''Norma'' (AK-86)Only of the ten-ship ''Enceladus''-class, composed of Maritime Commission N3-M-A1` type small cargo vessels, saw significant naval service. The other nine, except , were transferred within months or days of shipyard delivery from the Navy to the Army. ''Hydra'' was transferred to Army shortly after commissioning and trials. The Navy had assumed administration of the contracts for these ships from the Maritime Commission on 1 January 1943 during or before construction so most were only administratively Navy, including names and numbers, during construction. was never commissioned and thus never bore the USS designation.

Norma Norma may refer to: * Norma (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) Astronomy *Norma (constellation) * 555 Norma, a minor asteroid *Cygnus Arm or Norma Arm, a spiral arm in the Milky Way galaxy Geography *Norma, Lazi ...

is the name of constellation. The ship was built as a

Maritime Commission The United States Maritime Commission (MARCOM) was an independent executive agency of the U.S. federal government that was created by the Merchant Marine Act of 1936, which was passed by Congress on June 29, 1936, and was abolished on May 24, 195 ...

type N3-M-A1 cargo vessel at Penn-Jersey Shipbuilding Corp. intended for naval and

Lend Lease Lend-Lease, formally the Lend-Lease Act and introduced as An Act to Promote the Defense of the United States (), was a policy under which the United States supplied the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and other Allied nations with food, oil, ...

service as M.C. hull 649 assigned the name MV ''Summer Pierce'' before being laid down on 3 December 1943. The ship was renamed and designated ''Norma'' (AK-86), 30 October 1942 intended as an for the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...

. ''Norma'' was delivered to the Navy on 6 June 1944 and transferred to the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

on the same day. ''Norma'' was renamed ''Henry Wright Hurley'' by the Army and began conversion into a

U.S. Army Engineer Port Repair ship The U.S. Army acquired ten ships during World War II as Engineer Port Repair Ships, also sometimes known as Port Rehabilitation ships, for use by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to clear war damaged harbors. The need was anticipated by 1942 for t ...

for service with the

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...

Army Port Repair Ship

The Army converted the ship into one of ten Engineer Port Repair ships for use by the Army Engineers in clearing war damaged ports. These ships were extensively modified with a distinctive appearance the result of heavy lift bow horns with a forty ton lift capacity. The converted ship saw little or no service as intended as it was one of the conversions completed in 1945.

Final disposition

The ship was returned to the

Maritime Administration Maritime administrations, or flag state administrations, are the executive arms/state bodies of each government responsible for carrying out the shipping responsibilities of the state, and are tasked to administer national shipping and boating issue ...

8 August 1947 and sent into the

National Defense Reserve Fleet The National Defense Reserve Fleet (NDRF) consists of ships of the United States of America, mostly merchant vessels, that have been "mothballed" but can be activated within 20 to 120 days to provide shipping during national military emergencies ...

, Suisun Bay, Benicia, California. On 31 March 1965 ''Henry Wright Hurley'' was sold to Zidell Explorations, Inc., Portland, Oregon for scrapping.

Notes

References

External links

United States Army in World War II - The Corps of Engineers: Troops and Equipment - Chapter XVII - Preparing to Reconstruct Ports
{{DEFAULTSORT:Norma Port repair ships of the United States Army Enceladus-class cargo ships Ships built in New Jersey 1944 ships Type N3 ships of the United States Army World War II auxiliary ships of the United States