The USS Ontonagon (AOG-36) was a Mettawee-class gasoline tanker built to transport highly flammable fuel to U.S. warships and remote naval stations during World War II. Constructed with the hull number 1799, she was laid down on May 10, 1944, by East Coast Ship Yard Inc. in Bayonne, New Jersey, and launched on June 30, 1944. The vessel was sponsored by Mrs. Riva Halpern and commissioned on September 21, 1944. Following shakedown training in Chesapeake Bay, the Ontonagon departed Norfolk, Virginia, for the Caribbean to take on petroleum cargo before heading to the Pacific Theater. Initially assigned to Service Squadron 8, she played a vital role in transporting and distributing gasoline to the fleet and forward bases along the U.S. West Coast. In April 1945, she joined Service Squadron 10 at Ulithi, a major fleet anchorage, where she was scheduled to support operations at Okinawa. However, her departure was delayed, and she eventually sailed on June 22, arriving at Okinawa on June 29. Throughout the remainder of the war and into 1946, she fueled ships at strategic locations such as Kerama Retto, Hagushi, Naha, and Buckner Bay. In January 1946, she moved to the Philippines, operating in Manila and Subic Bays until she was decommissioned on February 27, 1946, and transferred to the Army Transport Service as USAT Ontonagon. With the outbreak of the Korean War, the vessel was reacquired by the Navy and served under the Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS) as USNS Ontonagon (T-AOG-36). From January 1952 to June 1954, she supported fleet units and bases in Korea, acting as a shuttle between Japan and Korea to sustain the oil supply line. After her service in Korea, she was returned to the West Coast and placed in reserve in December 1954. Reactivated in April 1956, she served again with MSTS in the North Pacific before being inactivated in September 1956. She remained in the National Defense Reserve Fleet until being struck from the Navy List in June 1955 and later scrapped in 1964. The USS Ontonagon received one battle star for her service in World War II, marking her contribution to the war effort in the Pacific.

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