Search the Site with

General Characteristics

Crew List

Accidents aboard the Ship

History

Image Gallery

to end of page

USNS Kanawha (T-AO 196)

USNS KANAWHA is the 10^th ship in the HENRY J. KAISER - class of 18 underway replenishment oilers. This class was specially built for the MSC.

back to top

go to the end of the page

back to top

go to the end of the page

Crew List:

This section contains the names of sailors who served aboard USNS KANAWHA. It is no official listing but contains the names of sailors who submitted their information.

• Click here to view the list.

back to top

go to the end of the page

Accidents aboard USNS KANAWHA:

back to top

go to the end of the page

USNS KANAWHA History:

USNS KANAWHA, the tenth HENRY J. KAISER-class fleet oiler, was ordered on February 1, 1987, laid down at Avondale Shipyards in New Orleans on July 13, 1989, launched on September 22, 1990, and delivered to the U.S. Navy for Military Sealift Command (MSC) service on December 6, 1991. Entering non-commissioned service with a CIVMAR crew and a small embarked Navy detachment, she joined MSC's Naval Fleet Auxiliary Force on the Atlantic side, operating primarily from Norfolk to sustain carrier and amphibious groups with diesel marine fuel and JP-5.

In the latter half of the 1990s, she featured regularly in U.S. Sixth Fleet patterns. During USS NASSAU (LHA 4)'s Mediterranean workups and deployment cycles she provided the fuel lifeline: in 1997, after NASSAU stood out from Marseille, France, KANAWHA delivered roughly 500,000 gallons of diesel and 150,000 gallons of JP-5 during an underway replenishment. In 1999, amid a Spanish-led amphibious exercise in the Western Mediterranean, the pairing repeated the evolution, this time transferring about 550,000 gallons of diesel along with 150,000 gallons of aviation fuel. These evolutions reflected the logistics cadence supporting late-decade NATO posture in the Adriatic and Mediterranean.

Following the post-9/11 surge to the broader Middle East, KANAWHA was photographed in 2003 operating in the region in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, emblematic of the heavy CLF demand as U.S. and coalition ships enforced sanctions, protected sea lines, and supported combat operations. The same high-tempo, long-range logistics role is evident later in the decade: on May 10, 2007, she came alongside the carrier USS NIMITZ (CVN 68) in the Indian Ocean to conduct an UNREP while the strike group operated under U.S. Fifth Fleet, a snapshot of the fuel-at-sea backbone that kept air wings flying and escorts on station.

In 2009, she shifted seamlessly between amphibious and surface action group support. On October 16, 2009, the amphibious assault ship USS BATAAN (LHD 5) pulled alongside KANAWHA for a RAS during the BATAAN Expeditionary Strike Group's training and deployment cycle. Days later, on October 21, 2009, the dock landing ship USS FORT McHENRY (LSD 43) conducted its own replenishment with KANAWHA while deployed with the BATAAN group, then bound for maritime security operations under Fifth Fleet.

On November 18, 2010, during a replenishment maneuver off Florida, the Royal Canadian Navy's HMCS FREDERICTON briefly came into contact with KANAWHA; both ships reported superficial hull scrapes, no injuries, and continued operations after checks - an uncommon mishap in a complex but routine high-precision evolution that thousands of times each year proceeds without incident.

KANAWHA played a visible role in USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT (CVN 71)'s return to sea after refueling and complex overhaul: on September 17, 2013, ROOSEVELT completed her first UNREP in more than four years by taking over 600,000 gallons of JP-5 directly from KANAWHA, restoring the carrier's ability to sustain cyclic flight operations underway. In the same period, she supported the BATAAN ARG through workups and deployment, conducting refueling operations off the U.S. East Coast on December 8, 2013, and again on February 11, 2014. The same day, she also replenished the amphibious transport dock USS MESA VERDE (LPD 19) as the ARG pressed toward a deployment spanning U.S. Sixth and Fifth Fleet theaters.

On January 20, 2015, she topped off the amphibious transport dock USS NEW YORK (LPD 21) during Sixth Fleet operations, then shortly thereafter entered a scheduled overhaul and dry-docking at Boston Ship Repair. Photographed entering dry dock on May 1, 2015, the yard period was framed by an April 16, 2015, MSC contract award for a 56-day regular overhaul, a mid-decade maintenance pulse that kept the oiler on a reliable cycle amid sustained tasking.

