Coasters Harbor (AG-74)
1944-1960
An island in Narragansett Bay, R.I., site of the Naval War College.
(AG-74: displacement 5,766; length 441'6"; beam 56'11"; draft 23'0"; speed 12.0 knots; complement 891; armament one 5-inch, 4 40 millimeter; class Basilan, type EC2-S-C1)
Coasters Harbor (AG-74) was laid down on 4 October 1944 at South Portland.launched 17 November 1944 by New England Shipbuilding Corp., South Portland, Maine, under a Maritime Commission contract (M. C. E. Hull 3073); sponsored by Mrs. M. M. Naples; transferred to the Navy on 23 November 1944; placed in reduced commission the same day, Lt. Cmdr. James H. Graves, Jr., D-M, USNR, in command of the ferry crew, ferried to Todd Shipyards Corp., Brooklyn, N.Y.; decommissioned on 26 November 1944 for conversion to an electronics repair ship; and was rommissioned on 29 July 1945, Cmdr. Tilghman H. Moyer, D-V(G), USNR, in command.
Sailing from Norfolk, Va., 29 August 1945, Coasters Harbor reached San Diego, Calif., 19 September and Sasebo, Japan, 31 October. She remained there servicing vessels of the occupation force until 5 March 1946 when she sailed westward to take part in Operation Crossroads.
Following those atomic weapons tests, Coasters Harbor returned to the west coast, arriving at San Pedro, Calif., on 14 September 1945. She was placed out of commission in reserve at San Diego 3 July 1947. While in reserve, she was redesignated as a general-stores-issue issue ship, AKS-22, on 18 August 1951.
Stricken from the Navy List on 1 April 1960, Coasters Harbor was transferred to the Maritime Administration (the former Maritime Commission) at San Diego at 11:00 a.m. on 5 December 1960. That same day, Hugo Neu Steel Products, Inc., New York, N .Y., purchased the vessel from the Maritime Administration, to be broken up for scrap in Japan.
Commanding Officer Date Assumed Command
Cmdr. Tilghman H. Moyer, D-V(G), USNR 29 July 1945
Updated, Robert J. Cressman
28 March 2024