After completing her fitting-out at Boston, Massachusetts (USA), Renate conducted shakedown training in Chesapeake Bay (13–19 March), after which time she underwent post-shakedown availability at the Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, Virginia (USA); she ultimately sailed for the Panama Canal Zone on 31 March 1945. After transiting the canal, she arrived at Balboa on 6 April, and sailed thence two days later, bound for Hawaiian waters and steaming independently. Renate reached Pearl Harbor on 21 April, underwent an inspection six days later, and completed discharging cargo on the 29th.
USS Renate (AKA-36) at Sasebo in 1945.
Bringing cargo-loading operations to completion on 13 May, Renate embarked 197 enlisted passengers — sailors, marines, and soldiers — and two naval officers for transportation the following day, and sailed for the Marshall Islands. Steaming independently, her men standing daily dawn and dusk alerts, the attack cargo ship crossed the 180th meridian on 18 May, and ultimately reached Eniwetok on the 22nd. Pushing on, bound for the western Carolines, on 5 June, she followed a lone course to Ulithi, arriving on 9 June. Next assigned to convoy UOK-36, Renate got underway for Okinawa on 10 July, dropping anchor in Buckner Bay on the 14th. Interrupting cargo operations to sortie on 19 July to evade a typhoon, she ultimately completed discharging cargo five days later, getting underway to return to Ulithi on 25 July with convoy OKU-16.
Anchoring in Ulithi lagoon on the last day of July, Renate got underway on 2 August for Pearl Harbor. Again steaming independently, she crossed the International Date Line on 10 August, and reached her destination on the 13th. Shifting to Kahului, Maui, ten days later, she completed cargo operations the following day, and sailed to return to Pearl on the 25th.
Departing on 14 May, she returned to Hawaii the day before the Surrender of Japan and was assigned to Operation "Campus", the occupation of the Japan's home islands. She got underway for Kyūshū 1 September, mooring 16 days later at Sasebo where she disembarked units of the U.S. 5th Marine Division. Completing another occupation troop lift, from the Philippines to Sasebo, in early October, she joined in operation Operation "Magic Carpet", the transportation of veterans back to the United States. With San Francisco as her terminus she completed two "Magic Carpet" runs by mid January 1946.
The next month she sailed for the East Coast, arriving at Norfolk on the 26th.
Conversion to survey ship, 1946
In June 1946, she entered Portsmouth Naval Shipyard for conversion to a survey ship and on 12 July was renamed Maury designated AGS-16. As Maury she emerged from the shipyard in October with a new silhouette. Electronic survey and sounding equipment, as well as photographic, printing, and repair shops had been added within her compartments and a helipad, helicopter, and sound boats had been provided topside. The boats would be used in charting positions and depths accurately, while the ship's helicopter would transport surveyors and their equipment to points ashore and perform aerial photographic missions.
On 6 January 1947 Maury got underway for the Pacific and her first hydrographic mission, the charting of the waters around Truk and Kwajalein. Having added to navigational knowledge of those areas she sailed for San Francisco, arriving on 13 September and remaining until 11 July 1948. She then got underway for New York City where she reported for duty with Service Force, Atlantic Fleet, on 10 August.
Atlantic Fleet, 1948–1959
During 1949, 1950, and 1951, Maury made three 8-month cruises to the Persian Gulf, constructing charts of those waters, accompanied by the tugs Allegheny and Stallion. In October 1952, in concert with USSSheldrake(AGS-19) and USSPrevail(AGS-20) she began a resurvey of the North Atlantic, to correct existing false soundings on navigational charts and studying methods for hurricane and weather predictions. Through 1957 she served in the Western Atlantic, surveying as far north as Newfoundland in the summer months and working to the south, as far as the West Indies, during the winter.
In 1958 Maury returned to the Mediterranean for an abbreviated deployment, from 3 February to 9 May. In July her North Atlantic resurvey missions were extended and she crossed the ocean to chart the waters in and around the Shetland and Faroe Islands. Throughout this period, while fulfilling her primary assignment of correcting navigational charts, she added to meteorological knowledge by studying the North Atlantic's weather patterns, particularly with regard to hurricanes.
