USS Manasquan (AG-36) Class

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USS Menemsha (AG-39) on 22 January 1942
Click on this photograph for links to larger images of this class.

Class:        MANASQUAN (AG-36)
Design:        EFC 1044 (Laker)
Displacement (tons):        2,580 std., 3,900 full
Dimensions (feet):        261.0' oa, 251.0' pp x 43.5' e x 16.4' mx
Original Armament:        1-4"/50 (1942-43: AG-36, 39-40)
Later armaments:        1-4"/50 fwd, 1-3"/50 aft (1942: AG-36); 1-4"/50 1-3"/50 4-20mm (1943: AG 36, 39-40);
1-5"/38 2-4"/50 2-3"/50 4-20mm (1943-44: AG 39-40);
2-4"/50 2-3"/50 4-20mm (1944: AG-39)
Complement:        133 (AG-40, 1944)
Speed (kts.):        10
Propulsion (HP):        1,200
Machinery:        Triple expansion, 1 screw

Construction:

AG	Name	Acq.	Builder	Keel	Launch	Commiss.
36	MANASQUAN	14 Oct 41	Toledo SB	31 Dec 17	25 May 18	2 Apr 42
39	MENEMSHA	19 Sep 41	McDougall-Duluth SB	30 Mar 18	31 Jul 18	20 Jan 42
40	MONOMOY	15 Sep 41	Globe SB, Superior	16 Apr 18	29 Aug 18	24 Dec 41

Disposition:

AG	Name	Decomm.	Strike	Disposal	Fate	MA Sale
36	MANASQUAN	22 Feb 45	30 Oct 43	22 Oct 43	USCG	3 Apr 46
39	MENEMSHA	24 Sep 45	30 Oct 43	22 Oct 43	USCG	13 Feb 51
40	MONOMOY	12 Oct 45	30 Oct 43	22 Oct 43	USCG	13 Feb 51

Class Notes:
FY 1942. These vessels were Laker-type cargo ships built to a variant of the Norwegian "Fredrickstad" design (later designated EFC Design 1044) and requisitioned by the Shipping Board in 1917 while under construction. Ships of this design had an unusual rig, copied from contemporary small freighters in the Baltic Sea, with masts on the forecastle and poop and kingpost pairs at each end of the amidships superstructure. See the AG-45 class for two near sister ships that were used as interisland cargo ships.

On 8 Jul 41 the Navy asked President Roosevelt for authority to acquired five old Laker-type freighters for operation by the Coast Guard as North Atlantic weather patrol ships to release for other missions the four 327-foot CAMPBELL class Coast Guard cutters then performing this duty. The President approved the plan on 23 Jul 41, the Navy asked the Maritime Commission for the ships on 26 Jul 41, and on 11 Aug 41 (30 Jul 41 for AG-36) CNO directed BuShips to acquire the vessels. The Navy designated them AG 36-40 and the Coast Guard prepared the specifications for the conversions. AG 36, 39, and 40 completed their weather ship conversions and were commissioned with Coast Guard crews. The conversions of the other two ships, AG 37-38, and their assignments to the Coast Guard were cancelled in December 1941 and they became AK-51 and AP-75 (q.v.).

The ships (AG-36, 39-40, plus 47-48, q.v.) were Navy owned but loaned to the Coast Guard for operation and administration and were neither in service nor in commission in the Navy (the commissioning and decommissioning dates in the table are Coast Guard dates). These arrangements led to confusion over who would assume the logistics of the vessels, and to clarify the status of the vessels CNO on 22 Oct 43 instructed BuShips to transfer the jurisdiction of the ships for all logistic purposes to the Coast Guard. As a result BuShips cancelled the Navy classifications of the ships and removed them from the list of naval vessels.

The assignment of all three ships to weather duty was cancelled on 14 Jul 43. MANASQUAN was ordered to the Coast Guard Academy at New London, Conn., to provide cadet, sound, and radar training. On 7 Oct 44 she collided with the collier EDWARD PEIRCE and damaged her bow. Because the Coast Guard already planned to decommission her soon she was not repaired but was allowed to continue training duty within Long Island Sound. She was replaced by GOVERNOR COBB in November and on 16 Dec 44 was ordered to New York for disposal. She was decommissioned on 22 Feb 45 at Staten Island.

MONOMOY received orders on 6 Aug 43 to proceed to Norfolk for duty as training vessel at the Armed Guard school at Little Creek, Va. MENEMSHA was probably retained on weather duty for an additional cruise and received similar orders on 29 Oct 43. Both were sent to the Coast Guard Yard, Curtis Bay, for overhaul and conversion. They received heavy armaments of 1-5"/38, 2-4"/50, and 2-3"/50 plus 4-20mm AA guns. MONOMOY was converted between 13 Aug 43 and 16 Oct 43 and MENEMSHA was converted between 29 Oct 43 and mid-January 1944. Between February and December 1944 MONOMOY was detailed to Gulfport, Miss., to train Armed Guard crews there. The assignment of both ships to the Little Creek Armed Guard school was cancelled on 18 Aug 45. On 24 Sep 45 MENEMSHA was decommissioned at the Coast Guard Repair Base, Berkeley, Norfolk, Virginia, where she was retained until 15 Mar 46 as a barracks ship for an overflow of personnel at the Coast Guard receiving station there. She was moved to the MC James River reserve fleet on 30 Aug 46. MONOMOY decommissioned at the Coast Guard Yard, Curtis Bay, on 12 Oct 45 and arrived in the James River on 9 Sep 46 after a difficult tow from Curtis Bay.

Ship Notes:

AG	Name	Notes
36	MANASQUAN	Ex merc. AETNA, initially LAKE CATHERINE (ID-3568, completed 6 Jul 18) ex ARTHUR R. LEWIS. Served in USN as LAKE CATHERINE (ID # 3568) 4 Oct 18 - 15 Aug 19 (to be listed separately). Converted by Bethlehem Steel, Atlantic Works, East Boston, Mass. USCG MANASQUAN (WAG-273) 1943. To buyer 17 Apr 46, scrapped by 26 Dec 46.
39	MENEMSHA	Ex merc. JOHN GEHM, initially LAKE ORANGE (ID-4215D, completed 29 Oct 18). Converted by Maryland DD, Baltimore, Md. USCG MENEMSHA (WAG-274) 1943. To MC (NDRF, James R.) 30 Aug 46, to buyer 21 Mar 51, scrapped by 7 Jan 52.
40	MONOMOY	Ex merc. J. FLOYD MASSEY JR., initially LAKE ARLINE (ID-4155, completed 18 Oct 18). Converted by Maryland DD, Baltimore, Md. USCG MONOMOY (WAG-275) 1943. To MC (NDRF, James R.) 9 Sep 46 from USCG, to buyer 21 Mar 51, scrapped by 21 Aug 51.