USS Caliente (AO-53) - End-of-War Activity

End-of-War Activity

In the following month she supplied ships assigned to occupation duty, anchoring in Tokyo Bay on 10 September, before returning to Ulithi for more fuel. Returning to Tokyo Bay on 17 October she received more oil, from SS Mechanicsville and SS Point Pleasant, before sailing to China to support ships on occupation duty. The oiler refueled ships in Tsingtao, and off the Shantung coast, before returning to Tokyo on 27 November. After receiving another cargo of oil she steamed to Kure Ko, Honshū, Japan on 2 December. She spent the remainder of the year in port, fueling small craft, conducting steam line repairs, and supplying oil to former Imperial Japanese navy vessels engaged in the repatriation of Japanese nationals from mainland Asia.

These post-war operations were to become normal for Caliente, especially as the huge American presence in Japan, China, and Korea, promised to continue into the indefinite future. During 1946 the oiler distributed fuel throughout the western Pacific, mainly Yokosuka, Singapore, and Manila, making two trips of her own to Bahrain to load fuel from the newly developed Persian Gulf oil fields. It was not until 14 November that the oiler finally steamed into San Pedro, California, harbor and home.