USNS Shearwater (T-AG-177) was a Shearwater-class miscellaneous auxiliary built during the final months of World War II for the US Army as FS-411 (Design 381 coastal freighter) by Hickinbotham Brothers Shipbuilders. FS-411 was Coast Guard manned operating in the Central and Western Pacific, including Hawaii, Saipan, Tinian, Guam, during the closing days of the war.[2]
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | USNS Shearwater |
| Namesake | Shearwater, a long winged seabird |
| Builder | Hickinbotham Brothers Shipbuilders at Stockton, California |
| Laid down | October 1944,[1] as U.S. Army FS-411 for the U.S. Army |
| Completed | in April 1945 |
| Commissioned | 25 October 1944 as U.S. Army FS-411 |
| In service | May 1964 as Survey Support Ship, USNS Shearwater (T-AG-177) |
| Out of service | February 1969 |
| Stricken | c. 1969 |
| Identification |
|
| Fate | transferred to the U.S. Army; sunk as an artificial reef in 2015 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Design 381 coastal freighter |
| Tonnage | 381 tons |
| Displacement | 935 tons full load |
| Length | 165 ft (50 m) |
| Beam | 32 ft (9.8 m) |
| Draft | 14 ft 3 in (4.34 m) |
| Propulsion | two 500 hp GM-Cleveland 6-298A diesel engines, twin screws |
| Speed | not known |
| Complement | 26 personnel |
She was placed into service by the U.S. Navy from 1964 to 1969 as USNS Shearwater (T-AG-177). After this service, she was transferred back to the U.S. Army.
Operational history as T-AG-177
editShearwater began her naval service as a survey support ship with the Military Sea Transportation Service in May 1964. Operated by a Civil Service crew, she operated in the Atlantic Ocean until mid-February 1969, when she was transferred back to the U.S. Army.
As of 2007, Shearwater was active as a fishing vessel based at Reedville, Virginia.[3] She was retired in 2013 and reefed off the coast of Delaware onto the Del-Jersey-Land Inshore Reef site in 2015.[4]
References
edit- ^ "U.S. Army Coastal Freighters (F, FS, T)".
- ^ "World War II Coast Guard-Manned U.S. Army Freight and Supply Ship Histories".
- ^ "Shearwater". ShipSpotting. Retrieved 25 December 2017.
- ^ "DelJerseyLand Reef - Inshore". New Jersey Scuba Diving. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.- NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive - T-AG-177 Shearwater
