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USS Latona (AF-35) circa February or March 1945.
Click on this photograph for links to larger images of this class.
Class: ADRIA (AF-30)
Design: MC R1-M-AV3
Displacement (tons): 3,139 light, 7,435 lim.
Dimensions (feet): 338.5' oa, 320.0' pp x 50.0' x 21.1' lim.
Original Armament: 1-3"/50 6-20mm (1944-45: all)
Later armaments:
1-3"/50 4-20mm (1946-48: AF-30, 32-34, 36-37); 1-3"/50 4-20mmT (1947-52: AF 30-33, 36-38); 1-3"/50 (1957-61: AF-31, 33, 38)
Complement: 69 (1944)
Speed (kts): 11.5
Propulsion (HP): 1,700
Machinery: 1 Nordberg diesel, 1 screw
Construction:
AF |
Name |
Acq. |
Builder |
Keel |
Launch |
Commiss. |
30 |
ADRIA |
30 Nov 44 |
Pennsylvania SY |
27 Dec 43 |
16 Apr 44 |
26 Dec 44 |
31 |
AREQUIPA |
19 Dec 44 |
Pennsylvania SY |
17 Jan 44 |
4 May 44 |
14 Jan 45 |
32 |
CORDUBA |
30 Dec 44 |
Pennsylvania SY |
7 Feb 44 |
11 Jun 44 |
26 Jan 45 |
33 |
KARIN |
8 Jan 45 |
Pennsylvania SY |
17 Apr 44 |
22 Jun 44 |
3 Feb 45 |
34 |
KERSTIN |
22 Jan 45 |
Pennsylvania SY |
5 May 44 |
16 Jul 44 |
23 Feb 45 |
35 |
LATONA |
31 Jan 45 |
Pennsylvania SY |
12 Jun 44 |
10 Aug 44 |
25 Feb 45 |
36 |
LIOBA |
17 Feb 45 |
Pennsylvania SY |
23 Jun 44 |
27 Aug 44 |
6 Mar 45 |
37 |
MALABAR |
24 Feb 45 |
Pennsylvania SY |
17 Jul 44 |
17 Sep 44 |
8 Mar 45 |
38 |
MERAPI |
5 Mar 45 |
Pennsylvania SY |
11 Aug 44 |
4 Oct 44 |
21 Mar 45 |
39 |
PALISANA |
22 Mar 45 |
Pennsylvania SY |
28 Aug 44 |
21 Oct 44 |
16 Apr 45 |
41 |
ATHANASIA |
13 Mar 45 |
Pennsylvania SY |
14 Aug 44 |
12 Oct 44 |
3 Apr 45 |
42 |
BONDIA |
31 Mar 45 |
Pennsylvania SY |
18 Sep 44 |
9 Nov 44 |
17 Apr 45 |
43 |
GORDONIA |
24 Apr 45 |
Pennsylvania SY |
5 Oct 44 |
30 Nov 44 |
14 May 45 |
44 |
LAURENTIA |
19 May 45 |
Pennsylvania SY |
23 Oct 44 |
12 Dec 44 |
5 Jun 45 |
45 |
LUCIDOR |
15 Jun 45 |
Pennsylvania SY |
1 Dec 44 |
25 Jan 45 |
6 Jul 45 |
46 |
OCTAVIA |
31 May 45 |
Pennsylvania SY |
22 Nov 44 |
18 Jan 45 |
19 Jun 45 |
47 |
VALENTINE |
25 Jun 45 |
Pennsylvania SY |
7 Dec 44 |
3 Feb 45 |
17 Jul 45 |
Disposition:
AF |
Name |
Decomm. |
Strike |
Disposal |
Fate |
MA Sale |
30 |
ADRIA |
16 Jun 54 |
1 Jul 60 |
31 Jul 60 |
MA/T |
27 Jul 77 |
31 |
AREQUIPA |
25 Aug 55 |
1 Sep 61 |
1 Sep 62 |
MA/T |
18 Dec 72 |
32 |
CORDUBA |
18 Nov 55 |
1 Jul 60 |
30 Jun 60 |
MA/T |
15 Jul 74 |
33 |
KARIN |
15 Dec 58 |
1 Sep 61 |
1 Sep 62 |
MA/T |
24 Oct 67 |
34 |
KERSTIN |
12 May 50 |
16 Jun 50 |
12 May 50 |
MC/R |
1972 |
35 |
LATONA |
15 Apr 49 |
28 Apr 49 |
15 Apr 49 |
MC/R |
14 Jun 73 |
36 |
LIOBA |
14 Oct 55 |
1 Jul 60 |
30 Jun 60 |
MA/T |
18 Oct 73 |
37 |
MALABAR |
26 Sep 55 |
1 Jul 60 |
30 Jun 60 |
MA/T |
27 Jul 77 |
38 |
MERAPI |
16 Jan 59 |
1 Jul 60 |
30 Jun 60 |
MA/T |
22 Apr 66 |
39 |
PALISANA |
22 May 46 |
19 Jun 46 |
22 May 46 |
MC/R |
8 Dec 71 |
41 |
ATHANASIA |
20 Dec 45 |
8 Jan 46 |
8 Jan 46 |
MC/R |
28 Jun 77 |
42 |
BONDIA |
1973 |
1 May 73 |
