USS Antrim (AK-159)

USS Antrim (AK-159) was an Alamosa-class cargo ship in the United States Navy. She was named for Antrim County, Michigan.

For other ships with the same name, see USS Antrim.

USS Antrim (AK-159) at anchor, date and location unknown
History
United States
Name: Antrim
Namesake: Antrim County, Michigan
Ordered: as type (C1-M-AV1) hull, MC hull 2104[1]
Builder: Kaiser Shipyard's Richmond Shipyard, Richmond, California
Yard number: 61[1]
Laid down: 18 April 1944
Launched: 17 July 1944
Sponsored by: Mrs. F. H. Horstman
Commissioned: 31 October 1944
Decommissioned: 3 April 1946
Stricken: 17 April 1946
Identification:
Fate: Sold, 13 January 1947
Turkey
Name: Kars
Namesake: Province of Kars
Owner: Deniz Nakliyati T.A.O., Turkey
Acquired: 13 January 1947
Homeport: Istanbul, Turkey
Identification: IMO number: 5182748
Fate: scrapped in January 1983 at Aliağa, Turkey
General characteristics [2]
Class and type: Alamosa-class cargo ship
Type: C1-M-AV1
Tonnage: 5,032 long tons deadweight (DWT)[1]
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:
Propulsion: 1 × propeller
Speed: 11.5 kn (21.3 km/h; 13.2 mph)
Capacity:
  • 3,945 t (3,883 long tons) DWT
  • 9,830 cu ft (278 m3) (refrigerated)
  • 227,730 cu ft (6,449 m3) (non-refrigerated)
Complement:
  • 15 Officers
  • 70 Enlisted
Armament:

Construction

The first Antrim was laid down under a Maritime Commission contract, MC hull 2104, on 18 April 1944, at the Richmond Shipyard, Richmond, California, by Kaiser Cargo, Inc.; launched on 17 July 1944; sponsored by Mrs. F. H. Horstman; and, after her delivery to and acceptance by the Navy on 31 October 1944, was commissioned the same day, Lieutenant Glen Martin, USNR, in command.[3]

Service history

After the completion of her fitting out, Antrim conducted her shakedown training out of San Pedro, California, completing this by 13 December. Subsequently, pushing on for Hawaii, she reached Pearl Harbor on New Year's Day, 1945, but got underway again three days later, bound for the Western Pacific. After calling at Eniwetok, Ulithi, and Kossol Roads, Antrim reached Leyte on 9 February to unload her cargo.[3]

Operating under the aegis of Service Squadron 9 through the end of the war with Japan, the vessel carried cargo between Manus, in the Admiralty Islands, and Philippine ports. She conducted three such voyages during the periods from 19 March to 27 April; from 30 May to 22 June; and from 6 to 30 August. After supporting the occupation of Japan through the autumn, Antrim departed the Western Pacific on 4 January 1946 and proceeded singly to the Panama Canal Zone, reaching Cristobal on 20 February. Ultimately, Antrim arrived at Norfolk, Virginia, on 4 March where she decommissioned on 3 April.[3]

Delivered to the War Shipping Administration (WSA) three days later, Antrim's name was struck from the Navy list on 17 April 1946. Records indicate that the ship briefly operated under the United States flag, with the firm of Dichmann, Wright, and Pugh of San Francisco, California, in 1947, before being transferred to Turkish registry the following year. Renamed Kars and homeported at Istanbul, Turkey, the erstwhile Navy cargo ship operated under the Turkish flag into the 1980s.[3]

Notes
    Citations
    1. C1 Cargo Ships 2009.
    2. Navsource 2014.
    3. DANFS 2015.

    Bibliography

    Online resources

    • "Antrim I (AK-159)". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Naval History and Heritage Command. 18 June 2015. Retrieved 11 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 11 November 2016.
    • "USS Antrim (AK-159)". Navsource.org. 11 July 2014. Retrieved 5 June 2015.


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