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USS Claiborne

Cargo ship of the United States Navy

History
United States
Name	Claiborne
Namesake	Claiborne Parish, Louisiana, or Claiborne County, Mississippi, or Claiborne County, Tennessee
Ordered	as type (C1-M-AV1) hull, MC hull 2144[1]
Builder	Froemming Brothers, Inc, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Yard number	16[1]
Laid down	1944
Launched	3 September 1944
Sponsored by	Miss L. Kapczynski
Commissioned	19 April 1945
Decommissioned	7 February 1946
Stricken	5 June 1946
Identification	Hull symbol: AK-171 Code letters: NEHW
Fate	Sold for scrapping, 6 January 1971
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	1 × Nordberg, TSM 6 diesel engine 1,750 shp (1,300 kW)
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	10 Officers 69 Enlisted
Armament	1 × 3 in (76 mm)/50-caliber dual-purpose gun (DP) 6 × 20 mm (0.8 in) Oerlikon anti-aircraft (AA) cannons

USS Claiborne (AK-171) was an Alamosa-class cargo ship commissioned by the U.S. Navy for service in World War II. She was responsible for delivering troops, goods and equipment to locations in the war zone.

Claiborne was launched 3 September 1944, by Froemming Brothers, Inc., Milwaukee, Wisconsin, under a Maritime Commission contract, MC hull 2144; sponsored by Miss L. Kapczynski; and commissioned 19 April 1945 at New Orleans, Louisiana.^[3]

Claiborne departed Gulfport, Mississippi, 20 May 1945 and arrived at Hollandia, New Guinea, 5 July. For the next 6 months she operated in the Philippines and New Guinea areas, carrying food, and supplies, and helping to redeploy troops among the various islands. Claiborne sailed from Manila 6 January 1946, for Yokosuka, Japan, anchoring there 13 January.^[3]

Claiborne was decommissioned and transferred to the War Shipping AdministrationatTokyo 7 February 1946. The ship was operated by the War Department until placed in the Reserve Fleet berthing area at Olympia, Washington, on 5 May 1950. Ultimately, she was sold to the Marine Power & Equipment Company, on 6 January 1971, and was delivered to her purchaser at Olympia on 1 February 1971 for scrapping.^[3]

Citations

• Photo gallery of USS Claiborne (AK-171) at NavSource Naval History