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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

USS Chotauk (IX-188)

International Radio Call Sign:
November - Alpha - India - Yankee
 NAIY
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Precedence of awards is from left to right
American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal - World War II Victory Medal
Chotauk Class Mobile Floating Fuel Storage Ship:
  • Built in 1920 as SS Japan Arrow at Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp., Quincy, MA.
  • Delivered for merchant service in November 1920, perated by Standard Oil Company of New York
  • Transferred to Socony-Vacuum Oil. Co., date unknown
  • Assigned Registry Number (ID-4785) by US Navy
  • Renamed SS American Arrow, circa 1942
  • Acquired by the War Shipping Administration, 27 March 1942, from Socony-Vacuum Oil. Co.
  • Leased to Los Angeles Tanker Operators, 14 September 1944
  • Acquired by the Navy from the War Shipping Administration, 29 November 1944, at Pearl Harbor, T.H.
  • Commissioned Miscellaneous Unclassified USS Chotauk (IX-188), 29 November 1944, LCDR. W. D. Baker, USNR, in command
  • During World War II USS Chotauk was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater
  • Decommissioned, 7 February 1946, at Mobile, AL.
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 28 March 1946
  • Returned to the War Shipping Administration for disposal, 7 February 1946
  • Final Disposition, sold for scrapping (PD-X-237), 12 December 1946 to M.S. Kaplan Co., withdrawn 22 February 1947
    Specifications:
    Displacement 18,925 t.(fl)
    Length 483' 3"
    Beam 62' 8"
    Draft28'
    Speed 10.2 kts
    Cargo Capacity
    Oil 97,800 Bbls
    Complement unknown
    Armament
    one 4"/50 cal gun mount
    one 3"/50 cal dual purpose gun mount
    eight single 20mm AA gun mounts
    Propulsion
    one vertical quadruple-expansion reciprocating steam engine
    three single-ended Scotch boilers
    two recip-drive 20Kw 120V D.C. Ship's Service Generators
    single propeller, 3,200shp
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		Size Image Description Source
    Merchant Service Standard Oil Company of New York Socony-Vacuum Oil Company
    Chotauk 74k SS Japan Arrow underway in harbor, circa 1920s or 1930s.
    The Steamship Historical Society of America (Alex Shaw). Photo No. 220831 Courtesy of Shipscribe.com    		 Robert Hurst
    Chotauk 111k A post card image of SS Japan Arrow underway in heavy seas, date and location unknown. Post card is dated March 31, 1921. Tommy Trampp
    Chotauk
    094618804    		 56k SS Japan Arrow underway 17 August 1929, location unknown.
    Photo William B. Taylor. Japan Arrow - (1920-1942) (aukevisser.nl)    		 Robert Hurst
    Chotauk
    094618805    		 58k SS American Arrow working with Royal Australian Units in the Indian Ocean, July 1944. Note the 3" gun on the stern and 20mm Oerlikon AA guns on the after and central superstructures.
    Australian War Memorial Naval Historical Collection Accession NO. 202902    		 Australian War Memorial
    USS Chotauk (IX-188)
    Chotauk 162k USS Chotauk (IX-188) under way in the Pacific, date and location unknown.
    Photo courtesy Charles Grant USS Chotauk    		 Mike Menth for his father Thomas Myles Menth RM1 USNR USS Chotauk
    USS Chotauk (IX-188)
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    MARAD Vessel History Database
    Back To The Navsource Photo Archives Main Page Back To The Service Force Ship Type Index Back to The Section ID Number Photo Index Back To The Miscellaneous Unclassified Ship (IX) Photo Index
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
    All pages copyright NavSource Naval History
    Last Updated 6 February 2026