Search the Site with

General Characteristics

Crew List

Accidents aboard the Ship

History

Image Gallery

to end of page

USNS Yukon (T-AO 202)

USNS YUKON is the 16^th ship in a class of 18 underway replenishment oilers. This class was specially built for the MSC.

back to top

go to the end of the page

back to top

go to the end of the page

Crew List:

This section contains the names of sailors who served aboard USNS YUKON. It is no official listing but contains the names of sailors who submitted their information.

• Click here to view the list.

back to top

go to the end of the page

Accidents aboard USNS YUKON:

Date	Where	Events
February 27, 2000	Dubai	While entering the port of Dubai in the Middle East, YUKON collided with a smaller civilian cargo ship. The results of an investigation into the incident have not been made public.
July 13, 2000	180 miles west of Hawaii	During a replenishment operation at sea the YUKON collided with the amphibious transport dock DENVER (LPD 9). After the collision some experts warned of a phenomenon called the "Venturi Effect,'' in which a powerful suction is created near the stern area of one ship that can pull in an overtaking vessel at close quarters, causing a collision. YUKON suffered major damage, including several large holes and dents above the water line on the starboard quarter of the vessel and DENVER suffered a gaping 40-foot hole in the bow from the second deck to the waterline. No one was injured, and there were no fuel leaks. Following the collision both ships pulled into the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard for repairs. YUKON underwent structural repairs at Pearl Harbor and transited to San Francisco for further repairs at the same time as her scheduled routine overhaul. In January 2001, USNS YUKON rejoined the fleet. The investigation into the accident found USS DENVER responsible. The damage on USNS YUKON can be seen on the photos below.
May 16, 2012	120 miles west of San Diego, Calif.	USS ESSEX (LHD 2) collides with the YUKON during an underway replenishment off southern California. The collision happened approx. 9:20 am after a steerage malfunction aboard ESSEX. Both ships received only minor damage and no injuries were reported. ESSEX's starboard aircraft elevator was scraped and dented and parts of the railing and catwalks were damaged. YUKON suffered structural damage to her flight deck, lifeboats and davits.

back to top

go to the end of the page

USNS YUKON History:

USNS YUKON was laid down at Avondale Shipyard in New Orleans on May 13, 1991, launched on February 6, 1993, and entered Military Sealift Command service for the U.S. Pacific Fleet with a civilian crew on March 25, 1994. From her entry into Military Sealift Command service, USNS YUKON settled into a West Coast rhythm that quickly stretched across the Pacific. A spotter photograph fixes her in San Diego on September 16, 1994, in the final weeks of post-delivery shakedown and local fleet support. Two months later, the oiler was already stitched into a carrier's daily battle rhythm: on November 17, 1994, ABRAHAM LINCOLN (CVN 72) conducted a fueling-at-sea with YUKON during the carrier's Pacific operations, an early marker of the ship-to-ship precision that would define YUKON's career. As the Pacific Fleet moved into its 1995 deployment cycle, the cruiser CHANCELLORSVILLE (CG 62) recorded an UNREP with YUKON on March 22, 1995, while operating in company with ABRAHAM LINCOLN, capturing the textbook geometry of a three-ship logistics evolution - oiler amidships, carrier and cruiser holding station to port and starboard as spanwires drew tight, pumps came up, and aviation fuel and marine diesel crossed the gap. Through mid-1995 and into 1996, frigates in the same formation thread picked up fuel from YUKON as they worked up and deployed. The pattern shows YUKON moving in the lanes from the Southern California operating areas toward Hawaii and onward, closing daily on destroyers and frigates for short, precise hookups that kept escorts in step with their assigned carriers.

