USS ''Alamance'' (AKA-75) was a in service with the

United States 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 ...

from 1944 to 1946. She was sold into commercial service and was scrapped in 1971.

History

''Alamance'' was named after

Alamance County, North Carolina Alamance County (), from the North Carolina Collection's website at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Retrieved September 18, 2012. is a county in North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 171,415. Its county seat ...

. She was laid down as a Type C2-S-AJ3 ship under 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 ...

contract (MC hull 1405) on 15 September 1944 at

Wilmington, North Carolina Wilmington is a port city in and the county seat of New Hanover County in coastal southeastern North Carolina, United States. With a population of 115,451 at the 2020 census, it is the eighth most populous city in the state. Wilmington is t ...

, by the North Carolina Shipbuilding Co.; launched on 11 November 1944; sponsored by Mrs. Carl T. Durham; acquired by the Navy on 22 December 1944; and placed in commission on that same day.

World War II, 1945

Following shakedown in the

Chesapeake Bay The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The Bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula (including the parts: the Eastern Shore of Maryland / ...

area, the attack cargo ship got underway for the Pacific theater on 12 February 1945. She transited the

Panama Canal The Panama Canal ( es, Canal de Panamá, link=no) is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean and divides North and South America. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a condui ...

on the 18th and proceeded to

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the R ...

. Upon arriving there, the vessel reported to Transport Division 65 for duty. During the remainder of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, ''Alamance'' shuttled cargo and personnel from Pearl Harbor to ports in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

Eniwetok Enewetak Atoll (; also spelled Eniwetok Atoll or sometimes Eniewetok; mh, Ānewetak, , or , ; known to the Japanese as Brown Atoll or Brown Island; ja, ブラウン環礁) is a large coral atoll of 40 islands in the Pacific Ocean and with i ...

, Saipan,

Palau Islands Palau,, officially the Republic of Palau and historically ''Belau'', ''Palaos'' or ''Pelew'', is an island country and microstate in the western Pacific. The nation has approximately 340 islands and connects the western chain of the Caro ...

, and

Ulithi Ulithi ( yap, Wulthiy, , or ) is an atoll in the Caroline Islands of the western Pacific Ocean, about east of Yap. Overview Ulithi consists of 40 islets totaling , surrounding a lagoon about long and up to wide—at one of the larges ...

. During the last month of the war, the ship operated out of Pearl Harbor on amphibious training exercises.

Post-war activities, 1945–1946

On 1 September, she sailed for the Marianas where she joined a convoy transporting occupation forces to Japan. She arrived at

Sasebo is a core city located in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. It is also the second largest city in Nagasaki Prefecture, after its capital, Nagasaki. On 1 June 2019, the city had an estimated population of 247,739 and a population density of 581 persons p ...

on the 22nd and discharged personnel and equipment of the

5th Marine Division The 5th Marine Division was a United States Marine Corps ground combat division which was activated on 11 November 1943 (officially activated on 21 January 1944) at Camp Pendleton, California during World War II. The 5th Division saw its firs ...

. She then steamed on to Lingayen Gulf to load more troops. ''Alamance'' returned to Sasebo on 18 October. After the embarked Army troops left the ship, she began the long journey back to American waters, stopping at

Buckner Bay is a bay on the southern coast of Okinawa Island on the Pacific Ocean in Japan. The bay covers and ranges between to deep. The bay is surrounded by the municipalities of Uruma, Kitanakagusuku, Nakagusuku, Nishihara, Yonabaru, Nanjō, a ...

, Okinawa, en route, before continuing on to the west coast. The ship reached

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the list of cities in Oregon, largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, Columbia rivers, Portland is ...

, on 14 November. A period of repair work was begun. Returning to duty in early 1946, ''Alamance'' touched back at Pearl Harbor on 26 January. For the remainder of her naval career, she transported personnel from the various island bases to Pearl Harbor for eventual routing on to the United States in other ships. ''Alamance'', herself, returned to the west coast of the United States in April. She transited the Panama Canal once again and finally anchored at

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

, on 13 May.

Decommissioning

The ship was placed out of commission at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth, Virginia, on 25 June 1946; she was returned to the

for disposal. Her name was struck from the

Navy List A Navy Directory, formerly the Navy List or Naval Register is an official list of naval officers, their ranks and seniority, the ships which they command or to which they are appointed, etc., that is published by the government or naval autho ...

on 19 July 1946.

Civilian service and fate

Ex-USS ''Alamance'' was sold for commercial service in 1947 to Prudential Lines and renamed SS ''Southstar''. She served under that name for about 14 years before being sold to another line. Purchase and sale records are spotty at best, but she was sold in 1961 and renamed SS ''American Supplier'', in 1963 (presumably to the Alcoa Aluminum Company) and named SS ''Alcoa Voyager'', in 1969 and named SS ''Columbia Fox'', and again in 1971 being renamed for the final time as SS ''Antillian Fox''. Later in 1971 the former AKA met her end, being scrapped in Taiwan.

References

*
Ship History at NavSource.

External links

*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alamance (AKA-75) Tolland-class attack cargo ships Alamance County, North Carolina World War II amphibious warfare vessels of the United States Ships built in Wilmington, North Carolina 1944 ships