9 Nov 73 |
MA/S |
9 Nov 73 |
43 |
GORDONIA |
8 Jul 46 |
31 Jul 46 |
8 Jul 46 |
MC/R |
9 Nov 73 |
44 |
LAURENTIA |
1970 |
28 Apr 70 |
19 Feb 70 |
MA/T |
14 Jun 73 |
45 |
LUCIDOR |
26 May 46 |
19 Jun 46 |
28 May 46 |
MC/R |
31 Mar 67 |
46 |
OCTAVIA |
12 Aug 46 |
8 Oct 46 |
12 Aug 46 |
MC/R |
11 Dec 72 |
47 |
VALENTINE |
Apr 59 |
16 Apr 59 |
16 Apr 59 |
MA/R |
30 Jan 67 |
Class Notes:
FY 1944. These ships were a refrigerated variant of the C1-M-AV1 design, which had been developed in 1943 as small dry cargo vessels to remedy an acute supply problem within the south and southwest Pacific. On 15 Apr 43 the JCS asked the Maritime Commission to build 100 small freighters for use by the Army and Navy. The Maritime Commission ordered an initial batch of 100 C1-M-AV1s in August and September 1943. The basic AK design had a small refrigerated hold aft of the deckhouse, but by December 1943 the Maritime Commission had decided to complete ten of the ships as reefers with two of their three main holds refrigerated. These were to be altered by conversion yards after construction to the standard C1-M-AV1 design. On 15 Nov 43 the Army had asked the Navy to man 25 of the 50 vessels assigned to the Army, and on 17 Dec 43 the CNO advised the MC as to which 75 vessels would be outfitted and manned by the Navy, including 10 vessels to be completed by the Commission as reefer ships. The Auxiliary Vessels Board approved acquisition of these 75 ships on 10 Jan 44.
In initial Navy planning, ten ships building by Froemming Bros., Milwaukee (MC hulls 2141-50) were to become AF 30-39, and MC hulls 2194-2203 were to be AK 168-77. On 15 Feb 44 the CNO noted that the Maritime Commission had not finalized its plans for the AF conversions and cancelled all written references to AF 30-39 until the Maritime Commission announced which ships it would actually convert. In early April the Maritime Commission made the following designations: AF 30-34, building by Pennsylvania SY, Beaumont, Tex., ex MC hulls 2195 and 2197-2200, to be converted at the Waterman repair yard at Mobile, Ala.; and AF 35-39, building by Walter Butler, Superior, Wis., ex MC hulls 2113, 2116, 2119, 2122, and 2125, to be converted at the Avondale Marine Yard, New Orleans, La. In mid-April, however, the Maritime Commission changed this plan in order to obtain earlier deliveries. It decided to assign the first ten C1-M-AV1s building by Penn SY, Beaumont (MC hulls 2194-2203) as AF 30-39 and to have the builder complete them as AFs (now designated the R1-M-AV3 type) instead of converting them later elsewhere. In response the Navy shifted the hull numbers AK 168-77 to the ten Froemming hulls (MC 2141-50) that it originally had expected to become AF 30-39. The last four ships building at Penn SY as part of the Maritime Commission's original batch of 100 C1-M-AV1s, MC hulls 2204-07, remained AK 178-81.
