The problem of getting fresh water to the smaller ships which did not have distilling apparatus became increasingly acute as the fleet moved westward. Large combatant ships and auxiliaries were ordered to issue water to small craft needing it, but demands could not be met solely in this way. The newly commissioned fleet oilers Ocklawaha and Ponaganset were used to carry potable water to ships and bases in the forward area.
Water was available at a number of points in the South Pacific for the 3rd Fleet, and in the Southwest Pacific for the MorotaiOperation Interlude forces. It was likewise available on certain harbor craft in the Marshalls. At Manus, where 2,000,000 US gallons (7,600 m3) a day, filtered and chlorinated, were available, it could be obtained after 1 September for both 3rd Fleet and Southwest Pacific forces. Besides the shore facilities at Manus, the barges YO-186, with 55,000 barrels (8,700 m3), and YW-90, with 280,000 US gallons (1,100 m3), were sent to Captain Ogden from Eniwetok late in August. They had been filled from the Ponaganset and from surplus in ships returning to Pearl.
In the South Pacific area where most of the amphibious forces were serviced, the naval base at Tulagi estimated that, between 15 August and 1 September, 20,917,000 US gallons (79,180 m3) of water was supplied to LSTs, LCIs, and small craft. No figures are available for Guadalcanal, but that base supplied water in tremendous quantities to the ships and troops which staged in that area.
The Ponaganset, with 90,000 barrels (14,000 m3) of water, reached Eniwetok on 2 August, discharged cargo, and returned to Pearl to reload. With a fresh 90,000 barrels (14,000 m3) aboard, she was ordered to Guadalcanal to take part in the logistic preparations of the amphibious forces. From 27 August to 4 September she discharged fresh water to various harbor and patrol craft.[1]
In April she carried water to the task force off Okinawa, returning there during each of the next three months while moving around the western Pacific touching at Ulithi, Guam, and Leyte where she was to be found at the war's end.
She then steamed to Ulithi, the Marianas, and Okinawa, before reaching Wakayama, Japan 26 September. She operated at various Japanese ports until steaming for San Francisco, arriving 5 January 1946. She then transited the Panama Canal, and arrived 18 February 1946 at her new home yard of New York City.
1946–1949
On 9 December 1947 Ponaganset fractured into two sections while tied at dockside in Boston:
The source of the fracture was an arc strike located at the toe of a fillet weld that joined a chock in the deck. ... The presence of the sharp cracks in the arc strike located in a region of high residual stress resulting from the fillet weld provided the necessary conditions for fracture initiation at temperatures below the NDT. As indicated by the fracture analysis diagram, the failure temperature was 15°F below the NDT temperature of the source plate. The steel was typical of the World War II production material which features relatively high carbon and low manganese contents.
— U.S. Naval Research Laboratory report 5920
On 2 March 1948 the vessel was reacquired by the navy "as is where is". On 2 June 1948 title was transferred back to the Maritime Commission at the Boston Naval Shipyard on 30 June 1948. She was sold for scrap to Northern Metal Company on 7 January 1949.
Awards
USS Ponaganset (AO-86), at the General Ship and Iron Works, Boston, MA., 9 December 1947"Christmas at Sea" program used on the USS Ponaganset, 25 December 1945 (outside)"Christmas at Sea" program used on the USS Ponaganset, 25 December 1945 (inside)
Ponaganset decommissioned on 26 April 1946 and was struck from the Navy List on 23 April 1947. She was returned to the Maritime Commission for disposal at Norfolk on 15 May 1947.
Ponaganset earned two battle stars for World War II service.
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