USNS Taurus

Last updated
USNS Taurus (T-AK-273) at anchor c1960.jpg
History
Flag of the United States.svgUnited States
NameUSNS Taurus
Builder Gulf Shipbuilding Corporation, Chickasaw, Alabama
Laid down8 November 1944
Completed1956 as SS Carib Queen
In service15 January 1959, as USNS Taurus (T-AK-273)
Out of serviceSeptember 1968
ReclassifiedT-LSV-8 (Landing Ship Vehicle), 1 January 1963
Stricken22 June 1971
FateSold for scrapping, 25 June 1969
General characteristics
Type Cargo ship
Displacement9,950 long tons (10,110 t)
Length475 ft (145 m)
Beam72 ft (22 m)
Draft19 ft (5.8 m)
Propulsion2 geared turbines, 2 shafts
Speed16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph)
Complement69

USNS Taurus (T-AK-273) was a Landing Ship Vehicle built for the United States Navy. The lone ship of her class, she was named for the constellation Taurus, and was the second U.S. Naval vessel to bear the name.

Contents

Construction

Taurus was laid down as the dock landing ship USS Fort Snelling (LSD-23) on 8 November 1944 at Chickasaw, Alabama, by the Gulf Shipbuilding Corporation. The end of World War II made her services unnecessary, and the Navy cancelled the contract for her acquisition. The unchristened hull changed hands twice before being completed in 1956 as the roll-on/roll-off ship SS Carib Queen for Trailer Marine Transport, Inc. In 1957, the ship received a Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS) charter for transatlantic service. However, problems in her propulsion system caused delays and repairs which prevented her actually serving MSTS. In March, 1958 after Trailer Marine Transport, Inc. had defaulted on her mortgage, the Maritime Administration took over the vessel. She was assigned to MSTS on 15 January 1959, renamed Taurus, and designated T-AK-273.

Service history

In May, 1959 Taurus made her first cargo run, from New York City to St. Nazaire. Over the next nine years, she continued to carry cargo for MSTS in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. On 1 January 1963 Taurus was re-designated vehicle landing ship LSV-8. During the mid-1960s she carried cargo to ports in South Vietnam in support of American forces in the Vietnam War. She also was used by NASA, along with USNS Point Barrow (T-AKD-1), to carry S-IVB and S-II stages of the Saturn V moon rocket from their production facilities in California to the Mississippi Test Facility and the Kennedy Space Center during the mid-1960s. Never commissioned, Taurus went out of service at Yokosuka, Japan, in September 1968. She was transferred back to the Maritime Administration on 25 June 1969, and was sold on the same day to the Union Minerals and Alloy Corporation of New York City. Her name was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 22 June 1971. Her final fate is unknown.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Military Sealift Command</span> United States Navy command for logistics

Military Sealift Command (MSC) is an organization that controls the replenishment and military transport ships of the United States Navy. Military Sealift Command has the responsibility for providing sealift and ocean transportation for all US military services as well as for other government agencies. It first came into existence on 9 July 1949 when the Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS) became solely responsible for the Department of Defense's ocean transport needs. The MSTS was renamed the Military Sealift Command in 1970.

USS Taurus is a name used more than once by the U.S. Navy, after the constellation Taurus:

The name USS Fort Snelling has been assigned to two dock landing ships of the United States Navy, in honor of Fort Snelling, a fort at the confluence of the Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers, for many years the northernmost military post in the land of the Sioux and Chippewa.

USNS <i>Mission San Diego</i>

SS Mission San Diego was a Type T2-SE-A2 tanker built for the United States Maritime Commission during World War II. After the war she was acquired by the United States Navy as USS Mission San Diego (AO-121). Later the tanker transferred to the Military Sea Transportation Service as USNS Mission San Diego (T-AO-121). She was a member of the Mission Buenaventura-class oiler and was named for the Mission San Diego de Alcalá.

SS Mission San Jose was a Type T2-SE-A2 tanker built for the United States Maritime Commission during World War II. After the war she was acquired by the United States Navy as USS Mission San Jose. Later the tanker transferred to the Military Sea Transportation Service as USNS Mission San Jose. She was a Mission Buenaventura-class oiler and was named for Mission San José, located in Fremont, California.

USNS <i>Mission San Luis Obispo</i>

SS Mission San Luis Obispo was a Type T2-SE-A2 tanker built for the United States Maritime Commission during World War II. After the war she was acquired by the United States Navy as USS Mission San Luis Obispo (AO-127). Later the tanker transferred to the Military Sea Transportation Service as USNS Mission San Luis Obispo (T-AO-127). A Mission Buenaventura-class oiler, she was named for Mission San Luís Obispo de Tolosa in San Luis Obispo, California.

SS Mission Santa Barbara was a Type T2-SE-A2 tanker built for the United States Maritime Commission during World War II. After the war she was acquired by the United States Navy as USS Mission Santa Barbara (AO-131). Later the tanker transferred to the Military Sea Transportation Service as USNS Mission Santa Barbara (T-AO-131). She was a Mission Buenaventura-class oiler and was named for Mission Santa Barbara in Santa Barbara, California.