By early 2016, KANAWHA was again back forward in the Mediterranean sustaining destroyers on patrol. On February 2, 2016, she conducted a replenishment at sea with the Rota-based USS CARNEY (DDG 64), one of the forward-deployed BMD destroyers whose long patrols in the Eastern Med depended on frequent refueling.

Her operating rhythm through the late 2010s remained brisk. On November 7, 2019, she sailed from Norfolk to begin a forward deployment supporting U.S. Sixth Fleet, a prelude to the heavy 2020-2021 Atlantic and Med tasking that followed. In October 2020, she sustained the IWO JIMA (LHD 7) Amphibious Ready Group during Surface Warfare Advanced Tactical Training (SWATT) off Virginia, photographed refueling USS IWO JIMA on October 15, 2020, and supporting PHIBRON-MEU integration on October 23, 2020, with tags also reflecting concurrent operations with the destroyer USS ARLEIGH BURKE (DDG 51).

KANAWHA's allied integration deepened in 2021. From October 21-23, 2021, she participated in Italy's large multilateral exercise MARE APERTO alongside U.S. and NATO ships and aircraft, providing the afloat refueling platform that enabled sustained maneuver and long on-station time across the Tyrrhenian, Ionian, Adriatic, and Strait of Sicily operating areas. Italian units included aircraft carrier CAVOUR, LHA GARIBALDI, LPD SAN GIORGIO, auxiliary VULCANO, and others, with Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 also engaged.

On March 14, 2022, after roughly five and a half months with U.S. Fifth and Sixth Fleets, KANAWHA moored at Naval Station Norfolk. The deployment - typical of Combat Logistics Force demands in an era of high-tempo CENTCOM and EUCOM tasking - saw her deliver millions of gallons of fuel and scores of cargo pallets at sea to keep surface combatants and amphibious ships on task.

In early 2023, she briefly rejoined the Eastern Mediterranean operating picture. On January 28-29, 2023, she executed twilight and daytime RAS evolutions with the destroyer USS NITZE (DDG 94) while the GEORGE H. W. BUSH (CVN 77) Carrier Strike Group operated in the Aegean and Eastern Med. Soon after, she entered a scheduled Regular Overhaul and Dry-Docking at Detyens Shipyards in North Charleston, with work running from May 18, 2023, to August 12, 2023, per the MSC award and completion notices.

The ship's output peaked the following year. Returning to Norfolk on July 10, 2024, after roughly nine months forward, KANAWHA was credited with 111 at-sea replenishments and more than 30 million gallons of fuel delivered - figures that capture the centrality of afloat logistics to U.S. and allied operations during a period of heightened maritime security tasking in and around the Middle East. In parallel, MSC awarded a mid-term availability at Alabama Shipyard in Mobile, scheduled to run from August 31, 2024, to December 14, 2024, to reset the ship for the next surge.

Recognition followed. On February 7, 2025, pier-side at Norfolk, KANAWHA and her CIVMAR crew received the Navy Unit Commendation for that deployment: the ship had been forward deployed for 264 days, steamed 55,539 nautical miles, and, without incident, completed 111 RAS events delivering more than 30 million gallons of marine diesel and aviation fuel plus over 4.6 million gallons of marine-grade oil while supporting 14 U.S. and 12 allied ships. In January 2025, a follow-on ROH/DD contract was awarded to Detyens Shipyards for a 103-day period, continuing the cycle of maintenance that underwrites sustained global logistics.

back to top

go to the end of the page

USNS KANAWHA Image Gallery:

The photo below was taken by Stefan Karpinski and shows the KANAWHA underway in Middle East waters in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in 2003.

The photos below were taken by me and show the KANAWHA at Naval Base Norfolk, Va., on November 9, 2008.

The photos below were taken by me and show the KANAWHA passing the Bay-Bridge-Tunnel while leaving Norfolk, Va., for the Atlantic, on February 3, 2009.

The photo below was taken by me and shows the KANAWHA at the Naval Fuel Depot at Norfolk, Va., on October 29, 2010.

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the KANAWHA at Naval Base Norfolk, Va., on October 28, 2013.

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the KANAWHA at Naval Base Norfolk, Va., on October 9, 2023.

back to top

Back to Fleet Oilers page.

Back to ships list.

Back to selection page.

Back to 1^st page.