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USNS Pvt. Joseph F. Merrell
History
United States
Name	Pvt. Joseph F. Merrell
Namesake	Joseph F. Merrell
Owner	War Shipping Administration (1944–1947) Maritime Administration (1947–1948) Transportation Corps (1948–1950) United States Navy (1950–1974) Maritime Administration (1974)
Builder	California Shipbuilding Corporation
Laid down	March 1943
Launched	28 June 1944
Acquired	7 August 1944
Out of service	26 August 1974
Renamed	Grange Victory (1944–1948)
Reclassified	T-AKV-4 (1950)
Stricken	26 August 1974
Identification	Callsign: NCWZ Hull number: T-AK-275
Honours and awards	See Awards
Fate	Scrapped, 1974
General characteristics
Class and type	Lt. James E. Robinson-class cargo ship
Displacement	4,512 metric tons (4,441 long tons), standard 15,589 metric tons (15,343 long tons), full load
Length	455 ft (139 m)
Beam	62 ft (19 m)
Draft	29 ft 2 in (8.89 m)
Installed power	8,500 shp (6,300 kW)
Propulsion	1 × steam turbine 1 × shaft
Speed	15.5 knots (28.7 km/h; 17.8 mph)
Complement	12 Officers 87 Enlisted
Notes

USNS Pvt. Joseph F. Merrell (T-AK-275), (former SS Grange Victory), was a Victory ship and the second ship of the Lt. James E. Robinson-class cargo ship built in 1944. The ship is named after Private Joseph F. Merrell, an American soldier who was awarded the Medal of Honor during World War II.

Construction and commissioning

The ship was built in 1944 by the California Shipbuilding Corporation, Los Angeles, California. She was delivered to the War Shipping Administration to be used by the Isthmian SS Company as Grange Victory on 7 August 1944.

On 23 November 1946, she was chartered by the Waterman Steamship Corporation until 29 December 1947 where she would be decommissioned and laid up at the Mobile Reserve Fleet after being acquired by the United States Maritime Administration. The ship was then transferred to the Transportation Corps of the US Army on 6 April 1948 and placed in service as USAT Pvt. Joseph F. Merrell.

On 1 March 1950, she was again transferred to the US Navy and put in service as an aircraft transport with the Military Sea Transportation Service as USNS Pvt. Joseph F. Merrell (T-AKV-4). The purpose of Pvt. Joseph F. Merrell was later changed to a cargo ship and re-designated as T-AK-275.

On 9 January 1963, she unloaded cargos in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica during Operation Deep Freeze 63.

On 29 December 1973, Pvt. Joseph F. Merrell had collided with the Liberian freighter Pearl Venture about 50 miles south of Monterey. Almost 400 barrels of fuel had leaked from the Merrell. Navy and Coat Guard worked together to cleanup the area. Merrell was towed to Avila Beach on 30 December to prevent the ship from sinking. Pearl Venture was being repaired in Los Angeles when Merrell arrived at Port Hueneme for repairs on 12 January 1974.

She would finally be returned to the Maritime Administration on 26 August 1974, struck from the Naval Register and sold for $256,600 to the Long Jong Industry. Scrapped on the same day in Kaohsiung.

Awards

• National Defense Service Medal

References

1. Babcock & Wilcox (April 1944). "Victory Ships". Marine Engineering and Shipping Review.
2. "Joseph Frederick Merrell | World War II | U.S. Army | Medal of Honor Recipient". Congressional Medal of Honor Society. Retrieved 16 February 2022.
3. ^ "Cargo Ship Photo Index". www.navsource.org. Retrieved 16 February 2022.
4. "NH 103608 USNS Pvt. Joseph F. Merrell". NHHC. Retrieved 16 February 2022.
5. Mercogliano, Salvatore R. (2017). Fourth Arm of Defense: Sealift and Maritime Logistics in the Vietnam War (PDF). Washington D.C.: Naval History and Heritage Command. p. 9. ISBN 9780945274988.
6. "NH 103612 USNS Pvt. Joseph F. Merrell". NHHC. Retrieved 16 February 2022.
7. Navy Civil Engineer. Vol. 15. Naval Facilities Engineering Command. 1974. p. 37. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)

• Lt. James E. Robinson-class cargo ships
• 1944 ships
• Ships built in Los Angeles
• Merchant ships of the United States
• Maritime incidents in 1973
• Mobile Reserve Fleet
• Victory ships