The tempo increased as WestPac 1996/97 formations crossed into Seventh Fleet. Amphibious and surface ships en route to the Arabian Gulf repeatedly met YUKON on the fuel track. On December 14, 1996, the amphibious transports DUBUQUE (LPD 8) and FORT McHENRY (LSD 43) came alongside YUKON from 0800 to noon for a full connected replenishment. Less than two weeks later, on December 27, the amphibious group anchored off Kuwait after "slowing for gas" from the oiler on the approach, an end-of-year snapshot of how tightly MSC tankers were woven into Fifth Fleet tasking. The same deployment season tied YUKON to the KITTY HAWK (CV 63) battle group: the carrier's chronology notes an UNREP with YUKON on May 8, 1997, as WESTPAC 96-97 rolled into its final months. Across the theater, cruisers, destroyers, and command ships left their own dated traces of YUKON's track. In April 1997, the frigate HALYBURTON (FFG 40) logged an UNREP with YUKON just ahead of a Strait of Hormuz transit on April 23, placing the oiler squarely on the north-south refueling shuttle that sustained maritime interception and presence operations in the Gulf. In early December 1997, the destroyer CURTIS WILBUR (DDG 54) recorded another replenishment from YUKON during Seventh Fleet evolutions, while the flagship BLUE RIDGE (LCC 19)'s 1997 chronology notes an UNREP with YUKON followed by a moor to Singapore's World Trade Center.

By 1998, YUKON's customers ranged from amphibs to Aegis cruisers executing Operation Southern Watch and Gulf patrols. TARAWA (LHA 1)'s 1998 command history shows a fueling-at-sea with YUKON during the transit into Fifth Fleet, before the amphibious group chopped to Bahrain control. CAPE ST. GEORGE's 1998 record lists an "UNREP w/ USNS YUKON" bracketed by an in-port period at Dubai; and VALLEY FORGE (CG 50)'s 1998 chronology notes a RAS with YUKON in the Arabian Gulf amid a slate of maritime interception operations. The same operational moment even made the cover of Joint Force Quarterly's autumn-winter 1998-99 issue, which featured COWPENS (CG 63) with YUKON immediately after a replenishment during Southern Watch patrols - an editorial choice that underlined how central underway refueling was to keeping OSW air policing continuous. Throughout these months, YUKON's day looked much the same: rendezvous made to the minute at pre-planned points, messenger lines shot and spanwires streamed, stations run hot for JP-5 to flight decks and F-76 to gas turbines, a short breakaway, and then a night's steaming to make the next appointment on a chart thick with waypoints.

The record for 1999 shows YUKON continuing to underwrite presence from the North Arabian Gulf down through the Strait of Hormuz. On October 8, 1999, the mine countermeasures ship DEXTROUS (MCM 13) refueled from YUKON before heading into a three-day mine-clearance window - an atypical customer that nonetheless depended on the same fuel bridge as the larger combatants. As the year turned, cruiser command histories place YUKON's rigs alongside high-end surface combatants during the late-1999/early-2000 deployment churn, a reminder that as forces surged and rotated across CENTCOM waters the oiler's schedule tightened rather than slackened.

On February 27, 2000, as YUKON entered the channel to Dubai's Jebel Ali port, YUKON collided in fog with the crewboat INCHCAPE 14. YUKON suffered only superficial scrapes and took several of the other vessel's sailors aboard while local tugs stabilized the casualty. Less than five months later, on July 13-14, 2000, during an underway replenishment about 180 nautical miles west of Hawaii, the amphibious transport dock USS DENVER (LPD 9) came out of station and struck YUKON's starboard quarter. Both ships diverted to Pearl Harbor for immediate assessment, and YUKON then proceeded to San Francisco to fold battle-damage repair into a scheduled overhaul before returning to duty in early 2001.

The following months saw her quickly resume the Pacific shuttle: by April 7, 2003, in the opening phase of Operation Iraqi Freedom, she was in the Arabian Gulf fueling the amphibious assault ship USS TARAWA (LHA 1) while coalition naval forces sustained sea control and amphibious options off Iraq's coast. The Pacific exercise cycle remained a constant as well: through Summer Pulse 2004 YUKON repeatedly closed with USS KITTY HAWK in the western Pacific during the Navy's seven-carrier surge demonstration, and on May 27, 2006 she ran alongside KITTY HAWK again for a routine refueling evolution at sea. That same spring she supported USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN on May 11, and in February 2006, paced WASP-class amphibious assault ship USS ESSEX (LHD 2) during approach and station-keeping practice ahead of connected replenishment. By January 28, 2007, she was back with USS RONALD REAGAN (CVN 76), slinging JP-5 across the span wire during a Southern California operating-area fuel push.

