USNS Sgt. Curtis F. Shoup (T-AG-175)

History
USNS Sgt. Curtis F. Shoup (T-AG-175) underway, date and location unknown.
United States
Name:	Spindle Eye Sgt. Curtis F. Shoup
Namesake:	Spindle Eye Curtis F. Shoup who was awarded the Medal of Honor
Ordered:	as type (C1-M-AV1) hull, MC hull 2381
Builder:	Kaiser Cargo Inc., Richmond, California
Laid down:	16 April 1945, as MV Spindle Eye
Launched:	25 May 1945
Sponsored by:	Mrs. Edgar Buttner
Completed:	9 July 1945
In service:	26 July 1945, as USAT Spindle Eye 1 March 1963, as USNS Sgt. Curtis F. Shoup (T-AG-175)
Out of service:	20 December 1969
Renamed:	late-1947, USAT Curtis F. Shoup
Refit:	converted to a helicopter freighter at Willamette Iron & Steel in Portland, Oregon
Struck:	28 April 1970
Identification:	Hull symbol:T-AG-175
Fate:	sold for scrapping , 9 May 1973, to John Liu, Washington, D.C.
Notes:	U.S. Official Number: 248,213^[1]
General characteristics
Type:	C1-M-AV1
Tonnage:	3,812 GRT^[1]
Displacement:	6,240 tons full load^[2]
Length:	388 feet 9 inches (118.5 m)^[2]
Beam:	50 feet (15.240 m)^[2]
Draft:	16 feet 10 inches (5.1 m)^[2]
Propulsion:	1 × Nordberg Diesel diesel TSM 6 engine 1 × shaft^[2]
Speed:	11.5 knots (13.2 mph; 21.3 km/h)^[2]
Complement:	62
Armament:	none

USNS Sgt. Curtis F. Shoup (T-AG-175) was a C1-M-AV1 coastal freighter. Built as Spindle Eye, one of the many named for knots.^{[Note 1]}^[3] The ship, modified to be a "news transmission ship" for the press during the planned invasion of Japan, was completed 9 July 1945, delivered to the War Shipping Administration and placed under its agent Lykes Brothers Steamship Company the same day.^[1]^[4]^[5] Days later, on 26 July, Spindle Eye was bareboat chartered to the War Department for operation by the Army.^[1] The ship was renamed November 1947 by the Army, after serving as a radio relay ship at the Operation Crossroads atomic bomb tests and conversion to an Army passenger-cargo vessel, Sgt. Curtis F. Shoup in honor Sergeant Curtis F. Shoup who had been awarded the Medal of Honor.^[6]^[5]

After layup the U.S. Navy acquired the ship and placed her in service with the Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS) as the USNS Sgt. Curtis F. Shoup. The ship was converted by the Navy into a helicopter freighter and later into a ship responsible for surveying, and oceanographic services. She was struck in 1970 and sold for scrapping.^[7]

Construction

Spindle Eye was laid down on 16 April 1945 under Maritime Commission Contract (MC hull 2381) by Kaiser Cargo Inc., Richmond, California Number 4 Yard.^[8] The ship was launched on 25 May 1945; sponsored by Mrs. Edgar Buttner; and delivered to the Lykes Brothers Steamship Company on 9 July 1945.^[1]^[7] On 27 July Spindle Eye was bareboat chartered to the War Department for operation by the Army.^[1]

World War II-related service

Spindle Eye was designed to ferry war correspondents, but World War II ended before she could perform this duty.^[5]^[7]

Cold War Service

Spindle Eye was a relay radio ship for the atomic bomb tests Bikini, Operation Crossroads, before conversion to an Army passenger ship.^[5] The ship was one of several renamed by the Army in 1947 for those awarded the Medal of Honor thus becoming Sgt. Curtis F. Shoup.^[5] Shoup was laid up in the Maritime Administration's National Defense Reserve Fleet in 1950 when the Army fleet was being transferred to the Navy or laid up.^[5]^[7]

On 16 January 1963, Sgt. Curtis F. Shoup was transferred to the Military Sea Transport Service (MSTS), and she was placed on the Navy List on 1 March. After conversion by Willamette Iron & Steel Works in Portland, Oregon, for service as a helicopter freighter, Sgt. Curtis F. Shoup was assigned to MSTS, Pacific Area.^[7]

Reporting on 14 June, she teamed up with Harris County (LST-822) in the southwest Pacific Ocean, servicing survey sites which were being established to support the nation's missile and space projects.^[7]

U.S. Air Force helicopters flew from her deck, and she carried four to six oceanographers from the Naval Oceanographic Office in Washington, D.C.. Charts and sailing directions for the historic World War II area were revised as a result.^[7]

In May 1968, USNS Shoup conducted various oceanographic operations along a track pattern from roughly 20 to 140 miles from the Egyptian coast.^[7]

Final decommissioning

Sgt. Curtis F. Shoup was withdrawn from service and stripped of oceanographic equipment on 20 December 1969. On 22 January 1970, she was returned to the Maritime Administration and laid up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet at Suisun Bay, California. Sgt. Curtis F. Shoup was struck from the Navy List on 28 April 1970. On 9 May 1973, she was sold to Mr. John Liu of Washington, D.C., for non-transportation purposes.^[7]

Comments

↑ In this case the spindle eye splice or shortened to simply spindle eye. The use of knot names, many obscure, gave this group of ships the common name "Knot" ships among mariners.