Early in the Spring of 1959 Maury again passed through the Straits of Gibraltar. Continuing on to the Eastern Mediterranean she began a study of the Turkish coast. By September she was ready to extend that survey to the Turkish Black Sea coast and on the 17th and 18th transited the Dardanelles. Maury thus became the first U.S. naval unit to enter the Black Sea since 1945. Also Odessa Russia 1959.
Pacific Fleet, 1960–1969
Maury in Thailand, circa 1961.
The next year, 1960, Maury was transferred to the Pacific Fleet and by 22 March was operating out of Pearl Harbor. Attached to the 7th Fleet's logistic support group during her extended cruises, she completed a preliminary survey of the Gulf of Siam in preparation for her next long range assignment, an accurate survey of designated areas of the southwestern Pacific and Indian Oceans. After modernization at Pearl Harbor, she returned to the Gulf of Siam in December with USSSerrano. Working in concert, Maury concentrated on hydrographic survey, while Serrano gathered information on the physical and chemical makeup of the waters and ocean floor. During their 1961, 1962 and 1963 7th Fleet tours, the oceanographic vessels charted and collected data on the Gulf of Siam, the Andaman Sea, the Straits of Malacca and areas of the Philippines, punctuating those tours with missions of mercy as the occasion demanded.
On 1 February 1965 Maury departed Pearl Harbor for a 4-month survey of the continental shelf off Buenaventura, Colombia. Returning to Oahu on 2 June, she began preparations for her return to Southeast Asia. Departing on 15 November she soon commenced a 7-month survey of the coast of South Vietnam. Concentrating on the Mekong Delta area during that cruise, she has resumed her study of the Vietnamese coast with each annual deployment. Into 1969 her efforts added significantly to knowledge of the characteristics of the coastal area in which U.S. naval forces conducted riverine warfare and amphibious operations.
After completing her last operational survey operations, off the coast of the Republic of Korea, Maury sailed for the United States. Pausing at Pearl Harbor en route, she stood out for the West Coast on her final voyage on 1 December 1969.
Decommissioning
She reached San Francisco on 8 December 1969, off-loading fuel, ammunition, and vehicles before shifting to the Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility, Mare Island, Vallejo, California (USA), later the same day. Decommissioned on 19 December 1969, Maury was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register the same day. The ship remained at the Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility until transferred to the custody of the Maritime Administration (MARAD) on 26 June 1970. Taken to MARAD's Suisun Bay, California, berthing area, she remained there until sold to the National Steel and Metal Co., of Terminal Island, Calif., on 10 August 1973 to be broken up for scrap.[1]
USS Sumner (AG-32/AGS-5) was a survey ship in the United States Navy. She was named in honor of Thomas Sumner. She was originally commissioned as a submarine tender as USS Bushnell (AS-2/AG-32), in honor of David Bushnell, the inventor of the first American submarine.
USS Moale (DD-693) was the second Allen M. Sumner-class destroyer of the United States Navy.
USS Tanner (AGS-15) was originally built as USS Pamina (AKA-34), an Artemis-class attack cargo ship named after the minor planet 539 Pamina, which in turn was named after a character in Mozart's opera The Magic Flute. However, early in the ship's service it was reclassified AGS-15 and renamed Tanner. She served as a commissioned ship for 24 years and 4 months.
USS Artemis (AKA-21) was an Artemis-class attack cargo ship in service with the United States Navy from 1944 to 1947. She was scrapped in 1966.
USS San Pablo (AVP-30) was a United States Navy Barnegat-class seaplane tender which was in commission as such from 1943 to 1947 and then served as a commissioned hydrographic survey ship, redesignated AGS-30, from 1948 to 1969. Thus far, she has been the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for San Pablo Bay, a shallow northern extension of San Francisco Bay in California.