Through 2008-2011, YUKON's log reflects the hum of West Coast workups and deployments interleaved with large fleet exercises. On March 26, 2008, she supported USS RONALD REAGAN during Composite Training Unit Exercise ahead of that carrier strike group's deployment. The following year, she passed fuel to USS NIMITZ on July 24, 2009, and to USS BONHOMME RICHARD (LHD 6) on July 30, 2009, as amphibious and carrier groups cycled through the eastern Pacific. On May 20, 2010, she completed another replenishment during the pre-deployment churn, and on July 5, 2010, arrived at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam to support the RIM OF THE PACIFIC exercises, a high-tempo stretch of multi-national UNREPs that included sustained steaming with USS RONALD REAGAN through mid-July. In early November 2010, she again ran alongside RONALD REAGAN for both connected and vertical replenishments, capped by a December 1, 2010, evolution with USS CARL VINSON (CVN 70). The tempo continued into 2011: on October 21, 2011, YUKON topped off RONALD REAGAN at sea in the South China Sea during that carrier's Western Pacific period. The next spring brought another incident: on May 16, 2012, as ESSEX approached to receive fuel off Southern California, a steering casualty on the amphibious assault ship led to a minor collision. No one was injured and no fuel was spilled, and YUKON returned to tasking after inspections.

By the middle of 2013, YUKON was back in Seventh Fleet waters, stitched into the GEORGE WASHINGTON (CVN 73) carrier strike group's patrol geometry. On August 4, 2013, in the Coral Sea, GEORGE WASHINGTON came alongside for a full replenishment at sea with YUKON. The next day, August 5, USS PREBLE (DDG 88) was photographed preparing to take lines from YUKON during the same patrol cycle, and on October 20, 2013, the cruiser COWPENS was refueled by YUKON in the South China Sea as the strike group continued presence operations across the region. These dated snapshots mark a summer-to-autumn arc of routine, precisely timed fuel deliveries that underwrote air operations and escort steaming days across the Coral Sea and South China Sea.

In 2014, the oiler's customers ranged from an amphib in basic phase to a brand-new "aviation-centric" big-deck. On July 25, 2014, during basic phase training off Southern California, YUKON ran an UNREP with the amphibious transport dock GREEN BAY (LPD 20), helping the ship certify for a forward move to Japan. A little over two months later, on October 1, 2014, YUKON conducted the first underway replenishment for the then-"future" amphibious assault ship AMERICA (LHA 6), fueling the new LHA as she proved out flight- and well-deck routines ahead of commissioning in San Francisco.

The tempo quickened again in 2015, as JOHN C. STENNIS (CVN 74)'s strike group trained up for deployment. Across early August, YUKON was the moving pier around which COMPTUEX/JTFEX serials were built: on August 5, 2015, MOBILE BAY (CG 53) took fuel; on August 6, WILLIAM P. LAWRENCE (DDG 110) heaved lines for an UNREP; and on August 19, CHUNG-HOON (DDG 93) slid into station to receive fuel - three dated entries that capture the final certification phase for the strike group. As the air wing reset, JOHN C. STENNIS herself was photographed approaching YUKON for a replenishment at sea on October 28, 2015, during carrier qualifications.

RIMPAC framed YUKON's summer of 2016. While transiting to the exercise, she executed a three-ship RAS on June 25, 2016 with AMERICA and the destroyer HOWARD (DDG 83). That same day, SAN DIEGO (LPD 22) was photographed breaking away after her own fueling as the amphibious group continued west. Once the biennial exercise formally opened, YUKON's rigs supported the multinational force across Hawaiian operating areas. Back on the mainland side of the Pacific a month later, on July 26, 2016, she fueled CARL VINSON (CVN 70) during TSTA/FEP, the carrier's tailored training and final evaluation problem ahead of deployment.

