SS Albert M. Boe - Misplaced Pages

Liberty ship of WWII

History
The former SS Albert M. Boe in its current role as the main office of Trident Seafoods
United States
Name	Albert M. Boe
Namesake	Merchant Mariner, Chief Engineer, Albert M. Boe
Builder	New England Shipbuilding Corp., Portland, ME
Laid down	11 July 1945
Launched	26 September 1945
Completed	30 October 1945
Out of service	1 December 1953
Stricken	11 March 1954
Identification	Official number 248849
Fate	Converted to a floating cannery in February 1965, renamed SS Star of Kodiak
Status	Grounded, but in use
General characteristics
Class and type	Z-EC2-S-C5
Tonnage	10,865 LT DWT 7,176 GRT
Displacement	3,380 long tons (3,434 t) (light) 14,245 long tons (14,474 t) (max)
Length	441 feet 6 inches (135 m) oa 416 feet (127 m) pp 427 feet (130 m) lwl
Beam	57 feet (17 m)
Draft	27 ft 9.25 in (8.4646 m)
Installed power	2 × Oil fired 450 °F (232 °C) boilers, operating at 220 psi (1,500 kPa) 2,500 hp (1,900 kW)
Propulsion	1 × triple-expansion steam engine, (manufactured by Filer and Stowell, Milwaukee, Wisconsin) 1 × screw propeller
Speed	11.5 knots (21.3 km/h; 13.2 mph)
Capacity	562,608 cubic feet (15,931 m) (grain) 499,573 cubic feet (14,146 m) (bale)
Complement	38–62 USMM 21–40 USNAG
Armament	Varied by ship Bow-mounted 3-inch (76 mm)/50-caliber gun Stern-mounted 4-inch (102 mm)/50-caliber gun 2–8 × single 20-millimeter (0.79 in) Oerlikon anti-aircraft (AA) cannons and/or, 2–8 × 37-millimeter (1.46 in) M1 AA guns

SS Albert M. Boe is a Liberty ship laid down on 11 July 1945 at the East Yard of New England Shipbuilding Corporation in Portland, Maine, as a boxed aircraft transport. The ship is notable as the final liberty ship built.

She was named after Chief Engineer Albert M. Boe who remained in the engine room acting to control the spread of fire, despite fatal burns, when an engine of the aircraft repair vessel U.S. Army SS Colonel William J. McKiernan (FS-216) carrying the 13th Aircraft Maintenance Unit exploded on Friday, 13 April 1945. He is credited with saving the lives of other crew members by that action and received the posthumous Merchant Marine Distinguished Service Medal.

History

Albert M. Boe was assigned hull number 3132 by the U.S. Maritime Commission (USMC), launched on 26 September 1945, assigned official number 248849 and delivered to the War Shipping Administration (WSA) on 30 October 1945. The ship was a special boxed aircraft transport variant of the standard Liberty with four large holds, rather than the usual five and kingpost lifting gear instead of the usual booms. The C5 design varied in other respects from the standard C1 Liberty:

7,200 GRT vice 7,170 GRT
10,600 DWT vice 10,800 DWT
4,300 Net vice 4,380 Net
490,000 vice 500,000 Bale cubic capacity

The ship was operated under a WSA agreement by Wessel, Duval & Co. until entering the Wilmington, N.C. Reserve Fleet on 16 November 1946. Albert M. Boe was delivered to the US Army on 17 February 1947 and from 30 October 1945 was operated as USAT Albert M. Boe under bareboat charter from WSA.

On 1 March 1950, due to the reorganization into the Department of Defense and transfer of Army Transportation Service (ATS) ships to the newly formed Military Sea Transportation Service, the ship was transferred to US Navy and placed in service as USNS Albert M. Boe (T-AKV-6). The ship supported operations in the Pacific, Korea, transporting crated aircraft, engines, and spare parts.

Albert M. Boe was removed from service and on 22 January 1954 was transferred to custody of the Maritime Administration entering the Reserve Fleet at Olympia, Washington. On 11 March 1954, she was struck from the Naval Register.

The ship was sold on a bid of $65,556.58 for commercial service awarded on 7 August 1964 to Zidell Explorations, Inc. for non-transportation service. The ship was withdrawn from the reserve fleet on 19 August 1964 and converted for use as the fish cannery ship Star of Kodiak in February 1965. Though currently landlocked, Star of Kodiak is still in use as the Kodiak, Alaska facility of Trident Seafoods.

References

^ Naval History And Heritage Command (15 June 2015). "Albert M. Boe". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Naval History And Heritage Command.
^ Maritime Administration. "Albert M. Boe". Ship History Database Vessel Status Card. U.S. Department of Transportation, Maritime Administration.
"Federal Register" (PDF). U.S. Government. 17 August 1946. p. 8974.
Mercogliano, Salvatore R. (29 November 2000). "One Hundred Years in the Making: The Birth of Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS)". American Merchant Marine at War.
"Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS) and Military Sealift Command (MSC) Deck Logs, 1946–81". U.S. National Archives. 15 August 2016.
"THE STAR OF KODIAK". Alaska.org. Retrieved 9 September 2022.

External links

v t e Liberty ships
Lists	A-F G-Je Je-L M-R S-Z
Subtypes	Acubens-class general stores issue ship Armadillo class tanker Crater-class cargo ship Guardian-class radar picket ship List of Subtypes
Survivors	SS John W. Brown SS Jeremiah O'Brien SS Arthur M. Huddell SS Albert M. Boe
Other	Liberty Fleet Day Port Chicago disaster Project Liberty Ship
See also	Park ship (Canadian equivalent) Fort ship (British equivalent) Ocean ship (Anglo-American predecessor) Victory ship (American follow-on) Empire ship (British ships owned by the Ministry of War Transport)
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