The second USS Winooski (AO-38) was a Kennebec-class oiler in the United States Navy.
Winooski was laid down as Calusa on 23 April 1941 at Sparrows Point, Maryland, by the Bethlehem Steel Company under a Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 144); launched on 12 November 1941; sponsored by Mrs. Laurence B. Levi; taken over by the Navy on 5 January 1942. She was renamed Winooski (AO-38) on 9 January 1942; and commissioned at Baltimore, Maryland, on 27 January 1942.
Service history
1942
Following a brief period of shakedown training in the Chesapeake Bay, Winooski embarked upon her first mission in mid-February. She arrived in Baytown, Texas, on 25 February and began loading a cargo of fuel. The oiler departed Baytown on 2 March and arrived in Norfolk, Virginia on the 7th. The next day, Winooski got underway for Newport, Rhode Island, where she remained until the 25th. On that day, the ship got underway in company with and , bound for Iceland. She and her consorts arrived in Reykjavík on 1 April and remained there until the 4th, at which time she returned to sea. The oiler arrived back at Norfolk on 13 April. Four days later, she stood out to sea en route to Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She loaded fuel at Baton Rouge from 23 to 25 April and then set a course back to Norfolk in which port she arrived on the 29th. She discharged her cargo at Craney Island and, on 4 May, embarked upon another voyage to Baytown. The oiler loaded fuel at Baytown from 9 to 11 May and stood out to sea on the return voyage. She reentered Norfolk on the 16th. Four days later, the ship steamed out of Chesapeake Bay again, on her way to NS Argentia, Newfoundland. She arrived at her destination on the 23rd and began almost a month of harbor fuelling duty there. On 15 June, Winooski cleared Argentia for Norfolk where she arrived on 29 June. After a nine-day availability at the Norfolk Navy Yard, the oiler resumed duty, starting out on a voyage to Deer Park, Texas, on 8 July. She returned to Norfolk from Deer Park on 21 July but, two days later, headed back to Argentia where she resumed duty as station oiler from 26 July to 13 August. She returned to Norfolk on 16 August and remained there until 2 September at which time she got underway for Iceland once again. She stopped at Reykjavík for one week, from 10 to 17 September, and reentered Norfolk on the 25th.
Following a yard availability, Winooski began preparations for the amphibious assault on the Moroccan coast. In addition to her cargo of fuel oil, the ship deck-loaded two high-speed fire support boats for use in the invasion. On 24 October, she rendezvoused with the other ships of Task Force (TF) 34 and set a course for North Africa. The fleet arrived off Fedhala early in the morning of 8 November. Winooski launched the fire support boats and, while they moved in to assist the troops assaulting the beaches, she proceeded to fuel the ships in the anchorage. She continued fueling operations unmolested until 11 November when the enemy launched a series of submarine counterattacks against the invasion fleet. At about 2000 hours that evening, a torpedo from German submarine U-173 struck the oiler just abaft of the bridge, punching a hole in her number 6 tank and damaging several other compartments as well. Winooski listed about eight degrees, but she corrected it almost immediately by shifting cargo and resumed her duties the following day. Further submarine attacks occurred on the 12th, but Winooski emerged unscathed and quickly put farther out to sea where she and the other ships maneuvered evasively to avoid submarine attacks. On 15 November, she put into port at Casablanca and resumed fueling operations. She remained in that port until 23 November at which time she got underway for Gibraltar for a three-month repair period.