As Carrier Strike Group ONE wrapped its Composite Training Unit Exercise off Southern California, YUKON spent October 31, 2016 and November 8, 2016 repeatedly coming alongside USS LAKE CHAMPLAIN (CG 57) for connected replenishments. In early January, the focus shifted to CARL VINSON's surge west: on January 7, 2017, YUKON executed a vertical replenishment with USS CARL VINSON, and on January 8, 2017 she conducted a dual alongside evolution with CARL VINSON and USS PRINCETON (CG 59). Spring brought more pre-deployment tasking: on April 5, 2017, YUKON was photographed transiting in company with units from Carrier Strike Group ELEVEN during workups, and on April 13, 2017, she supported a COMPTUEX serial by refueling USS SHOUP (DDG 86) at sea. By mid-June, YUKON was servicing the NIMITZ (CVN 68) Carrier Strike Group as it pushed west, fueling USS KIDD (DDG 100) on June 16, 2017 and then, on June 22, 2017, replenishing USS NIMITZ during a simultaneous connected-and-vertical replenishment that kept flight operations continuous. At year's end, the oiler supported a major amphibious turnover: on December 27, 2017, in the Pacific, USS WASP (LHD 1) took station on YUKON's beam for fueling during her transit to Sasebo to relieve USS BONHOMME RICHARD as Seventh Fleet's forward-deployed big-deck amphibious flagship.

YUKON opened 2018 with a stateside odd-job that illustrates how often MSC oilers double as platforms for interagency training: on February 6, 2018, she hosted federal, California state, and San Diego fire department personnel for hazardous-materials response certification drills pierside, cycling teams through confined-space and machinery-space scenarios under shipboard conditions. Back at sea that spring, on June 22, 2018, the INDEPENDENCE-variant littoral combat ship USS MONTGOMERY (LCS 8) took lines from YUKON to practice approach, station-keeping and fueling procedures. Two weeks later, the oiler was on RIMPAC 2018 duty out of Hawaii: on July 14, 2018 she conducted a replenishment with USS HARPERS FERRY (LSD 49) as part of a furious multinational schedule that saw MSC combat-logistics ships move millions of gallons of marine diesel and JP-5 and more than a thousand pallets of cargo during the exercise's at-sea phases. In the same season, YUKON's bridge watch changed hands for a long stretch of WestPac tasking: Capt. Dan Glazier assumed command as master in March 2018, a detail that threads through many of the oiler's subsequent evolutions in the western Pacific and Indian Oceans.

The 2019 log is dense and exact. In the eastern Pacific on February 22, 2019, USS BOXER (LHD 4)'s deck crew fired the shot line to YUKON to begin a replenishment. On March 17, 2019, BOXER repeated the evolution in another documented RAS, and on March 24, 2019 the amphibious transport dock USS JOHN P. MURTHA (LPD 26) came alongside YUKON during an 11th MEU/BOXER ARG underway - three dates that neatly frame the amphibious group's final integrated training before deployment. YUKON then entered a scheduled 81-day regular overhaul and dry-docking at Vigor Marine in Portland, Oregon, beginning April 26, 2019 and completing July 15, 2019. The work package ranged from a 12-thousand-hour starboard main-engine overhaul and a 60-thousand-hour ship's service diesel generator overhaul to pump grooms, flight-deck non-skid renewal, tank preservation and steel repairs - classic mid-life upkeep aimed at keeping a high-output oiler reliable. Back at sea in the fall, she fueled USS KIDD on November 25, 2019, during Eastern Pacific training.

