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USS Cabell

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
USS Cabell (AK-166) at anchor, location unknown, c. late 1945.
History
United States
NameCabell
NamesakeCabell County, West Virginia
Orderedas type (C1-M-AV1) hull, MC hull 2111[1]
BuilderKaiser Shipbuilding Co., Richmond, California
Yard number68[1]
Laid downdate unknown
Launched23 December 1944
Sponsored byMrs. W. P. Gilmore
Acquired11 April 1945
Commissioned11 April 1945
Decommissioned19 July 1946
Stricken31 July 1946
Identification
FateSold to Swedish Rederlaktiebolaget Bris, 28 May 1947
Sweden
NameSommen
NamesakeSommen Lake
OwnerRederlaktiebolaget Bris
Acquired28 May 1947
FateSold 1963
Greece
NameDonald
Acquired1963
FateOctober 1963, posted as missing in the Gulf of Aden
General characteristics [2]
Class and typeAlamosa-class cargo ship
TypeC1-M-AV1
Tonnage5,032 long tons deadweight (DWT)[1]
Displacement
  • 2,382 long tons (2,420 t) (standard)
  • 7,450 long tons (7,570 t) (full load)
Length388 ft 8 in (118.47 m)
Beam50 ft (15 m)
Draft21 ft 1 in (6.43 m)
Installed power
Propulsion1 × propeller
Speed11.5 kn (21.3 km/h; 13.2 mph)
Capacity
  • 3,945 t (3,883 long tons) DWT
  • 9,830 cu ft (278 m3) (refrigerated)
  • 227,730 cu ft (6,449 m3) (non-refrigerated)
Complement
  • 15 Officers
  • 70 Enlisted
Armament

USS Cabell (AK-166) was an Alamosa-class cargo ship commissioned by the US Navy for service in World War II. She was responsible for delivering troops, goods and equipment to locations in the war zone.

Construction

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Cabell was launched 23 December 1944, by Kaiser Cargo Co., Richmond, California, under a Maritime Commission contract, MC hull 2111; sponsored by Mrs. W. P. Gilmore; acquired by the Navy 11 April 1945; commissioned the same day, and reported to the U.S. Pacific Fleet.[3]

World War II Pacific Theatre operations

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Cabell made one cargo voyage from San Francisco, California, to Eniwetok and San Pedro Bay, Philippine Islands, between 1 June 1945 and 22 August. She sailed from San Francisco again 8 September with cargo for Eniwetok and Yokosuka Naval Base in Tokyo Bay, where she arrived 7 October.[3]

Continuing with support of occupation operations, Cabell called at ports in the Philippines, and on Okinawa, Saipan, and Guam, before arriving at San Pedro, California, 15 April 1946.[3]

Post-war decommissioning

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Cabell was decommissioned at Seattle, Washington, 19 July 1946, and returned to the Maritime Commission 3 days later. The ship was sold to a Swedish firm and reflagged 1947.[3]

Merchant service

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Cabell was sold to the Swedish shipping firm of Rederlaktiebolaget Bris, 28 May 1947, after they refused her sister ship Amador.[4] She was renamed Sommen after the lake Sommen in Sweden.[2]

In 1963, Sommen was reflagged again as the Greek ship MV Donald. She disappeared, however, later that year, with 26 people and a 5,000 t (4,900 long tons; 5,500 short tons) cargo of iron bound for Indonesia. The ship had last been heard from on 25 August 1963, when the captain sent word that the ship had encountered rough seas in the Indian Ocean.[5]

Citations

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  1. ^ a b c C1 Cargo Ships 2009.
  2. ^ a b Navsource 2014.
  3. ^ a b c d DANFS.
  4. ^ MADAR.
  5. ^ Post-Gazette 1963, p. 1.

Bibliography

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Newspaper resources

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  • "Ship Missing, 26 Aboard". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 25 September 1963. Retrieved 13 November 2016.

Online resources

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