The USS Mettawee (AOG-17) was a Mettawee-class gasoline tanker built to transport highly flammable fuel to U.S. Navy ships and remote stations during World War II. Originally laid down as the vessel named Clearwater (YOG-47) by Marine Maintenance Corp. in Bayonne, New Jersey, she was launched on 28 November 1942, sponsored by Mrs. Charles B. Edison. The ship was renamed and reclassified as Mettawee (AOG-17) on 25 March 1943, and acquired by the U.S. Navy from the Maritime Commission on 5 April 1943. After conversion by Bethlehem Steel Co. in Hoboken, New Jersey, she was commissioned on 26 August 1943. Following shakedown off Norfolk, Virginia, the Mettawee departed on her first mission, convoying to the Panama Canal Zone, and subsequently arrived in the South Pacific. She moored at Balboa and then proceeded to Bora Bora in the Society Islands to load supplies, arriving in Nouméa, New Caledonia, on 11 January 1944. She continued her operations in the Pacific, serving as a station tanker off Funafuti Atoll in the Ellice Islands from February through April 1944. From May 1944, Mettawee operated in the Solomon Islands, notably at Tulagi, providing aviation gasoline to forward areas such as Guadalcanal and Bougainville. She undertook multiple supply runs until January 1945. In February 1945, she moved to the Philippines, arriving at San Pedro Bay, Leyte, where she supported supply operations in the Philippines and Borneo through the fall of 1945. Following her wartime service, the USS Mettawee returned to the U.S. West Coast and was decommissioned at Mare Island Navy Yard on 29 March 1946. She was transferred to the Maritime Commission on 10 September 1946 for merchant service under the name Clearwater. The vessel was eventually sold for scrap to the National Metal & Steel Corporation on 7 January 1964. The Mettawee's service was crucial in fueling Allied operations across the Pacific theater, exemplifying the vital logistical support role of gasoline tankers in wartime maritime operations.

This description has been generated using GPT-4.1-NANO based on the Vessel's wikidata information and then modified by ShipIndex.org staff.