USNS ''Sgt. Jonah E. Kelley'' (T-APC-116), was originally built as ''Link Splice'' under a

United States 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 ...

contract (MC hull 2489) and was laid down on 29 January 1945 by the Southeastern Shipbuilding Corporation in

Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and is the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the Kingdom of Great Br ...

. She was launched on 17 March 1945, sponsored by Mrs. L. W. Grothaus and delivered to the

War Shipping Administration The War Shipping Administration (WSA) was a World War II emergency war agency of the US government, tasked to purchase and operate the civilian shipping tonnage the United States needed for fighting the war. Both shipbuilding under the Maritime Co ...

for operation by the Moore McCormack Lines on 28 August 1945. Less than a year later, ''Link Splice'' was returned to the WSA and on 20 June 1946, she was transferred to the

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

for use as a coastal cargo ship. Renamed USAT ''Sgt. Jonah E. Kelley'' on 31 October 1947, the ship served the

Army Transportation Service The United States Army Transport Service (ATS) was established as a sea-going transport service that was independent of the Navy Department. ATS operated army transport ships for both troop transport and cargo service between United States ports ...

as an XAKc until the spring of 1948. Conversion followed; and during her last year of Army service, she carried passengers and cargo. In October 1949, the

Military Sea Transportation Service Military Sealift Command (MSC) is an organization that controls the replenishment and military transport ships of the United States Navy. Military Sealift Command has the responsibility for providing sealift and ocean transportation for all US m ...

(MSTS) was established. Five months later, the converted C1-MK-AV1 was transferred to the US Navy for MSTS use and placed in service as USNS ''Sgt. Jonah E. Kelley'' (T-APC-116). Assigned to

North Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Africa, Europe and ...

operations, for almost a decade, she carried passengers and limited cargo from east coast ports, primarily

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, to northern bases, primarily

Argentia Argentia ( ) is a Canadian commercial seaport and industrial park located in the Town of Placentia, Newfoundland and Labrador. It is situated on the southwest coast of the Avalon Peninsula and defined by a triangular shaped headland which r ...

and

St. John's, Newfoundland St. John's is the capital and largest city of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador, located on the eastern tip of the Avalon Peninsula on the island of Newfoundland. The city spans and is the easternmost city in North America ...

. In November 1959, her passenger service was discontinued; and she commenced cargo runs between the same ports which, with few interruptions, she continued for another 10 years. Cargo handling equipment was composed of one 30 ton and two 10 ton booms. The ship could be quickly converted to include passengers with capacity for 81 troops in 21 cabins. In November 1969, ''Sgt. Jonah E. Kelley'' was replaced by USNS ''Mirfak'' (T-AK-271); and, on the 24th, she returned to New York for the last time. She was then placed out of service and inactivation was begun. In late December, she was shifted to Norfolk; and, on the 22d, she was transferred 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 ...

for berthing in the

James River The James River is a river in the U.S. state of Virginia that begins in the Appalachian Mountains and flows U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed April 1, 2011 to Chesapea ...

unit of 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 ...

. On 3 October 1972 the ship was sold for scrapping to

Union Minerals and Alloys Corporation Union Minerals and Alloys Corporation was a United States corporation that ran a shipbreaking operation. In the 1960s and 1970s it purchased many surplus U.S. Navy and U.S. Merchant Marine ships from World War II from the United States Mari ...

for $25,000. On 6 December the ship was delivered to the company for scrapping.

References

External links

Photo gallery
at navsource.org {{DEFAULTSORT:Sgt. Jonah E. Kelley (T-Apc-116) Type C1-M ships Ships built in Savannah, Georgia 1945 ships Ships of the United States Army World War II merchant ships of the United States Type C1-M ships of the United States Army Sgt. Jonah E. Kelley-class transports