USS Gwinnett (AVS-5)

History
United States
Name: Gwinnett
Namesake: Gwinnett County, Georgia
Ordered: MC hull 2116
Builder: Walter Butler Shipbuilders, Inc., Superior, Wisconsin
Laid down: 21 December 1943, as USS Gwinnett (AK-185)
Launched: 14 May 1944
Sponsored by: Mrs. Oliva Dionne, mother of the Dionne quintuplets
Acquired: 13 March 1945
Commissioned: 10 April 1945
Decommissioned: 11 February 1946
Reclassified:
  • prior to launch, USS Gwinnett (AG-92)
  • 25 May 1945, USS Gwinnett (AVS-5)
Refit: converted to Gwinnett-class Aviation Stores Issue Ship at Port Houston Iron Works, Houston, Texas
Struck: 26 February 1946
Identification:
  • Hull symbol:AK-185
  • Hull symbol:AG-92
  • Hull symbol:AVS-5
Fate: Sold, 14 August 1947, to the Republic of France, reflagged french, renamed MV Sainte Helene
Status: fate unknown
General characteristics [1]
Class and type:
  • Alamosa-class cargo ship
  • Gwinnett-class aviation stores issue 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 Gwinnett (AK-185/AG-92/AVS-5) was an Alamosa-class cargo ship acquired by the U.S. Navy shortly before the end of World War II. She was found to be excess-to-needs and was placed into reserve.

Constructed at Superior, Wisconsin

Gwinnett (AVS-5) was originally designated AK-185 and was launched as AG-92 under U.S. Maritime Commission contract by Walter Butler Shipbuilders, Inc., Superior, Wisconsin, 14 May 1944; sponsored by Mrs. Oliva Dionne, mother of the Dionne quintuplets.

World War II-related service

After being taken down the Mississippi River to New Orleans, Louisiana, the ship was outfitted at Port Houston Iron Works, Houston, Texas, and commissioned there 10 April 1945, Lt. H. K. Golwey in command.

Soon after commissioning, Gwinnett was redesigned AVS-5 on 25 May 1945. After shakedown in the Gulf of Mexico she was ordered to the Pacific coast for disposal.

Inactivation

Gwinnett arrived San Francisco, California, 25 January 1946. She decommissioned and was simultaneously redelivered to the U.S. Maritime Commission 11 February 1946. Her subsequent fate is not known.

C1-M-AV1 reserve fleet

The U.S. Air Force acquired a number of these C1-M-AV1 ships from the Navy reserve fleet and used them as telemetry tracking vessels on the Atlantic Missile Range in the 1950s and 1960s.

References

  1. "USS Gwinnett (AVS-5)". Navsource.org. Retrieved June 6, 2015.


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