In February 1944 the Maritime Commission contracted for a second group of 100 C1-M-AV1s. On 26 Apr 44 the CNO asked that five of them be completed as R-M-AV3s. He added that the Navy could not furnish naval crews for these but asked that they be allocated for naval use with merchant crews, along with 45 of the dry cargo ships. To simplify their building program, the Maritime Commission designated the next five ships building at Penn SY, hulls 2204-7 and 2332, to be completed as R1-M-AV3s, and the navy accordingly shifted the designations AK 178-81 to four C1-M-AV1s just ordered at another yard (MC 2374-77). On 5 Aug 44 the MC informed the Navy that delays in production of the refrigerating machinery ordered by the Maritime Commission would delay all the R1-M-AV3s by three months. In response the Navy decided to supply refrigerating machinery of its own design for AF 30-39 and install it in fitting-out yards, which would allow maintaining the original delivery schedule for all but the first two or three ships. Subsequently the CNO was informed that a total of seven additional AFs would be required in 1945. In view of this requirement and since Navy furnished equipment was being provided, the Auxiliary Vessels Board on 22 Sep 44 recommended that the Navy acquire MC hulls 2332 and 2204-07, then building at Pennsylvania Shipyards, Inc., along with the two earliest additional hulls to be built there, and specified that they be completed in the same manner as AF 30-39. On 20 Sep 44 the Navy requested the ships from the MC, and on 5 Oct 44 the MC designated MC hulls 2338-39 as the two additional ships to be transferred.
The Navy continued to need even these small refrigerated cargo ships after World War II, and it retained eight ships from the first group of ten in commissioned service into the 1950s. All seven ships of the second group were returned to the Maritime Commission at the end of World War II, but the Navy reacquired three of them in 1950-51 for non-commissioned service in MSTS. Two of these remained in service into the early 1970s.
Ship Notes:
AF |
Name |
MC# |
Notes |
30 |
ADRIA |
2194 |
Keel 27 Dec 43. Converted by Todd Galveston DD, Galveston, Tex. (in service for ferrying 1-4 Dec 44). In USN reserve 1953-60. To NDRF 30 Jun 60, to buyer 19 Aug 77. |
31 |
AREQUIPA |
2195 |
Keel 17 Jan 44. Converted by Todd Galveston DD, Galveston, Tex. (in service for ferrying 20 Dec 44.) In USN reserve 1955-60. To NDRF 1 Dec 60. Sold by MA to Star Kist Foods, Inc. (to buyer 15 Feb 73), and converted to freezing and storage vessel AREQUIPA 1973. |
32 |
CORDUBA |
2196 |
Keel 7 Feb 44. Converted by Todd Galveston DD, Galveston, Tex. (in service for ferrying 30-31 Dec 44). In USN reserve 1955-60. To NDRF 6 Apr 60. Loaned by MA to Army 2 Jan 62 to 10 Jan 64 and 22 Jun 66 to 1 Oct 68 for training stevedores. To buyer 30 Jul 74. |
33 |
KARIN |
2197 |
Keel 17 Apr 44. Converted by Todd Galveston DD, Galveston, Tex. (in service for ferrying 8-10 Jan 45). In USN reserve 1958-60. To NDRF 15 Jun 60. Sold by MA for scrap (to buyer 9 Nov 67) but resold and converted to drilling rig TYPHOON 1967. Was BEN OCEAN TYPHOON in 1976. |
34 |
KERSTIN |
2198 |
Keel 5 May 44. Converted by Todd Galveston DD, Galveston, Tex. (in service for ferrying 22-23 Jan 45) and by Brown SB, Houston, Tex. (in service for ferrying 12-13 Feb 45). To NDRF 1950. Sold by MA under its exchange program (to buyer 10 Aug 72), merc. REEFER STAR 1972. |
35 |
LATONA |
2199 |
Keel 12 Jun 44. Converted by Todd Galveston DD, Galveston, Tex. (in service for ferrying 31 Jan-2 Feb 45) and by Brown SB, Houston, Tex. (in service for ferrying 12-13 Feb 45). To NDRF 1949, to buyer 9 Jul 73. |
