USS Gwinnett (AVS-5)
History | |
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United States | |
Name: | Gwinnett |
Namesake: | Gwinnett County, Georgia |
Ordered: | MC hull 2116 |
Builder: | Walter Butler Shipbuilders, Inc., Superior, Wisconsin |
Laid down: | 21 December 1943, as USS Gwinnett (AK-185) |
Launched: | 14 May 1944 |
Sponsored by: | Mrs. Oliva Dionne, mother of the Dionne quintuplets |
Acquired: | 13 March 1945 |
Commissioned: | 10 April 1945 |
Decommissioned: | 11 February 1946 |
Reclassified: |
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Refit: | converted to Gwinnett-class Aviation Stores Issue Ship at Port Houston Iron Works, Houston, Texas |
Struck: | 26 February 1946 |
Identification: |
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Fate: | Sold, 14 August 1947, to the Republic of France, reflagged french, renamed MV Sainte Helene |
Status: | fate unknown |
General characteristics [1] | |
Class & type: |
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Type: | C1-M-AV1 |
Displacement: |
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Length: | 388 ft 8 in (118.47 m) |
Beam: | 50 ft (15 m) |
Draft: | 21 ft 1 in (6.43 m) |
Installed power: | 1,750 shp (1,300 kW) |
Propulsion: |
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Speed: | 11.5 kn (13.2 mph; 21.3 km/h) |
Capacity: | 3,945 t (3,883 long tons) DWT |
Complement: |
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Armament: |
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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.
Constructed at Superior, Wisconsin
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.
World War II-related service
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.
Inactivation
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.
C1-M-AV1 reserve fleet
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.
References
- This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
- NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive - AK-185 / AG-92 / AVS-5 Gwinnett
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