SS Mission San Carlos was a Type T2-SE-A2 tanker built for the United States Maritime Commission during World War II. After the war she was acquired by the United States Navy as USS Mission San Carlos (AO-120). Later the tanker transferred to the Military Sea Transportation Service as USNS Mission San Carlos (T-AO-120). She was a Mission Buenaventura-class oiler and was one of two U.S. Navy vessels named for Mission San Carlos Borroméo de Carmelo, located in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, the other being Mission Carmel.

USNS <i>Comet</i> (T-AK-269)

USNS Comet (T-AK-269), later T-LSV-7, later T-AKR-7, later SS Comet, is a vehicle landing ship built for the United States Navy. The lone ship of her class, she is named for the comet, and is the fourth U.S. Naval vessel to bear the name.

USNS <i>Sea Lift</i>

USNS Sea Lift (T-LSV-9) was a roll on/roll off (Ro/Ro) cargo ship built for the United States Navy's Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS), currently the Military Sealift Command (MSC). She became the first ship of Ro/Ro-type to deliver cargo to Vietnam during the war in Indochina.

USNS Lt. James E. Robinson (T-AKV-3/T-AG-170/T-AK-274) was a Lt. James E. Robinson-class cargo ship, which was launched as a World War II commercial Victory cargo ship SS Czechoslovakia Victory under the Emergency Shipbuilding program. She had earlier been the U.S. Army's USAT LT. James E. Robinson before being acquired by the U.S. Navy.

USNS <i>Private Francis X. McGraw</i> Cargo ship of the United States Navy

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.

USNS <i>Sgt. Andrew Miller</i> Cargo ship of the United States Navy

USNS Sgt. Andrew Miller (T-AK-242) was built as Victory ship SS Radcliffe Victory, a Boulder Victory-class cargo ship, built at the end of World War II. She served during the war and its demilitarization as a commercial cargo vessel operated by American West African Lines under charter with the Maritime Commission and War Shipping Administration. From 1946 to 1950, she served the US Army as a transport named USAT Sgt. Andrew Miller. In 1950, she was acquired by the US Navy and assigned to the Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS). In 1981 she ended her career and was placed into reserve.

USNS <i>Sgt. Archer T. Gammon</i> Cargo ship of the United States Navy

USNS Sgt. Archer T. Gammon (T-AK-243) 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 Sgt. Archer T. Gammon. In 1950 she was acquired by the United States Navy and assigned to the Military Sea Transportation Service. In 1973 she ended her career and was struck and scrapped.

USNS Short Splice (T-AK-249) was a US Maritime Administration (MARCOM) C1-M-AV1type coastal cargo ship, originally planned as an Alamosa-class cargo ship. Constructed as Short Splice for MARCOM, completed in August 1945 and placed in operation by the War Shipping Administration during the closing period of World War II. However, the war ended, and she was transferred to the US Army as USAT Short Splice who kept her in service until transferred to the US Navy in 1950.

USNS <i>Private Frank J. Petrarca</i> Cargo ship of the United States Navy

USNS Private Frank J. Petrarca (T-AK-250) was a US Maritime Administration (MARCOM) C1-M-AV1 type coastal cargo ship, originally planned as an Alamosa-class cargo ship. Constructed as Long Splice for MARCOM, completed in September 1945 and placed in operation by the War Shipping Administration (WSA) during the closing period of World War II. However, the war ended, and she was transferred to the US Army as USAT Private Frank J. Petrarca who kept her in service until transferred to the US Navy in 1950.

USNS <i>Marine Adder</i>

USNS Marine Adder (T-AP–193) was a troop ship for the United States Navy in the 1950s. She was built in 1945 for the United States Maritime Commission as SS Marine Adder, a Type C4-S-A3 troop ship, by the Kaiser Company during World War II. In 1950, the ship was transferred to the Military Sea Transport Service of the U.S. Navy as a United States Naval Ship staffed by a civilian crew. After ending her naval service in 1957, she entered the National Defense Reserve Fleet, but was sold for commercial use in 1967. She was used in part to carry supplies to support the Vietnam War efforts. During the summer of ‘72 while in Da Nang harbor, South Vietnam a limpet mine was attached to the hull by a swimmer. The mine blew a hole in the hull. In order to save the ship the Skipper ran it aground in Da Nang harbor. The USS Navy standby salvage ship USS Grasp with its crew of divers installed a box patch over the hole and pumped the water from the bilges, before moving the ship to a pier. US Army tanks hung from ship booms to heel the ship so that a metal patch could be welded in place to return the ship to duty. SS Transcolorado, she was chartered by the Military Sealift Command as a civilian cargo ship designated T-AK-2005.

USNS Marine Fiddler was an Alchiba-class cargo ship that served the United States Merchant Marine during the Korean and Vietnam war. Laid down on 15 December 1944 as a Maritime Commission type C4-S-A3 hull, under Maritime Commission contract, she was built at Sun Shipbuilding and Drydock Company in Chester, Pennsylvania. She was launched on 15 May 1945 and delivered 31 August 1945. Operated by Agwilines Inc, she was laid up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet in Suisun Bay, California on 23 May 1946.

USNS <i>2nd Lt. John P. Bobo</i> Prepositioning ship

USNS 2nd Lt. John P. Bobo, formally MV 2nd Lt. John P. Bobo (AK-3008) is a strategic sealift ship currently in service with the United States Navy since its original charter in 1985. The ship is named after US Marine Medal of Honor recipient 2nd Lieutenant John P. Bobo. She is the only US Navy ship to bear the name.

References

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships .