USS Whidbey (AG-141)
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| History | |
|---|---|
  United States
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| Name: | USS Whidbey |
| Namesake: | An island in Puget Sound, Washington |
| Builder: | Ingalls Shipbuilding Corp., Decatur, Alabama |
| Laid down: | 1944, at Decatur, Alabama |
| Completed: | as U.S. Army FS-395, 2 January 1945 |
| Acquired: | by the U.S. Navy, 22 February 1947 |
| Commissioned: | 8 August 1947 as USS Whidbey (AG-141) at Naval Operating Base (NOB), Subic Bay, Philippine Islands |
| Decommissioned: | 16 November 1964, at Astoria, Oregon |
| Struck: | 1 May 1969 |
| Fate: | scrapped, 31 May 1969 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Whidbey-class miscellaneous auxiliary |
| Displacement: | 540 tons |
| Tons burthen: | 935 tons |
| Length: | 176' |
| Beam: | 33' |
| Draft: | 10' |
| Propulsion: | two 500 hp General Motors diesel engines, twin screws |
| Speed: | 19 knots |
| Complement: | 24 enlisted |
| Armament: | not known |
USS Whidbey (AG-141) was a Whidbey-class miscellaneous auxiliary acquired from the U.S. Army where it was known as USA FS-395 during World War II Army operations. She was transferred to the United States Navy in 1947, and the Navy assigned her to support the needs of the Pacific Ocean Trust Territory created as a result of the war.
Whidbey served the medical needs of natives and military personnel in the Trust Territory, and, when war broke out during the Korean War, Whidbey turned her attention to the tropical diseases contracted by American military personnel, treating their diseases before releasing them to return stateside.
FS-395—an inter-island freighter and cargo vessel completed for the United States Army on 2 January 1945 at Decatur, Alabama, by the Ingalls Shipbuilding Corp.—was subsequently inspected by the Navy and accepted for service at the Naval Operating Base (NOB), Subic Bay, Philippine Islands, on 22 February 1947.
FS-395 was later given the name Whidbey and classified a miscellaneous auxiliary, AG-141; she was commissioned at Naval Operating Base (NOB), Guam, while moored alongside SS Hamilton Victory on 8 August 1947, Chief Boatswain J. W. Jamieson in command.
Later assigned to Service Division 51, Service Force, Pacific Fleet, Whidbey initially performed service under the auspices of the Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet, who was given the collateral duty of High Commissioner of the Trust Territories of the Pacific Islands, assigned by the United Nations to the United States after World War II. Whidbey carried passengers, provisions, and mail to the islands in the territories, returning to Guam with copra and other native products.
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