USS Etamin (AK-93)

USS Etamin (AK-93) was the Liberty ship (EC2) Isaac Babbitt constructed for the US Maritime Commission (MARCOM) in 1943, for World War II service at a cost of $959,509. After acquisition by the US Navy, the ship was named Etamin, after the brightest star in the constellation Draco and manned by a US Coast Guard crew. As a Crater-class cargo ship, she served the military in the Pacific Ocean by providing food and material until she was torpedoed and put out of service. After repairs, she served as a non-self-propelled floating warehouse for the rest of the war. The ship ended the war in the Philippines and was among fifteen hulls sold for scrap for a lump sum of $271,000.

USS Etamin (AK-93), broadside view, underway off San Francisco, 25 May 1943.
History
United States
Name:
  • Isaac Babbitt
  • Etamin
Namesake:
Ordered: as a Type EC2-S-C1 hull, MCE hull 1106[1]
Builder: Permanente Metals Corporation, Richmond, California
Cost: $959,509[2]
Yard number: 1106[1]
Way number: 1[1]
Laid down: 28 March 1943
Launched: 25 April 1943
Acquired: 8 May 1943
Commissioned: 25 May 1943
Decommissioned: 26 June 1944
In service: 12 August 1944
Out of service: 9 July 1946
Reclassified: non-self propelled storage hulk, 12 August 1944
Stricken: 31 July 1946
Identification:
Honors and
awards:		 2 × battle stars
Fate: sold, 2 February 1948
Status: removed, 3 March 1948
General characteristics [4]
Class and type: Crater-class cargo ship
Tonnage:
Displacement:
  • 4,023 long tons (4,088 t) (standard)
  • 14,550 long tons (14,780 t) (full load)
Length: 441 ft 6 in (134.57 m)
Beam: 56 ft 11 in (17.35 m)
Draft: 28 ft 4 in (8.64 m)
Depth:
  • 37 ft 4 in (11.38 m)[3]
  • 34 ft 8 in (10.57 m)[5]
Installed power:
  • 2 × Oil fired 450 °F (232 °C) boilers, operating at 220 psi (1,500 kPa) ,  (manufactured by Babcock & Wilcox)
  • 2,500 shp (1,900 kW)
Propulsion:
Speed: 12.5 kn (23.2 km/h; 14.4 mph)
Capacity:
  • 7,800 t (7,700 long tons) DWT
  • 444,206 cu ft (12,578.5 m3) (non-refrigerated)
Complement: 198
Armament:

Construction

Etamin was launched 25 April 1943, as Isaac Babbitt, MCE hull 1106, by Permanente Metals Corporation, Yard No. 2, Richmond, California, under a Maritime Commission (MARCOM) contract; acquired by the Navy 8 May 1943; and commissioned 25 May 1943, Lieutenant Commander George Washington Stedman, Jr., USCGR, in command.[6][4]

Service history

She was assigned to the Naval Overseas Transportation Service (NOTS), 12th Naval District with operational control given to Commander, 7th Fleet Service Force.[6]

The ship was one of five Navy manned Liberties assigned 8 December 1943 to the Southwest Pacific Area for service to meet Army requirements.[7] She was active in the southwest Pacific Ocean issuing stores to the fleet and making minor repairs.[6]

On 27 April 1944,Etamin was disabled by a torpedo hit in Milne Bay and towed to Cairns, Australia, where she decommissioned on 26 June 1944. The ship, no longer self-propelled because of the torpedo damage, was designated as an unclassified miscellaneous auxiliary (IX) and placed in service as Etamin (IX-173) on 12 August 1944 continuing to issue stores to the fleet while under tow. She was placed out of service on 9 July 1946 and stricken from the Navy List on 31 July.[6]

Sale and scrapping

Returned to the MARCOM for disposal, the ship was laid up at Subic Bay, Philippines, 9 July 1946. She was one of fifteen vessels sold for scrap to Asia Development Corporation, Shanghai, for a total of $271,000. [8] She was sold 29 January 1948,[3] and delivered 3 March 1948.[8]

Awards

Etamin received two battle stars for World War II service.[6]

References
  1. Kaiser No. 2 2010.
  2. MARCOM.
  3. MARAD Etamin.
  4. Navsource 2014.
  5. Lloyd's.
  6. DANFS.
  7. Masterson 1949, pp. 359, 390 (fn 61).
  8. MARAD Isaac Babbitt.

Bibliography
  • "Etamin". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Naval History and Heritage Command. Retrieved 19 December 2016. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  • "Kaiser Permanente No. 2, Richmond CA". www.ShipbuildingHistory.com. 13 October 2010. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
  • "USS Etamin (AK-93)". Navsource.org. 13 June 2014. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
  • "ETAMIN". United States Department of Transportation. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
  • "ISAAC BABBITT". United States Department of Transportation. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
  • Lloyds. "Lloyd's Register 1945–46" (PDF). Lloyd's Register (through PlimsollShipData). Retrieved 19 December 2016.
  • Masterson, Dr. James R. (1949). U. S. Army Transportation In The Southwest Pacific Area 1941–1947. Washington, D. C.: Transportation Unit, Historical Division, Special Staff, U. S. Army. pp. 359, 390.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • "SS ISAAC BABBITT". Retrieved 15 December 2017.
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