Over the past two centuries, several boats have been named "Ogeechee." The first such vessel, built in 1863 to be a wooden steamer, was converted into a steam-powered "screw-ram."
    Intended to be manned by a complement of as many as 120 sailors, the CSS Ogeechee was heavily-armed. She had four 32-pound smooth-bore cannons, one 32-pound rifled cannon and one 9-inch smooth-bore cannon.
    In June of 1864, her name was changed to the CSS Macon, and she was assigned to duty on the Savannah River. When Savannah surrendered to Union forces on December 21, 1864, the Macon headed upriver to the relative safety of Augusta.
    The second ship named Ogeechee was a 51-ton schooner that was built in 1870 based in North Carolina that carried cargo up and down the East Coast.
    The third Ogeechee was another 2,5667-ton 313-foot long passenger steamer custom built for the Brunswick Steamship Company at the Quincy Fore River Ship & Engine Company yards in Boston, Mass.
    After changing hands several times, the steamship Ogeechee was sold to John Waage from Bergen, Norway and renamed the Gyldenpris (Golden Prize). The ship was sunk by U-Boat 35 on July 29, 1917.
    The fourth and final Ogeechee was built by the East Coast Shipyards in Bayonne, New Jersey, as a Mettawee Class Gas Tanker, the Ogeechee (AOG-35) was 221 feet long and weighed 2700 tons.
    She was armed with one 3.5 inch gun and several anti-aircraft gun mounts. After being commissioned on Sept. 6, 1944, she sailed to Aruba in the Dutch West Indies to pick up a load of diesel fuel.
    The Ogeechee travelled to the Panama Canal and then headed for Seattle, Wash., to discharge her precious cargo. Here, the crew learned they were heading to Alaska.
    After being retrofitted for severe weather conditions, the Ogeechee headed north up the “Inland Passageway” to Alaska. After stopping at Kodiak Island, the Ogeechee continued northwards until she reached Dutch Harbor.
    Over the next 12 months, the Ogeechee plied the waters between Sand Bay and Dutch Harbor, Alaska, supporting United States armed forces determined to evict the Japanese from their only foothold ever gained on American soil during World War II.
    At long last, the Ogeechee headed southward to the American mainland on Nov. 10, 1945. Once she reached San Francisco, she waited in port until her orders arrived for decommissioning on Feb. 6, 1946. After this, the U.S. Maritime Commission sold the Ogeechee for scrap on July 1, 1946.

    Roger Allen is a local lover of history. Allen provides a brief look at the area's historical past. Email Roger at rwasr1953@gmail.com.