Claiborne (AK-171)
1945-1946
Counties in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee.
(AK-171: displacement 2,474; length 338'6"; beam 50'; draft 21'1"; speed 12 knots; complement 79; armament 1 3-inch; class Alamosa; type C1-M-AV1)
Claiborne (AK-171) was launched on 3 September 1944 by Froemming Brothers, Inc., Milwaukee, Wis., under a Maritime Commission contract (M. C. Hull 2144); sponsored by Miss L. Kapczynski; and commissioned on 19 April 1945 at New Orleans, La., Lt. R. B. Johnston in command.
Claiborne departed Gulfport, Miss., on 20 May 1945 and arrived at Hollandia, New Guinea, on 5 July. For the next six months she operated in the Philippines and New Guinea areas, carrying food, and supplies, and helping to redeploy troops among the various islands. The cargo ship sailed from Manila on 6 January 1946, for Yokosuka, Japan, anchoring there on 13 January.
Claiborne was decommissioned and transferred to the War Shipping Administration at Tokyo on 7 February 1946. The ship was operated by the War Department until placed in the Reserve Fleet berthing area at Olympia, Wash., on 5 May 1950. Ultimately, she was sold to the Marine Power & Equipment Co., on 6 January 1971, and was delivered to her purchaser at Olympia on 1 February 1971 for scrapping.
