SS Talamanca
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| History | |
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  US and UK
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| Builder: | Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Co |
| Laid down: | 1931 |
| Launched: | 1931 |
| Acquired: |
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| Commissioned: |
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| Decommissioned: | 29 November 1945 |
| Struck: | 19 December 1945 |
| Fate: | scrapped 1965 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | US Navy: Mizar-class stores ship |
| Type: | civilian: passenger & cargo liner |
| Displacement: | 6,963 t.(lt) 11,880 t.(fl) |
| Length: | 447 ft 10 in (136.50 m) |
| Beam: | 60 ft (18 m) |
| Draft: | 25 ft 2 in (7.67 m) |
| Installed power: | 11,000 shp (8,200 kW) |
| Propulsion: |
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| Speed: | 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph) (max) |
| Capacity: | 2,615 long tons deadweight (DWT) |
| Complement: | 238 |
| Armament: | one single 5 in (130 mm) dual purpose gun mount, four single 3 in (76 mm) dual purpose gun mounts |
USS Talamanca (AF-15) was a United Fruit Company cargo and passenger liner that served as a United States Navy Mizar-class stores ship in World War II. In peacetime before and after the war she carried fruit and passengers; in US Navy service she supplied troops and ships in the Pacific Ocean theatre of World War II.
The Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company of Newport News, Virginia built the ship as SS Talamanca. She was one of six sister ships driven by turbo-electric transmission. United Fruit placed Talamanca on express liner services between Central America and New York.
The US Navy bareboat chartered her from the United Fruit Company through the Maritime Commission on 16 December 1941. The Maryland Drydock Co of Baltimore, Maryland converted her for Navy use and she was designated AF-15 on 27 December 1941. She was commissioned on 28 January 1942, commanded by Cmdr Nathan W. Bard.
Talamanca sailed for the first time as a naval vessel on 13 February. Six days later, laden with cargo, passengers and mail, she transited the Panama Canal. She proceeded via Talara, Peru, across the southern Pacific and reached Wellington Harbour, New Zealand on 16 March. She then made a round trip across the Tasman Sea to Melbourne, Australia and back to Wellington. On 1 April she sailed for the United States. She called at Manzanillo, Mexico on the 16th and reached San Francisco, California, on 21 April. Between 9 May and 1 June, she made a round trip from San Francisco to Pearl Harbor and back. Shes ship spent the whole of June in the Mare Island Navy Yard, undergoing further conversion and some repairs.
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Wikipedia