USNS Private Francis X. McGraw (T-AK-241)

USNS Pvt Francis X. McGraw (T-AK-241) loading chemical weapons at Tengan Pier, Okinawa during Operation Red Hat in September 1971. Operation Red Hat involved removing chemicals stored on Okinawa to Johnston Atoll.
History
United States
Name:	Wabash Victory Private Francis X. McGraw (AK 241)
Namesake:	Wabash College Francis X. McGraw, awarded the Medal of Honor
Owner:	War Shipping Administration, then 1950 U.S.Navy
Operator:	Interocean SS Co., then 1950 U.S.Navy
Ordered:	as type (VC2-S-AP2) hull, MCV hull 796
Builder:	California Shipbuilding Corporation, Los Angeles, California
Laid down:	April 14, 1945
Launched:	June 9, 1945
Sponsored by:	Mrs. A. Easterbrook
Completed:	July 6, 1945
Acquired:	by the US Army Transportation Service, 14 June 1946
Decommissioned:	1 March 1950
In service:	1 March 1950, as USNS Pvt Francis X. McGraw (T-AK-241)
Out of service:	dat unknown
Renamed:	USAT Pvt Francis X. McGraw, 31 October 1947
Struck:	date unknown
Identification:	Hull symbol:T-AK-241
Honours and awards:	American Campaign Medal
Fate:	sold for scrapping, 21 August 1974, to National Unity Marine Salvage Corp.
General characteristics
Class and type:	Boulder Victory-class cargo ship
Displacement:	4,480 long tons (4,550 t) (standard) 15,580 long tons (15,830 t) (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 kn (17.8 mph; 28.7 km/h)
Complement:	24 officers and enlisted
Armament:	none

USNS Private Francis X. McGraw (T-AK-241) was a Boulder Victory-class cargo ship built at the end of World War II and served the war and its demilitarization as a commercial cargo vessel. From 1946 to 1950 she served the U.S. Army as a transport named USAT Private Francis X. McGraw. In 1950 she was acquired by the United States Navy and assigned to the Military Sea Transportation Service. In 1974 she ended her career and was scrapped.

Private Francis X. McGraw was laid down as SS Wabash Victory (MCV hull 796) by the California Shipbuilding Corporation, Los Angeles, California; launched 6 September 1945; sponsored by Mrs. A. Easterbrook; and delivered to the U.S. Maritime Commission 7 June 1945.

Operated by the Interocean Steamship Company under General Agency Agreement, Wabash Victory carried cargo and passengers to Eniwetok, Ulithi, and Okinawa and, from there, back to the U.S. West Coast between 8 August and 3 November 1945. Employed along the Oregon and California coasts for the next four months, she transited the Panama Canal in mid-March 1946, then headed across the Atlantic Ocean to France. On the 28th, she arrived at Le Havre to begin transporting men and equipment between Europe and the United States.

Two and a half months later, on 14 June 1946, she was transferred to the U.S. War Department but continued her transatlantic runs as an Army transport. Renamed Private Francis X. McGraw, 31 October 1947, the Victory ship remained a unit of the Army Transportation Service until 1 March 1950.