USNS Shearwater (T-AG-177) was a Shearwater-class miscellaneous auxiliary built during the final months of World War II for the US Army as FS-411 (Design 381 coastal freighter) by Hickinbotham Brothers Shipbuilders. FS-411 was Coast Guard manned operating in the Central and Western Pacific, including Hawaii, Saipan, Tinian, Guam, during the closing days of the war.[2]
She was placed into service by the U.S. Navy from 1964 to 1969 as USNS Shearwater (T-AG-177). After this service, she was transferred back to the U.S. Army.
Operational history as T-AG-177
Shearwater began her naval service as a survey support ship with the Military Sea Transportation Service in May 1964. Operated by a Civil Service crew, she operated in the Atlantic Ocean until mid-February 1969, when she was transferred back to the U.S. Army.
As of 2007, Shearwater was active as a fishing vessel based at Reedville, Virginia.[3] She was retired in 2013 and reefed off the coast of Delaware onto the Del-Jersey-Land Inshore Reef site in 2015.[4]
References
- ^ "U.S. Army Coastal Freighters (F, FS, T)".
- ^ "World War II Coast Guard-Manned U.S. Army Freight and Supply Ship Histories".
- ^ "Shearwater". ShipSpotting. Retrieved 25 December 2017.
- ^ "DelJerseyLand Reef - Inshore". New Jersey Scuba Diving. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
- This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
- NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive - T-AG-177 Shearwater