USS Sheldrake (AM-62/AGS-19) was an Auk-class minesweeper built for the United States Navy during World War II. The ship was named after the sheldrake duck. The ship earned four battle stars during World War II. She was converted to a survey ship and re-designated AGS-19 in 1952 and remained in commission until 1968. She was sold for scrap in 1971.
NOAAS Thomas Jefferson is a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) hydrographic survey vessel in service since 2003. The ship was built for the United States Navy as USNS Littlehales (T-AGS-52) serving as one of two new coastal hydrographic survey vessels from 1992 until transfer to NOAA in 2003 when it was named after Founding Father and third U.S. president, Thomas Jefferson.
USS Towhee (AM-388) was an Auk-class minesweeper acquired by the United States Navy for the dangerous task of removing mines from minefields laid in the water to prevent ships from passing.
USS Pursuit (AM-108) was an Auk-class minesweeper acquired by the United States Navy for the dangerous task of removing mines from minefields laid in the water to prevent ships from passing.
USS Requisite (AM-109) was an Auk-class minesweeper acquired by the United States Navy for the dangerous task of removing mines from minefields laid in the water to prevent ships from passing.
USS Vega (AK-17), was a Sirius-class cargo ship of the United States Navy, originally the Lebanon — a single-screw, steel-hulled Type 1022 freighter, built under a United States Shipping Board contract at Hog Island, Pennsylvania, by the American International Shipbuilding Co. Laid down on 8 July 1918, the ship was launched on 18 July 1919. Acquired by the Navy on 2 December 1921, she was renamed Vega and given the classification of AK-17. She fitted out for Navy service, and was commissioned at the Boston Navy Yard on 21 December 1921.
USS Anacostia (AO-94) was a Escambia-class replenishment oiler acquired by the United States Navy for use during World War II. She had the dangerous but necessary task of providing fuel to vessels in combat and non-combat areas. She served in the Pacific Ocean Theater of operations late in the war, and returned home with one battle star.
USS Mercury (AK-42) was a cargo ship commissioned by the U.S. Navy for service in World War II. She was responsible for delivering necessary goods and equipment to ships and stations in the war zone.
USS Alkes (AK-110) was a Crater-class cargo ship commissioned by the US Navy for service in World War II, named after Alkes, a star in the Crater constellation. She was responsible for delivering troops, goods and equipment to locations in the war zone.
USS Adria (AF-30) was an Adria-class stores ship in service with the United States Navy from 1944 to 1954. She was scrapped in 1977.
USS Hydrographer (AGS-2), briefly classified PY-30 before commissioning, was built in 1928 by the Spear Engine Works in Norfolk, Virginia, and operated as a survey ship along the Atlantic coast and in the Caribbean for the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey. Acquired by the United States Navy in April 1942, she was converted for U.S. Navy service by the Choctaw Boat Works in Alabama and commissioned as AGS-2 at Mobile, Alabama on 20 May 1942.
The second USS Rehoboth (AVP-50/AGS-50) was in commission in the United States Navy as a seaplane tender from 1944 to 1947 and as an oceanographic survey ship from 1948 to 1970.
USS Rednour (APD-102) was a Crosley-class high speed transport that served in the United States Navy from 1945 to 1946. In December 1969, she was transferred to Mexico and served under the name Chihuahua until July 2001.
USS Allegheny (ATA-179) was an American Sotoyomo-class auxiliary fleet tug launched in 1944 and serving until 1968. She underwent conversion to a research vessel in 1952.
USS Serrano (ATF-112) was an Abnaki-class tug of the United States Navy. She was laid down on 6 March 1943 by the United Engineering Co., Alameda, California, United States, and launched on 24 July 1943, sponsored by Mrs. Sidney E. Fraser. Serrano was commissioned on 22 September 1944. After six years of service, Serrano was decommissioned in 1950. After spending ten years in reserve, she was reactivated, converted to a surveying ship and re-designated AGS-24. She served in that role until 1970.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
United States
