USS Richland (AK-207)
Reflecting the side-launching practice dictated by shipbuilding on inland waterways, Richland, her name in white block letters on her bow, enters her element on 5 August 1944, while the christening party watches her progress from the platform at lower right and spectators afloat and ashore look on.
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History | |
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United States | |
Name | Richland |
Namesake | |
Ordered | as type ( MC hull 2161[1] |
Builder | Leathem D. Smith Shipbuilding Company, Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin |
Yard number | 327[1] |
Laid down | 15 January 1944 |
Launched | 5 August 1944 |
Sponsored by | Mrs. Warren G. Brown |
Acquired | 17 April 1945 |
Commissioned | 22 April 1945 |
Decommissioned | 23 January 1946 |
Stricken | 7 February 1946 |
Identification |
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Fate | Sold for scrapping 15 December 1971, to Pyramid Ventures Group, Inc., delivered 12 January 1972 |
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 Richland (AK-207) was an
Construction
The first ship to be so named by the navy, Richland, built under
Service history
Transit the Panama Canal
Following
Richland reached
Pacific Theater duty
As Richland sailed toward the Philippines, her war diary noted her course, with her commanding officer interjecting comments on the ship's routine. Lt. Hills lectured his crew on "battle and blackout security," on 15 June 1945; three days later, he wrote of Richland's starboard side
Richland continued her passage toward the Philippine Islands as June 1945 ended and July began. Two west-bound
After observing routine general quarters at dawn, Richland made landfall on the southern end of
Ultimately, a quarter of an hour into the second dog watch, 1815, on 16 July 1945, Richland entered the Philippine area, and reached
Making landfall at Subic at 2000 on 23 July 1945, Richland received a signal as she neared the entrance of that body of water at 2110: "Nets closed, stand off till daylight." Signaling "Request permission to enter as ordered" at 2220, Richland received the reply: "Stand off till daybreak" at 2235. Entering Subic Bay "in time for lunch" on the 24th, she anchored without a harbor chart. By the evening, she had received charts and a berth assignment. Shifting to Berth 39 on the 25th to wait her turn for unloading, learning that she was "no. 18 on [the] list…" Lt. Hills noted wryly in the war diary that the base at Subic seemed "in process of incubation."[3]
As August 1945 began, Richland lay anchored in Berth 39, Subic Bay, ready to discharge cargo, attached to ServRon 9, Service Force, Seventh Fleet. Over the next several days, 2–4 August, 7–9 August, the ship discharged a cargo of frozen meat to the district
On 1 September 1945, with the war in its closing hours, Richland—still fully loaded with the exception of the frozen cargo that she had been able to discharge in early August—found herself attached simultaneously to ServRon 7 and ServRon 8, in addition to Service Division (ServDiv) 73. On 2 September, amidst those organizational concerns, an insulation fire demolished her Vapor Clarkson-manufactured auxiliary boiler, after which Lt. Hills "called for, and received," an inspection by NOB Subic Bay's maintenance officer. Since the Bureau of Ships (BuShips) had already ordered a replacement boiler, repairs would not be forthcoming.[3]
Confusion, however, still shrouded the issue of exactly to which unit Richland belonged. On 4 September 1945, Lt. Hills noted receipt of a dispatch dissolving ServRon 8 and the fact that his ship was apparently in ServRon 7, ServDiv 73 "in spite of" earlier messages. Richland received orders to proceed to Subic Bay's unloading dock at 1600 on 9 September to unload material consigned to units in the Subic Bay area on 10 September. Moving away from the dock at 1745 on 14 September, however, with "considerable steel to be unloaded," Richland received the port director's office orders for her to sail at 0700 on 15 September, directions cancelled soon thereafter by a pilot bringing out orders not to sail. Thus remaining in mid stream, the ship completed unloading an hour before the start of the mid watch.[3]
Shifting to
Richland's commanding officer balked at the change. He sent a dispatch "refusing Army orders pending clarification of CincPac AlPac 162", apparently her original sailing orders, an event that instigated "several conferences…" wherein Lt. Hills posed four questions: "(1). Why am I continued in ServRon 7 after being transferred to ServRon 8 by CinCPac Serial 06866 of Aug. (2). Where did Army get authority before I was ordered to report to AF (Army Forces) WesPac for operations? (3). On dissolving of ComServFor Seventh Fleet, and transfer of this command to ServRon 8, does ComServFor Seventh Fleet confidential serial 01453 of 11 June 1945 remain in force?" and, almost plaintively, "(4). Why over two months to unload a Navy ship?"[3]
With quick resolution of the foregoing administrative issues, Richland completed loading 100 short tons (200,000 lb; 91,000 kg) of chilled and frozen army cargo in her number four auxiliary hold on 3 October 1945. With 1,500 tons of Navy cargo and 100 tons for the Army on board, she sailed from Manila the following day, setting course for Mindoro, her Army orders endorsed by ComServDiv 73. Dropping anchor off Mindoro at 1025 on 5 October, the ship began unloading the meat she had brought from Manila, a process that continued until completed on the 7th, after which she sailed an hour before the end of the afternoon watch that day to return whence she had come.[3]
Dropping anchor in Berth 66, Manila, on 8 October 1945, Richland shifted berths the following day, at which point, Lt. Hills observed, she "started proceedings again, toward getting Manila cargo (loaded June 1st) out of the holds…" Three days later, on 11 October, the ship received a "dispatch from ComServFor as info. adee. Stopping boiler repairs and advising return to US for decommissioning." She learned on 24 October that AFWesPac had in fact requested that Richland be released from army jurisdiction two days before. That same day, 24 October, a dispatch from the commander in chief of Army Forces at Manila had reported that Richland required "extensive boiler repairs," and had recommended that the ship be returned to the United States for decommissioning, stating that "repairs [were] not warranted." Learning also that the "Army is taking over cargo for disposition," Lt. Hills spent that day "coordinating Army Navy efforts" to that end. After the ship moored at Pier 13, Manila, on 30 October to facilitate completion of the unloading, Hills personally reported the state of affairs to the ComServRon 7 operations office.[3]
Post-war inactivation
After taking on a full capacity load of fresh water on 31 October 1945, Richland completed unloading operations on 1 November, and after the ship had shifted berths once more, Lt. Hills reported his command ready to sail on 3 November to the US for decommissioning. She took on 100,000 US gal (380,000 L; 83,000 imp gal) of diesel fuel on the 2nd, and reported "water, fuel, lube oil, food and supplies for any possible trip (up to 90 days)." Standing by, waiting for sailing directions and orders, occupied Richland until 9 November, at which point ComServRon 7 ordered her to proceed to New Orleans for decommissioning. Consequently, the cargo ship sailed from Manila at 1600 on 9 November.[3]
Reaching Balboa, C.Z., on 16 December 1945, Richland transited the Panama Canal, reaching Colon and reporting for temporary duty to Commander in Chief,
Decommissioned on 23 January 1946 at Mobile and returned to the
Notes
- Citations
Bibliography
Online resources
- Cressman, Robert J. (7 July 2016). "Richland (AK-207)". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Naval History and Heritage Command. Retrieved 30 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 30 November 2016.
- "Richland (AK-207)". Navsource.org. 8 November 2013. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
- "Richland (AK-207)". United States Department of Transportation. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
External links
- Photo gallery of USS Richland (AK-207) at NavSource Naval History