Notes

1 2 3 4 5 6 MARAD Vessel Status Card: Spindle Eye.
1 2 3 4 5 6 NavSource Online.
↑ Colton 2009.
↑ Masterson 1949, pp. 422-423.
1 2 3 4 5 6 Jackson 2011.
↑ Chaplin 1947, pp. 46-52.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships: Sgt. Curtis F. Shoup.
↑ Colton 2010.

References

Colton, T. (August 28, 2009). "C1 Cargo Ships". ShipBuildingHistory. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
Colton, T. (November 27, 2010). "Kaiser Richmond No. 4 Yard, Richmond CA". ShipBuildingHistory. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
Masterson, Dr. James R. (1949). U. S. Army Transportation In The Southwest Pacific Area 1941-1947 (PDF). Washington: Transportation Unit, Historical Division, Special Staff, U. S. Army. Retrieved 24 April 2013.
Jackson, R. (17 December 2011). "Spindle Eye". Army Ships -- The Ghost Fleet. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
Maritime Administration. "Spindle Eye". Ship History Database Vessel Status Card. U.S. Department of Transportation, Maritime Administration. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
Naval History And Heritage Command. "Sgt. Curtis F. Shoup". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Naval History And Heritage Command.
Chaplin, W. W. (1947). A Ribbon For The Gorgon's Locks (article)—Deadline Delayed (article collection title) (PDF). E. P. Dutton & Co., Inc. Retrieved 24 April 2013.

External links

Type C1-M ships

Type C1-M-AV1	Alamosa Alcona Acorn Knot / Sgt. George D Keathley Amador Anchor Bend Anchor Hitch Antrim Autauga Beaverhead Becket Bend / Private John F. Thorson Becket Hitch Bell Ringer / Captain Arlo L. Olson Beltrami Bight Knot Blackwall Hitch Blount Boatswain's Hitch Bowline Knot Brevard Bullock Buntline Hitch Cabell Cable Splice Caledonia Cape Somerset Cape Stanhope Capstan Knot Carrick Bend Cat's Paw Chain and Crown Charlevoix Chatham Check Knot / Sgt. Joseph E. Muller Chicot Cinch Knot Claiborne Clarion Clove Hitch Coastal Captain Coastal Charger Coastal Courser Coastal Crusader Coastal Guide / Sgt. George Peterson Coastal Mariner Coastal Monarch Coastal Monitor Coastal Rambler Coastal Ranger Coastal Telegrapher Codington Colquitt Craighead Crossing Hitch Crown and Diamond Crown Knot Diamond Hitch Diamond Knot Doddridge Double Loop Dragon Fly Duval Elmer J. Burr Emerald Knot Fairfield Faribault Fentress Fiador Knot Fisherman's Bend Flagler Flemish Knot Gadsden Glacier Grainger Grass Knot Gunner's Knot Gwinnett Habersham Half Hitch Half Knot Harold W. Roberts Hawser Bend Hawser Eye Hawser Splice Hennepin Herkimer Hickory Bay Hickory Beck Hickory Bourne Hickory Brae Hickory Brook Hickory Burn Hickory Cairn Hickory Cape Hickory Coll Hickory Crest Hickory Dale Hickory Dell Hickory Dyke Hickory Ghyll Hickory Glen Hickory Isle Hickory Knoll Hickory Lake Hickory Mount Hickory Stream Hickory Tarn Hickory Tor Hidalgo Honda Knot Hook Hitch Horseshoe Splice Jacob's Ladder Jumper Hitch Kenneth E. Gruennert / Grommet Reefer Kenosha Knob Knot Lancaster Lanyard Knot Leader Loop Lebanon Lehigh Lever's Bend Lewis Hall Link Splice / Sgt. Jonah E. Kelley Lock Knot Long Eye Long Splice / Private Frank J. Petrarca Loop Knot Magnus Hitch Maiden's Eye / Colonel William J. O'Brien Mainsheet Eye Manrope Knot Marengo Mariner's Splice Marline Hitch Marlingspike Hitch Masthead Knot Midland Minidoka Mooring Hitch Mooring Knot Muscatine Muskingum Nicollet Ocean Plat Pembina Pemiscot Phoebe Knot Pinellas Pipestone Pitkin Poinsett Pontotoc Reef Knot Reeving Eye Richland Rigger's Eye Ring Hitch Ring Knot Ring Splice Roband Hitch Rockdale Rolling Hitch Rose Knot Round Splice / Private Jose F. Valdez Running Knot Sailmaker's Splice Sailor's Splice Salmon Knot Sampan Hitch Schuyler Screven Sebastian Shamrock Knot Sheepshank Sheet Bend Shell Bar Short Splice Sinnet Snakehead Snug Hitch Somerset / Coastal Sentry Span Splice Spanish Bowline Spar Hitch Spindle Eye / Sgt. Curtis F. Shoup Spool Sinnet Square Knot Square Sinnet Star Knot Studding Sail Sussex Sword Knot Tag Knot Tapir Splice Tarrant Terminal Knot Thimble Eye Timber Hitch Tipton Traverse True Knot Tucked Bend Tulare Turk's Head Wall Knot Water Knot Westchester William G. Fournier William N. Nelson Yard Hitch

Type C1-M-AV7	Coastal Liberator

Type C1-M-AV8	Crossing Knot Flat Knot Marline Bend Persian Knot Single Hitch Solid Sinnet

Type C1-MT-BU1	Arizona Pine California Redwood Oregon Fir Washington Cedar

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