History | |
---|---|
United States | |
Name: | Somerset |
Namesake: | |
Ordered: | as type (C1-M-AV1) hull, MC hull 2166 |
Builder: | Leathem D. Smith Shipbuilding Company, Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin |
Yard number: | 332 |
Laid down: | 9 October 1944 |
Launched: | 21 January 1945 |
Sponsored by: | Mrs. Fred Bradley |
Acquired: | 20 September 1945 |
Commissioned: | delivered to the War Shipping Administration (WSA) prior to commissioning |
Struck: | 5 December 1945 |
Identification: |
|
Status: | delivered to WSA for use by the US Army, 2 November 1945 |
History | |
United States | |
Name: | Coastal Sentry |
Operator: | WSA |
Acquired: | 2 November 1945 |
In service: | 2 August 1946 |
Out of service: | 28 September 1949 |
Fate: | declared surplus, 12 December 1949 |
Status: | transferred to the Military Sea Transportation Service MSTS |
History | |
United States | |
Name: | Coastal Sentry |
Operator: | MSTS |
In service: | 15 November 1951 |
Out of service: | 28 September 1956 |
Fate: | acquired by the USAF, 29 March 1957 |
History | |
United States | |
Name: | Coastal Sentry |
Operator: | USAF |
Acquired: | 29 March 1957 |
Refit: | as a Missile Range Instrumentation Ship |
Identification: | Hull symbol: AGM-15 |
Fate: | reacquired by the USN, 1 July 1964 |
History | |
United States | |
Name: | Coastal Sentry |
Operator: | MSTS |
Acquired: | 1 July 1964 |
Out of service: | 11 July 1968 |
Struck: | 9 October 1969 |
Identification: |
|
Fate: | returned to MARAD and sold for scrap, 11 July 1968 |
Status: | scrapped, 1968 |
General characteristics | |
Class and type: | |
Type: | C1-M-AV1 |
Tonnage: | 5,032 long tons deadweight (DWT) |
Displacement: |
|
Length: | 388 ft 8 in (118.47 m) |
Beam: | 50 ft (15 m) |
Draft: | 21 ft 1 in (6.43 m) |
Installed power: |
|
Propulsion: | 1 × propeller |
Speed: | 11.5 kn (21.3 km/h; 13.2 mph) |
Capacity: |
|
Complement: |
|
Armament: |
|
USS Somerset (AK-212) was an Alamosa-class cargo ship that was constructed for the US Navy during the closing period of World War II. She was later acquired by the US Army in 1946 and the US Air Force in 1957 before being reacquired by the USN as the USNS Coastal Sentry (T-AGM-15), a missile range instrumentation ship.
The third ship to be so named by the Navy, Somerset was laid down on 9 October 1944, under US Maritime Commission (MARCOM) contract, MC hull 2166, by the Leathem D. Smith Shipbuilding Company, Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin; launched on 21 January 1945; sponsored by Mrs. Fred Bradley, wife of the Michigan congressman. Initially earmarked to be manned by a US Coast Guard crew, Somerset was completed at her building yard on 19 February 1945. After she successfully completed her MARCOM acceptance trials, a Navy sub-board of inspection and survey recommended preliminary acceptance on 22 February 1945.
Broken-down for the voyage via inland waterways, the ship arrived at New Orleans, Louisiana, on 2 May 1945, to be transferred to Pendleton Shipyards at New Orleans for reassembly. Accepted by the Navy on 20 September 1945 within a month of the Japanese surrender, Somerset began the conversion process to a cargo ship on 24 September. Ironically, her prospective commanding officer reported on 28 September that progress of the work was proceeding satisfactorily and that crew deficiencies caused by demobilization had been corrected, when, that same day ,28 September, the ship was earmarked for return to the MARCOM. Her assignment to the US Pacific Fleet was cancelled on 29 September. Her estimated commissioning date had been 15 October. Redelivered to the War Shipping Administration (WSA) at 1500 on 2 November 1945, Somerset was stricken from the Navy Register on 5 December 1945 never having been commissioned.