| Career (USA) | |
|---|---|
| Name: | USS Gwinnett |
| Namesake: | Gwinnett County, Georgia |
| Builder: | Walter Butler Shipbuilders, Inc., Superior, Wisconsin |
| Laid down: | 21 December 1943, as Gwinnett (AK-185), type (C1-M-AV1) |
| Launched: | 14 May 1944 |
| Sponsored by: | Mrs. Oliva Dionne, mother of the Dionne quintuplets |
| Commissioned: | 10 April 1945 as USS Gwinnett (AG-92) at Houston, Texas |
| Decommissioned: | 11 February 1946, at San Francisco, California |
| Reclassified: | AG-92, date unknown; AVS-5, 25 May 1945 |
| Refit: | Port Houston Iron Works, Houston, Texas |
| Struck: | date unknown |
| Fate: | delivered to the U.S. Maritime Commission for lay up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet on 11 February 1946 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Alamosa-class cargo ship |
| Displacement: | 2,411 tons |
| Tons burthen: | 6,240 tons |
| Length: | 338' 8" |
| Beam: | 50' 4” |
| Propulsion: | Diesel, single shaft, 1,700shp |
| Speed: | 11 knots |
| Complement: | 105 officers and enlisted |
| Armament: | one single 3"/50 dual purpose gun mount, six single 20mm guns |
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.
Contents |
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.
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.
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.
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.
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