USS Alcona
A post-war image of USS Alcona (AK-157) underway, date and location unknown. Her armament has been removed
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History | |
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United States | |
Name | Alcona |
Namesake | Alcona County, Michigan |
Ordered | as type ( MC hull 2102[1] |
Builder | Kaiser Shipbuilding Co., Richmond, California |
Yard number | 59[1] |
Laid down | 27 November 1943 |
Launched | 9 May 1944 |
Sponsored by | Mrs. Morris Chamberlain |
Acquired | 15 September 1944 |
Commissioned | 15 September 1944 |
Decommissioned | 5 May 1955 |
Stricken | 1 April 1960 |
Identification |
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Fate |
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General characteristics [2] | |
Class and type | Alamosa-class cargo ship |
Type | C1-M-AV1 |
Tonnage | 5,032 long tons deadweight (DWT)[1] |
Displacement |
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Length | 388 ft 8 in (118.47 m) |
Beam | 50 ft (15 m) |
Draft | 21 ft 1 in (6.43 m) |
Installed power |
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Propulsion | 1 × propeller |
Speed | 11.5 kn (21.3 km/h; 13.2 mph) |
Capacity |
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Complement |
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Armament |
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USS Alcona (AK-157) was an
Construction
Alcona was laid down as the unnamed
Service history
World War II Pacific Theatre operations
Following
Alcona reached
Alcona had transported another consignment of cargo to the Philippines by mid-July and had completed her task at Subic Bay by 8 August, two days after the
Post-war operations
Alcona conducted another voyage from Brisbane to the Philippines and then, after undergoing repairs in the advanced base sectional floating drydock
Exercise "Nanook"
Initially, it had been planned to decommission Alcona at Norfolk so that she might be returned to the
Alcona arrived at
Initially, "Nanook" had been conceived as a small operation involving only an ice-strengthened rescue tug (ATR) and an
For the remainder of May and into June, Alcona was prepared at the Boston Navy Yard for her "Arctic service of indefinite duration". Following her sea trials on 25 June, Alcona moored at Castle Island, in Boston Harbor, for final preparations. During her time at Boston, Task Force (TF) 68-consisting of Norton Sound, Northwind, Alcona, Beltrami, Atule, and Whitewood, was activated on 15 June for "Nanook".[3]
As "Nanook" began, Northwind, Whitewood, and Atule proceeded north in mid-July, followed shortly thereafter by Norton Sound and Beltrami. Finally, after being held at Boston to load delayed supplies for the
Despite the descent of a dense, pea-soup fog that hampered the operation of boats to transfer cargo ashore and, later, a brisk 35-knot (65-kilometre-per-hour; 40-mile-per-hour) offshore breeze, Alcona's discharge of cargo and heavy equipment proceeded apace and made it possible for the
Alcona completed unloading by 19 August, and the Weather Bureau personnel who had been embarked soon took up quarters ashore. The construction work had proceeded well by that time; and, on 28 August, Captain Esslinger reported to the task force commander that 2,800 ft (850 m) of runway had been completed and that the field could now take
Ternan, apparently in North Star Bay to ascertain American intentions in the area, found nothing "out of order" in the activities going on there and departed North Star Bay shortly after mid-day on 24 August. However, a bit before midnight, lookouts sighted Ternan preparing to reenter North Star Bay. She soon ran aground again; and a boat arrived alongside Alcona, bringing a Danish lieutenant who requested a doctor and a pharmacist's mate to help a wounded Danish seaman who had suffered a 12-gauge shotgun wound in the head. Brought on board for treatment, the seaman immediately underwent an emergency operation on board Alcona and responded well to the surgery. Alcona's doctor then told the Danish vessel's commanding officer, a Commander Tegner, that the man could not be moved for at least four days. When Tegner remonstrated that he had to return to
However, toward the end of August, ice conditions around Thule harbor became a grave concern while Alcona was underway for soundings on 31 August and on 2 and 4 September. After the arrival of the
