Namakagon AOG-53

Namakagon
(AOG-53: dp. 1,841 (It.);1. 310'9";b. 48'6";dr. 15'8";s. 14 k.; cpl. 124; a. 4 3"; cl. Patapsco)

Namakayon (AOG-53) was laid down 1 August 1944 by Cargill, Inc., Savage, Minn., Iaunched 4 November 1944 sponsored bv Mrs. Alfred J. Scobba, and commissioned 18 June 1945, [t. (jg) Milton R. High in command.

The gasoline tanker Namakagon completed her Gulf coast shakedown and, having filled her tanks at Baytown, Tex., departed for the Pactfic, 19 July 1945. She arrived at Pearl Harbor as hostilities in the Pactfic ceased and on 20 August continued on to Midway. Based at Pearl Harbor, she carried fuel to various islands of the Pactfic, including Johnston, Canton, Marcus, Truk, Guam, Saipan, Okinawa, Peleliu, and Kyushu, for over 18 months, then returned to the west coast.

In early June, 1947, she completed overhaul at San Pedro and on the 9th steamed north to her new homeport, Kodiak, Alaska. From there and from ports in Washington, she carried passengers and mixed oargo as she operated a gasoline provisioning shuttle to naval bases and stations on the ooast and
in the Aleutians. Detached from Kodiak in 1953, she returned to Pearl Harbor, whence she operated until June 1957. She then sailed to Mare Island where she decommissioned, 20 September 1957, and entered the Pactfic Reserve Fleet.

On 27 June 1962, custody of Namakagon was transferred to the Commandant, 12th Naval District for activation, following which, she was transferred, under the Military Aid Program, to the Royal New Zealand Navy, 5 October 1962. Commissioned as HMNZS li~ndeavour (A-184), an Antarctic supply ship, she has delivered fuel to research bases on the seventh continent, bringing over 1 million gallons each year to McMurdo Sound alone, since 1963.