USS Bauxite (IX-154)

Career (US)
Name: USS Bauxite
Builder: Barrett and Hilp, Belair Shipyard, San Francisco, California
Laid down: 9 July 1943
Launched: 11 October 1943
In service: 22 June 1944
Out of service: May 1947
Struck: 23 June 1947
Fate: Sold, May 1947
General characteristics
Class and type:Trefoil-class cargo barge
Displacement:10,960 long tons (11,136 t) full
Length:366 ft 4 in (111.66 m)
Beam:54 ft 0 in (16.46 m)
Draft:33 ft (10 m)
Propulsion:None
Speed:Not self-propelled
Complement:58 officers and men
Armament:• 1 × 40 mm AA gun
• 4 × 20 mm AA guns
• 2 × .30 cal. machine guns

USS Bauxite (IX-154), a Trefoil-class concrete barge designated an unclassified miscellaneous vessel, was the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for bauxite, a mineral compound of several hydrous aluminum oxides. Her keel was laid down under a Maritime Commission contract (T. B7 D1, MC hull 1326) on 9 July 1943 at San Francisco, California, by Barrett and Hilp, Belair Shipyard. She was launched on 11 October sponsored by Mrs. E. J. Rapley, acquired by the Navy on 22 June 1944, and placed in service the same day with Lieutenant Aubie R. Robertson in command.

Service history

Assigned to the Service Force, Pacific Fleet, as a floating storage facility for general naval stores and provisions, Bauxite served at advanced naval bases in the Pacific theater, issuing supplies to ships as needed. The concrete barge was one of 13 controlled by Service Squadron 10. She carried over 7,000 different items and served an average of 600 ships a month. With a diesel electric power plant, she was able to generate her own power for refrigeration, cooking, lighting, ventilation, and distilling water. The barges provided much needed storage space afloat and released a number of self-propelled cargo ships to carry supplies to the forward areas.

Following the war, Bauxite was towed to Shanghai, China, where she continued to serve as a stores barge until authorized for disposal. She was sold at Shanghai to a Chinese purchaser in May 1947, and her name was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 23 June 1947.

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