USS Caliente (AO-53) - Supporting Ships of The Invasion of Saipan

Supporting Ships of The Invasion of Saipan

After a brief period of repair she loaded up on cargo oil and avgas and departed for station at Majuro atoll. Arriving 3 June Caliente fueled dozens of ships in the lagoon and, in mid-June, supported the task forces during the Saipan landings. On 7 July, despite numerous submarine contacts, the oiler refueled the U.S. 5th Fleet carriers on their return from the Philippine Sea battles. For the remainder of the month, as part of Operation Forager, she carried logistical supplies, mostly diesel and black oil, from Enewetak to ships off Saipan. Caliente even made a run to Pearl Harbor, arriving 12 August, to assist the civilian tankers in the unending task of transporting oil and avgas to the fuel-guzzling carriers off the Marianas.

In September she fueled ships of the Palau invasion, including the carriers on 23 September, and sailed for Manus to receive fuel oil from SS Perote. Underway 10 October she carried fuel to the seventeen carriers of Admiral Halsey's U.S. 3rd Fleet, on their return from raids on Luzon and Formosa, before returning to Ulithi. Following a mission to shuttle fuel to the fast carriers, operating west of the Marianas on 11 November, she returned to that atoll for reassignment.