USNS Sgt. George Peterson (T-AK-248)

Career (USA)
Name: Washtenaw
Namesake: Washtenaw County, Michigan
Ordered: as type (C1-M-AV1) hull, MC hull 2172
Builder: Leatham D. Smith Shipbuilding Co., Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin
Laid down: 9 March 1945, as MV Coastal Guide
Launched: 13 May 1945
Sponsored by: Mrs. L. R. Sanford
Commissioned: 23 June 1948 as USAT Sgt. George Peterson
Decommissioned: circa 1 March 1950
In service: 1 March 1950 as USNS Sgt. George Peterson (T-AK-248)
Out of service: 27 March 1959, at New Orleans, Louisiana
Struck: 1966
Honours and
awards:
National Defense Service Medal
Fate: sold for non-maritime use, 15 December 1971
General characteristics
Type: Alamosa-class cargo ship
Tonnage: 2,382 tons
Tons burthen: 6,240 tons
Length: 388' 8"
Beam: 50'
Draft: 21' 1"
Propulsion: Diesel, single screw, 1,700shp
Speed: 11.5 knots
Complement: 85 officers and enlisted
Armament: none

USNS Sgt. George Peterson (T-AK-248) was an Alamosa-class cargo ship of the United States Navy. Originally planned as USS Washtenaw (AK-218), the contract for building was canceled by the Navy in August 1945. The ship, however, was completed as SS Coastal Guide. She was later acquired by the U.S. Army, 23 June 1948, and renamed USAT Sgt. George Peterson. And, 1 March 1950 she was reacquired by the Navy and placed in service by the Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS) as USNS Sgt. George Peterson (T-AK-248). She remained with the Navy until struck in 1977.

Service career

Sgt. George Peterson, originally projected as Washtenaw, but built as Coastal Guide, was laid down under a U.S. Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 2172) on 9 March 1945 by the Leathern D. Smith Shipbuilding Co., Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin; launched on 13 May 1945; sponsored by Mrs. L. R. Sanford; and delivered to the War Shipping Administration on 16 July 1945. Subsequently operated by the United Fruit Company and the Polaris SS Co., Inc., Coastal Guide was transferred to the U.S. Army on 23 June 1948; renamed Sgt. George Peterson. and operated by the Army Transportation Service.

She was transferred to the Navy in July 1950 and placed in service as USNS Sgt. George Peterson (T-AK-248). The cargo ship then commenced eight years of operations in the Gulf of Mexico, in the Caribbean, and along the southeastern seaboard of the United States for the Military Sea Transportation Service. During that period, she interrupted her regular service only once -- to carry supplies north to arctic stations in the summer of 1955.

Early in 1959, the AK was ordered inactivated; and, in March, she was placed out of service at New Orleans, Louisiana. At mid-month, she was towed to Mobile, Alabama, where, on the 27th, she was transferred to the U.S. Maritime Administration and berthed with the National Defense Reserve Fleet. She remained in reserve at Mobile until sold for non-transportation use in December 1971.

Honors and awards

Qualified personnel were eligible for the following:

References