USAT Sea Snipe
From Our Contribution
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| History | |
|---|---|
| Name | USAT Sea Snipe |
| Owner | US Army |
| Builder | Western Pipe & Steel Company, San Francisco |
| Yard number | 84 |
| Launched | 7 Dec 1942 |
| Completed | 29 May 1943 |
| In service | 13 Aug 1943 |
| Out of service | 4 Aug 1971 |
| Reclassified | Type C3-S-A2 |
| Fate | Scrapped August 1971 in Taiwan |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Type C3-S-A2 modified for troop transport |
| Tonnage | 7,870 tons |
| Length | 492 ft (150m) |
| Beam | 69.7 ft (21.2m) |
| Depth | draft 29.4 ft (9.0m) |
| Propulsion | single screw |
| Speed | 16.5 knots (30.6 lm/h) |
Remarks
Aloha State built by Western Pipe and Steel Company, San Francisco, as Sea Snipe for the United States Maritime Commission as a standard Type C3-S-A2 transport ship. The ship was one of the first of the standard vessels modified into a troop transport. USAT Sea Snipe was capable of carrying 2,194 troops and cargo. Its first voyage was to Townsville after which it spent the rest of the war transferring US and Australian troops between US, Australian, New Guinea and South Pacific destinations. She also made five round trips between San Franciso and Australia. With the war concluded, she sailed for Europe and made five round trips transporting US personnel back to USA.
The ship was to later spend 24 years as a civilian transport ship, first as the Edward Luckenbach (1948 - 1959) for the Luckenback Steamship Company, and then as the Aloha State (1960 - 1971) for State Marine Lines until she was scrapped in August 1971 in Kaoshiung, Taiwan.