USS Glacier (AK-183)

USS Glacier (AK-183) was an Alamosa-class cargo ship acquired by the U.S. Navy during the final months of World War II. She served the Pacific Ocean theatre of operations for a short period of time before being decommissioned and returned to the U.S. Maritime Administration for dispositioning.

For other ships with the same name, see USS Glacier.
History
United States
Name: Glacier
Namesake: Glacier County, Montana
Ordered: as type (C1-M-AV1) hull, MC hull 2114[1]
Builder: Walter Butler Shipbuilders, Inc., Superior, Wisconsin
Yard number: 32[1]
Laid down: 1944
Launched: 22 April 1944
Sponsored by: Miss Agnes Kennedy
Acquired: 29 March 1945
Commissioned: 14 April 1945
Decommissioned: 19 February 1946
Stricken: 12 March 1946
Identification:
Fate: Sold, 17 April 1948, to Koninklijke Nederlandsche StoombootMattschappij N.V., Amsterdam
History
 Netherlands
Name: Hydra
Owner: Koninklijke Nederlandsche Stoomboot Mattschappij N.V.
Acquired: 17 April 1948
Status: Sold 1962
History
Saudi Arabia
Name: Asma B
Owner: Saudi Lines
Acquired: 1962
Fate: sold for scrapping in July 1970 at HSINKANG, China
Status: fate unknown
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 third ship to be so named by the Navy, Glacier was launched 22 April 1944, under a Maritime Commission contract, MC hull 2114, by Walter Butler Shipbuilding, Inc., Superior, Wisconsin; sponsored by Miss Agnes Kennedy; acquired 29 March 1945, and commissioned 14 April 1945, Lieutenant C. L. Hitchcock, USNR, in command.[3]

Service history

Following shakedown off Galveston, Texas, Glacier loaded lumber and metal drums at New Orleans, Louisiana, and sailed 18 May 1945 for Pearl Harbor, where she put in 12 June to off-load her cargo.[3]

Underway 29 June with building supplies for Kwajalein, she returned via Eniwetok to San Francisco, California, 5 August. Subsequently, a 5-month voyage out of San Francisco brought general cargo to Pearl Harbor, Tarawa, Majuro, Eniwetok, Guam, and Saipan before Glacier moored at Norfolk, Virginia, 1 February 1946, her missions accomplished.[3]

Post-war decommissioning

Decommissioned there 19 February 1946, she was returned to the Maritime Commission 3 days later and stricken from the Navy List 12 March 1946.[3]

Merchant service

Acquired by the Koninklijke Nederlandsche Stoomboot Mattschappij, N.V., of Amsterdam, Holland, and renamed Ydra, the former Navy cargo ship operated out of Amsterdam, under the Dutch flag, from 1947 to 1962.[2]

She was sold in 1962, to a Saudi Arabian concern, the Saudi Lines, and renamed Asma B, she served commercially from 1962 to 1970 before being sold for scrap in July 1970 at HSINKANG, China.[2]

Honors and awards

Qualified Glacier personnel were eligible for the following:[2]

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

    Bibliography

    Online resources

    • "Glacier (AK-183)". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Naval History and Heritage Command. 13 July 2015. Retrieved 17 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 17 November 2016.
    • "USS Glacier (AK-183)". Navsource.org. 18 July 2014. Retrieved 17 November 2016.


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