36 |
LIOBA |
2200 |
Keel 23 Jun 44. Converted by Todd Galveston DD, Galveston, Tex. (in service for ferrying 17 Feb 45). In USN reserve 1955-60. To NDRF 26 Jan 60, to buyer 23 Oct 73. |
37 |
MALABAR |
2201 |
Keel 17 Jul 44. Converted by Brown SB, Houston, Tex. (in service for ferrying 25 Feb 45). In USN reserve 1955-60. To NDRF 26 May 60, to buyer 19 Aug 77. |
38 |
MERAPI |
2202 |
Keel 11 Aug 44. Converted by Todd Galveston DD, Galveston, Tex. (in service for ferrying 6 Mar 45). In USN reserve 1958-59. To NDRF 11 Dec 59. Sold by MA to Marine View, Inc. (to buyer 23 May 66) and converted to floating fish factory 1969. |
39 |
PALISANA |
2203 |
Keel 28 Aug 44. Converted by Todd Galveston DD, Galveston, Tex. (in service for ferrying 24 Mar 45). Operated as merchant ship under charter from MA 1946-59, to NDRF 3 Dec 59. To buyer 4 Jan 72. Merc. SEA HARVESTER 1978, SPIRIT (operated by Friend Ships) 1985, still active 2006. |
41 |
ATHANASIA |
2332 |
Ex merc. STEVEDORE KNOT. Keel 14 Aug 44. Converted by Todd Galveston DD, Galveston, Tex. (in service for ferrying 14 Mar). To NDRF 1946, to buyer 11 Aug 77. |
42 |
BONDIA |
2204 |
Ex merc. FLEMISH BEND. Keel 18 Sep 44. Converted by Brown SB, Houston, Tex. (in service for ferrying 1 Apr 45). To MC and to NDRF as FLEMISH BEND 29 Jul 46, stk. 28 Aug 46. To Army 30 Jul 47, to NDRF 14 Nov 49. From MA to MSTS 5 Jul 51, reinst. as BONDIA 17 Jul 51. |
43 |
GORDONIA |
2205 |
Ex merc. WHALE KNOT. Keel 5 Oct 44. Converted by Todd Galveston DD, Galveston, Tex. (in service for ferrying 24-25 Apr 45). Operated as merc. WHALE KNOT under charter from MC 1946-48, to NDRF 4 Mar 48. To Army 29 Sep 48, to NDRF 10 Jan 49. To buyer 17 Dec 73. |
44 |
LAURENTIA |
2206 |
Ex merc. WALL AND CROWN. Keel 23 Oct 44. Converted by Todd Galveston DD, Galveston, Tex. (in service for ferrying 19-20 May 45). To MC 18 Jun 46, stk. 3 Jul 46. Operated as Merc. WALL AND CROWN under charter from MC 1946, to Army 4 Nov 46. Reinstated on list as LAURENTIA (T-AF-44) ca. 7 Jun 50, from Army to MSTS 1 Jul 50. To NDRF 2 Dec 69, to buyer 10 Jul 73. |
45 |
LUCIDOR |
2207 |
Keel 1 Dec 44. Converted by Todd Galveston DD, Galveston, Tex. (in service for ferrying 15-16 Jun 45). Operated as merc. LUCIDOR under charter from MC 1946-57, to NDRF 28 Jun 57. Sold by MA under its exchange program (title transferred 31 Mar 67, delivered to owner 3 Apr 67), merc. POLAR PIONEER 1967. To fishing service 10 Jan 72 as MERMAID, to Peru 19 Oct 72 as MOCHICA. Was CARIBEA in 1977. |
46 |
OCTAVIA |
2338 |
Ex merc. YARDARM KNOT. Keel 1 Dec 44. Converted by Todd Galveston DD, Galveston, Tex. (in service for ferrying 31 May-1 Jun 45). Operated as merc. YARDARM KNOT under charter from MC 1946-47, to NDRF 26 Nov 47. Sold by MA to Van Camp Sea Food, Inc (to buyer 24 Dec 72) and converted to a brine freezing and cold storage ship for the fishing industry (non-transportation use, but fully sea going). |
47 |
VALENTINE |
2339 |
Ex merc. PIER BEND. Keel 7 Dec 44. Converted by Todd Galveston DD, Galveston, Tex. (in service for ferrying 25-26 Jun 45). To MC 6 Aug 46, stk. 8 Oct 46. Operated as merc. PIER BEND under charter from MC 1946, to Army 9 Oct 46, to merc. 13 Jun 47, to Army 23 Sep 47, and to NDRF 31 Oct 49. From MC to MSTS 5 Jul 51, reinst. as VALENTINE 17 Jul 51. To NDRF from MSTS 16 Apr 59. Exchanged by MA (title transferred 30 Jan 67, delivered to owner 8 Feb 67), converted to fish processing vessel NORTHGATE. Was ALL ALASKAN in 1977. |
Page Notes:
AF 1944
Compiled: 24-Jun-2004
© Stephen S. Roberts, 2002-2004