mullan, William Evans Anthony, USN (USNA 1920)	7 August 1939 - 19 June 1941
02	CDR. Phillips, John Spinning :RADM	19 June 1941 - 11 May 1942 (sink date)


Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves. Photos courtesy Bill Gonyo

Crew Contact And Reunion Information
U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log

Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
Pearl Harbor Action Report
US Naval Institute - April 2019 Naval History Magazine Volume 33, Number 2- "A Least-Likely Combatant"

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This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo

Last Updated 17 July 2024