 Patoka with Shenandoah moored alongside
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | Patoka |
| Namesake | Patoka River |
| Builder | Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Newport News, Virginia |
| Laid down | 17 December 1918 |
| Launched | 26 July 1919 |
| Acquired | 3 September 1919 |
| Commissioned | 13 October 1919 |
| Decommissioned | 31 August 1933 |
| Recommissioned | 10 November 1939 |
| Decommissioned | 1 July 1946 |
| Stricken | 31 July 1946 |
| Fate | Scrapped, 15 March 1948 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Patoka Replenishment oiler |
| Displacement | 16,800 long tons (17,070 t) |
| Length | 477 ft 10 in (145.64 m) |
| Beam | 60 ft (18 m) |
| Draft | 26 ft 2 in (7.98 m) |
| Speed | 11 knots (20 km/h; 13 mph) |
| Complement | 168 |
| Armament |
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USS Patoka (AO–9/AV–6/AG–125) was a replenishment oiler made famous as a tender for the airships Shenandoah (ZR-1), Los Angeles (ZR-3) and Akron (ZRS-4). It was also notable in that its height (177 feet (54 m)) figured prominently in the design of the Rainbow Bridge in Texas (the bridge design required that the Patoka, then the tallest ship in the U.S. Navy, could sail under it; however, it never did).