USS Housatonic (AO-35) was a Chicopee-class oiler acquired by the United States Navy for use during World War II. She was the third ship of the U.S. Navy named for the Housatonic River in Massachusetts and Connecticut. Housatonic was a tanker completed in November 1941 by Sun Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co., Chester, Pennsylvania, under the name SS Esso Albany. After two voyages for Standard Oil Company of New Jersey, she was acquired by the Navy 9 January 1942, converted to a fleet oiler, and renamed Housatonic.