USS Charlevoix (AK-168)

History
United States
Name: Charlevoix
Namesake: Charlevoix County, Michigan
Ordered: MC hull 2141
Builder: Froemming Brothers, Inc, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Laid down: date unknown
Launched: 20 April 1944
Sponsored by: Mrs. E. Buchanan
Commissioned: 1 February 1945
Decommissioned: 18 January 1946
Struck: 17 April 1946
Identification: Hull symbol:AK-168
Fate: scrapped in Spain in 1970
General characteristics [1]
Class and type: Alamosa-class cargo ship
Type: C1-M-AV1
Displacement:
  • 2,382 long tons (2,420 t) (standard)
  • 7,450 long tons (7,570 t) (full load)
Length: 388 ft 8 in (118.47 m)
Beam: 50 ft (15 m)
Draft: 21 ft 1 in (6.43 m)
Installed power: 1,750 shp (1,300 kW)
Propulsion:
Speed: 11.5 kn (13.2 mph; 21.3 km/h)
Capacity: 3,945 t (3,883 long tons) DWT
Complement:
  • 15 Officers
  • 70 Enlisted
Armament:

USS Charlevoix (AK-168) was an Alamosa-class cargo ship commissioned by the U.S. Navy for service in World War II. She was responsible for delivering troops, goods and equipment to locations in the war zone.

Charlevoix (AK-168) was launched 20 April 1944 by Froemming Brothers, Inc., Milwaukee, Wisconsin, under a Maritime Commission contract; sponsored by Mrs. E. Buchanan; and commissioned 1 February 1945, Lieutenant G. F. Vietor, USNR, in command.

World War II Pacific Theatre operations

Charlevoix, cargo laden, cleared Gulfport, Mississippi, 24 February 1945 for Manus, arriving 5 April. Here she was assigned to a convoy bound for the Philippines, and after a passage marked by one possible submarine contact depth charged by the convoy's escorts, reached Subic Bay 24 April to discharge her cargo. Returning to Manus 1 June, she quickly reloaded, and took departure 7 June, for Samar, Philippine Islands, where she unloaded on 28 June, returning to Manus 5 July.

Next underway 11 July 1945, Charlevoix loaded aviation gas at Lae for the New Zealand Air Force based on New Britain. She delivered her flammable cargo safely 20 July, supporting our Allies in their twice-daily raids on the Japanese at by-passed Rabaul. She made one more voyage from Manus, to deliver cargo to Hollandia, returning with rolling stock for repair at Manus in August, then sailed north to Samar and Subic Bay, where she was briefly overhauled in October.

Post-war decommissioning

She then proceeded to Norfolk, Virginia, which she reached 23 December, decommissioned there 18 January 1946, and was returned to the Maritime Commission 25 January 1946.

References

  1. "USS Charlevoix (AK-168)". Navsource.org. Retrieved June 6, 2015.

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.

External links


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