USNS Shearwater (T-AG-177)

USNS Shearwater (T-AG-177) was a Shearwater-class miscellaneous auxiliary built during the final months of World War II for the US Army as FS-411 (Design 381 coastal freighter) by Hickinbotham Brothers Shipbuilders. FS-411 was Coast Guard manned operating in the Central and Western Pacific, including Hawaii, Saipan, TInian, Guam, during the closing days of the war.[2]

For other ships with the same name, see USS Shearwater.
History
United States
Name: USNS Shearwater
Namesake: Shearwater, a long winged seabird
Builder: Hickinbotham Brothers Shipbuilders at Stockton, California
Laid down: October 1944,[1] as U.S. Army FS-411 for the U.S. Army
Completed: in April 1945
Commissioned: 25 October 1944 as U.S. Army FS-411
In service: May 1964 as Survey Support Ship, USNS Shearwater (T-AG-177)
Out of service: February 1969
Stricken: c. 1969
Identification:
Fate: transferred to the U.S. Army; sunk as an artificial reef in 2015
General characteristics
Type: Design 381 coastal freighter
Tonnage: 381 tons
Tons burthen: 935 tons
Length: 165 ft
Beam: 32 ft
Draft: 14 ft 3 in
Propulsion: two 500 hp GM-Cleveland 6-298A diesel engines, twin screws
Speed: not known
Complement: 26 personnel

She was placed into service by the U.S. Navy from 1964 to 1969 as USNS Shearwater (T-AG-177). After this service, she was transferred back to the U.S. Army.

Operational history as T-AG-177

Shearwater began her naval service as a survey support ship with the Military Sea Transportation Service in May 1964. Operated by a Civil Service crew, she operated in the Atlantic Ocean until mid-February 1969, when she was transferred back to the U.S. Army.

As of 2007, Shearwater was active as a fishing vessel based at Reedville, Virginia.[3] She was retired in 2013 and reefed off the coast of Delaware onto the Del-Jersey-Land Inshore Reef site in 2015.[4]

References
  1. "U.S. Army Coastal Freighters (F, FS, T)".
  2. "World War II Coast Guard-Manned U.S. Army Freight and Supply Ship Histories".
  3. "Shearwater". ShipSpotting. Retrieved 25 December 2017.
  4. "DelJerseyLand Reef - Inshore". New Jersey Scuba Diving. Retrieved 11 July 2019.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.