COVID-era operations underscored the oiler's flexibility. In late April 2020, off Southern California, YUKON received 335,000 gallons of JP-5 from the chartered tanker EMPIRE STATE during a tanker-to-oiler consolidation at sea, a revived technique that let her avoid pier stops and keep supporting ships inside sanitary "bubbles". By September 16, 2020, she was in the Arabian Sea refueling USS PAUL HAMILTON (DDG 60) during a long Western Pacific and Middle East circuit by West Coast forces. In 2021, YUKON spent months with the CARL VINSON strike group, including an August 4 approach by the carrier before a refueling evolution. That same year, MSC recognized YUKON's crew for their 302-day support to the USS NIMITZ strike group across the Indian and Pacific Oceans during the pandemic's most challenging deployment, a period that included dual-carrier operations with USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT (CVN 71) and USS RONALD REAGAN and participation in MALABAR 2020. That August she also supported fleet-wide "Large Scale Exercise 2021" training serials in the eastern Pacific.

By 2022, the ship's deck log again reads like a tour of Seventh Fleet waters. On January 12, 2022, she replenished USS DEWEY (DDG 105) in the South China Sea, and on February 3 she fueled USS ASHLAND (LSD 48) during NOBLE FUSION in the Philippine Sea, a Japan-based amphibious readiness demonstration linking carrier, amphibious, and stand-in naval units for Expeditionary Advanced Base concepts. As USS RONALD REAGAN began her forward-deployed 2022 patrol, YUKON closed in the Philippine Sea on July 6 for a replenishment. Later that month, on July 26, she passed fuel to USS CHANCELLORSVILLE in the South China Sea, and on September 27 she was photographed sending lines to RONALD REAGAN again as the carrier operated near Busan. Fuel-at-sea sequences with RONALD REAGAN continued into October while that group patrolled the Philippine Sea.

Operations in 2023 reflected the same cadence but with a wider mix of customers. On July 18, 2023, YUKON replenished USS AMERICA in the Coral Sea during that amphibious group's Indo-Pacific swing. On October 27, 2023, she fueled RONALD REAGAN yet again in the South China Sea during the carrier's final FDNF-Japan patrol. On December 3, 2023, she executed a triple-ship fueling with USS CARL VINSON and USS KIDD in the Philippine Sea while CSG-1 conducted high-tempo flight operations.

The narrative from late 2023 through 2025 centers on the transition of the forward-deployed carrier billet from RONALD REAGAN back to USS GEORGE WASHINGTON and the accompanying surge of logistics. On December 29, 2023, YUKON completed a replenishment with USS STERETT (DDG 104) while that destroyer escorted the CARL VINSON group in the South China Sea. On February 2, 2024, she fueled USS DANIEL INOUYE (DDG 118) in the Philippine Sea during CSG-9 operations. As GEORGE WASHINGTON returned to the Western Pacific after completing refueling complex overhaul, YUKON supported repeated fueling-at-sea evolutions with the carrier through autumn; notably, on October 31, 2024, she was alongside GEORGE WASHINGTON during the ship's Indo-Pacific workup patrol. In 2025, she remained a staple of the forward logistics web, again fueling GEORGE WASHINGTON while the carrier operated in the Seventh Fleet's area, including a documented evolution on August 29, 2025, in the Pacific.

back to top

go to the end of the page

USNS YUKON Image Gallery:

The photos below were taken by me and show the YUKON at Point Loma, Calif., on March 10, 2008.

The photos below were taken by me and show the YUKON at Naval Base San Diego, Calif., on September 29, 2011.

The photos below were taken by me and show the YUKON arriving at Naval Air Station North Island, Calif., on May 8, 2012. The last three photos show her moored there on May 11, 2012.

The photo below was taken by Michael Jenning and shows the YUKON at Naval Air Station North Island, Calif., on December 27, 2014.

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the YUKON arriving at Naval Air Station North Island, Calif., on October 2, 2015. The last six photos show her departing again early in the morning on October 5.

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the YUKON departing Naval Air Station North Island, Calif., on April 18, 2016.

The photos below were taken by Sebastian Thoma and show the YUKON at Naval Air Station North Island, Calif., on December 20, 2016.

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the YUKON at Naval Air Station North Island, Calif., on March 2, 2019.

back to top

Back to Fleet Oilers page.

Back to ships list.

Back to selection page.

Back to 1^st page.