With the airstrip finished 10 days ahead of schedule, Alcona was ready for sea by 6 September but remained at North Star Bay to be able to assist the Danish schooner North Star, slated to arrive within days. Alcona was not forced to tarry long, for the awaited North Star reached Thule on schedule. Alcona immediately turned to help unload weather station equipment and building materials, completing the task by noon on 10 September.[3]
Underway in company with Northwind at 13:00 on the 10th, both ships stood clear of the fjord, and headed south. The "Nanook" historian recorded the scene graphically: "The weather was fine, very clear and only a wisp of breeze. Very fittingly for our last look at the northward, the whole area from the mouth of North Star Bay to several miles down Melville Bay was cluttered with thousands of big icebergs. Sparkling in the sunlight they were a striking sight."[3]
Three hours after their departure, the two ships parted company, Alcona proceeding to Arsuk to disembark the wounded, but recovering, Danish seaman. En route, however, Alcona ran into a severe storm that swept across Davis Strait on 12 September. She suffered the least of the three ships caught in the gale, Whitewood was forced to heave to in heavy seas for 36 hours in winds that sometimes reached 55 kn (102 km/h; 63 mph); Northwind rolled and pitched, giving all hands a rough ride. Although the storm put Alcona a day behind her schedule, she reached Arsuk Fjord without mishap on 15 September and that morning transferred Quartermaster Richard B. Anderson, Royal Danish Navy, to Sorrell, off Simiutak Island. A Danish surgeon subsequently sent a dispatch to the Navy expressing his appreciation for the "outstanding brain surgery and exceptional medical job performed" by Alcona's doctor.[3]
Ultimately, Alcona reached President Roads, Boston, early in the evening of 20 September, the last ship of "Nanook" to return home.[3]
Atlantic service
Departing Boston to load cargo at
SS York incident
That fall, she suffered the only mishap of her career. Underway on 22 October 1947 from the Naval Ammunition Depot at Leonardo, N.J., the ship reached the Naval Supply Depot, Norfolk, on the evening of the 23d and then shifted to an anchorage where, between 10:00 and 14:53 on 24 October, she took on board a cargo of ammunition from an ammunition lighter moored alongside.[3] Underway shortly after noon on the following day, Alcona was proceeding to San Juan, Puerto Rico, when, at 01:40, she collided with the Pacific Tanker Line's vessel, SS York. The two ships struck bow to bow at about a 60-degree angle.[3] Alcona sounded the general alarm. The ships soon parted but then struck again, the unidentified ship's stern scraping the cargo vessel's starboard quarter. Alcona's executive officer promptly reported to the bridge that the ship's starboard bow had been torn leaving a hole from frame four port to frame nine, between the first and second decks, and that the starboard anchor was missing.[3]
York reported a large hole in her port bow just aft of the anchor and that the damage extended below her waterline. Her stern was also badly dented. Alcona asked if the latter required assistance, but the merchantman's master replied that his ship was seaworthy and would proceed to New York unless Alcona required help. About 03:23, "after determining that the extent of damage was such that it was safe to proceed," Alcona moved slowly ahead, shaping course for Norfolk, with a watch on the foc'sle to take soundings in the ship's number one hold every 15 minutes. Survey parties had found that the ammunition cargo, except for two bombs which had gone adrift, was safe. A chief boatswain's mate and a working party soon secured the way ward bombs. At 17:09 that evening, Alcona moored at NOB, Norfolk, at the naval supply depot.[3]
Later activities
After repairs at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard that included a drydocking from 5 to 26 November, Alcona got underway for Charleston, South Carolina, on 29 November and entered the navy yard at that port on 1 December. The ship underwent further repairs there that lasted into March 1948. She then conducted her first
Departing Norfolk on 6 July after operating locally in the waters of the
Final decommissioning
Alcona was decommissioned 5 May 1955, she was struck from the
Notes
Bibliography
- "Alcona". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Naval History and Heritage Command. 18 June 2015. Retrieved 11 November 2016. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- "C1 Cargo Ships". www.ShipbuildingHistory.com. 28 August 2009. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
- "USS Alcona (AK-157)". Navsource.org. 20 November 2015. Retrieved 5 June 2015.
External links
- Photo gallery of USS Alcona (AK-157) at NavSource Naval History