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USS Camanga (AG-42) on 30 May 1943
Click on this photograph for links to larger images of this class.

Class:        CAMANGA (AG-42)
Design:        EFC 1049
Displacement (tons):        2,005 light, 5,200 max
Dimensions (feet):        300.0' oa x 44.0' e x 14.7' max
Original Armament:        1-3"/23 (1942: AG-42, 43)
Later armaments:        1-3"/50 4-20mm (1943: AG-42, 66);
2-3"/50 4-20mm (1944: AG-42);
3-3"/50 4-20mm (1943: AG-66)
Complement:        68 (1944)
Speed (kts.):        9
Propulsion (HP):        1,600
Machinery:        Ellincott (AG-42) or Albina vertical triple expansion, 1 screw

Construction:
AG Name Acq. Builder Keel Launch Commiss.
42 CAMANGA 25 Apr 42 Albina Engine & Mach 29 May 17 27 Mar 18 25 Apr 42
43 MAJABA 23 Apr 42 Albina Engine & Mach 1 Mar 19 22 May 19 23 Apr 42
66 BESBORO 9 Jun 43 Albina Engine & Mach 24 Jun 18 18 Oct 18 22 Sep 43

Disposition:
AG Name Decomm. Strike Disposal Fate MA Sale
42 CAMANGA 10 Dec 45 3 Jan 46 10 Dec 45 RTO 10 Dec 45
43 MAJABA 14 Mar 46 28 Mar 46 14 Mar 46 MC --
66 BESBORO 3 May 46 8 Oct 46 1 Jul 46 MC 23 May 47

Class Notes:
FY 1942 (AG 42-43), 1943 (AG-66). These ships were small freighters somewhat larger than the Laker types built to EFC Design 1049 (AG-43, 66) or its nearly identical precursor (AG-42). AG-42 was requisitioned by the USSB during WW1 while under construction and served in the Navy as POINT BONITA (ID-3496) from 7 Oct 18 to 7 Apr 19. She was heavily modified as a lumber schooner between the wars, receiving four tall masts in place of her original rig and having her shelter deck amidships shortened. AG-43 was probably similarly modified, while AG-66, although also used as a lumber carrier, retained her original rig.

On 4 Apr 42 the Auxiliary Vessels Board recommended that the Navy acquire five steam lumber schooners then on the West Coast for use as small transports and utility cargo vessels. Intended for duty at Pacific advanced bases, they were designated AG 42-46. The ship initially selected as AG 42, ANNA SCHAFER, was quickly replaced by, OLIVER OLSON, but ANNA SCHAFER later became AG-46. AG-42 was being operated by contractors working on Pacific naval air bases for the Bureau of Yards and Docks when Com14 took operational control of her on 7 Feb 42 for two voyages to Johnston and Palmyra islands. She was converted at Pearl Harbor between 13 and 25 May 42 after a short trip to Maui and served for the rest of the war as an interisland cargo ship in the South Pacific. AG-43 had been time chartered by the MC on 14 Mar 42 shortly before the Navy took her over. She completed conversion by the Inter Island Drydock Co., Honolulu, on 14 May 42 and operated as an interisland cargo ship in the southwest Pacific theater. She was beached off Lunga Point, Guadalcanal, in December 1942 after being torpedoed in the engine room, was refloated on 8 Jan 43, and was eventually towed to Purvis Bay, New Florida Island, Solomons, where she remained for the rest of the war as a non-self-propelled floating quarters and material storage ship. Laid up in poor condition in Subic Bay upon her return to WSA (MC), she sank there in a storm in July 1946. The wreck, lying on its side in shallow water, is now (2009) a popular dive site.

On 12 Apr 43 the Commandant, 13th Naval District wrote that the need for a combination passenger and cargo vessel in the Alaskan area had become more acute and recommended that LURLINE BURNS be acquired to help meet this transportation problem. She had been under time charter to the War Shipping Administration since 2 Feb 42. On 16 Apr 43 the Auxiliary Vessels Board recommended that the ship be purchased, assigned to the Naval Transportation Service, and given a minimum conversion to accommodate a Navy crew and around 12 passenger officers and 200 troop passengers. AG-66 was converted at Todd, Seattle, from 23 Jun to 23 Sep 43 and served as an interisland cargo ship in Alaska throughout the war. She was listed with her probable mercantile armament of 1-3"/50 4-20mm from May to October 1943.

Ship Notes:
AG Name EFC Notes
42 CAMANGA -- Ex merc. OLIVER OLSON, originally POINT BONITA (ID-3496, completed 24 Jun 18). Converted at Pearl Harbor 13 to 25 May 42. Returned to owner by MC under General Agency Agreement 10 Dec 45 and fully redelivered 14 Jan 46. OLIVER OLSON 1946. Stranded and CTL 3 Nov 53, Scrapped 1954.
43 MAJABA 2249 Ex merc. EL CAPITAN, originally MERIDEN (ID-4109, completed 22 Jul 19). Completed conversion by the Inter Island Drydock Co., Honolulu, 14 May 42. Damaged by torpedo 7 Nov 42, CTL, to IX-102 1 Jul 43 as floating storage. To WSA 14 Mar 46 and laid up at Subic Bay as EL CAPITAN. Sank there July 1946, wreck abandoned.
66 BESBORO 1217 Ex merc. LURLINE BURNS, originally CADDOPEAK (ID-3816, completed 4 Dec 18). Completed conversion by Todd Seattle DD, Seattle, 23 Sep 43. Merc. LURLINE BURNS 1947 and SHAPUR 1947. Scrapped as VAN HWA 1960.

Page Notes:
AG        1942
Compiled:        07 Sep 2009
© Stephen S. Roberts, 2002-2009