SS ''Mission San Gabriel'' was a Type T2-SE-A2 tanker built for the

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 ...

during

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 ...

. After the war she was acquired by 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 ...

as USS ''Mission San Gabriel'' (AO-124). Later the tanker transferred to 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 ...

as USNS ''Mission San Gabriel'' (T-AO-124). She was a member of the and was named for the Mission San Gabriel Arcángel, she was the only U.S. Naval vessel to bear the name.

Career

Originally laid down as SS ''Mission San Gabriel'' on 31 January 1944 as a Maritime Commission type (T2-SE-A2) tanker hull under Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 1817) by Marine Ship Corporation,

Sausalito, California Sausalito ( Spanish for "small willow grove") is a city in Marin County, California, United States, located southeast of Marin City, south-southeast of San Rafael, and about north of San Francisco from the Golden Gate Bridge. Sausalito's ...

; launched on 17 April 1944, sponsored by Mrs. Ralph Meyers: and delivered on 27 May 1944. Chartered to Deconhill Shipping Company, on 28 May 1944, for the remainder of the war, she supplied oil to U.S. and Allied Forces in the Pacific. Returned to the Maritime Commission in early February 1946, she was transferred to the Reserve Fleet and laid up on 28 February 1946. Acquired by the Navy on 14 October 1947, she was transferred to the Naval Transportation Service on the same day for service as ''Mission San Gabriel'' (AO‑124) and was operated, under charter, by Pacific Tankers, Inc. Upon the founding of the

(MSTS) on 1 October 1949, she was absorbed into this service and continued operations until 28 December 1949, when she was returned to the Navy and laid up at San Diego as part of the U.S. Navy Pacific Reserve Fleet. With the commencement of the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

, the ''Mission San Gabriel'' was taken out of mothballs and placed in service with MSTS on 18 July 1950 as USNS ''Mission San Gabriel'' (T‑AO‑124). She helped support U.S. forces in Korea until 31 March 1954, when she was taken out of service and mothballed at the San Diego group of the Pacific Reserve Fleet. Once again, the faithful tanker’s service was needed and on 8 October 1956, she was taken out of mothballs and placed in service for duty with MSTS. Her service with MSTS was short this time, and on 20 December 1957, she was taken out of service and 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 ...

(MARAD) Reserve Fleet at Suisun Bay for berthing. She was stricken from the

Naval Vessel Register The ''Naval Vessel Register'' (NVR) is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from t ...

on the same date. In early 1966 ''Mission San Gabriel’s'' call to duty came again. Sold to the Hudson Waterways Corporation on 24 June 1966 she was converted into a

container ship A container ship (also called boxship or spelled containership) is a cargo ship that carries all of its load in truck-size intermodal containers, in a technique called containerization. Container ships are a common means of commercial intermoda ...

by Savannah Machine and Foundry and renamed SS ''Seatrain Delaware'', IMO 6621208, on 21 November 1966. In early 1967, she departed the yards and began her new career carrying containerized cargo for

Seatrain Lines Seatrain Lines, officially the Over-Seas Shipping Company, was a shipping and transportation company conducting operations in the Americas and trans-Pacific regions. Seatrain Lines began intermodal freight transport in December 1928 by transporting ...

between the east and west coasts of the United States and to Puerto Rico. On 30 June 1972 the ship was chartered to Tyler Tanker Corp, and in 1973 she was returned to the Reserve Fleet (James River). She was renamed ''Delaware'' on 8 August 1978, and on 16 October 1983 the ship was sold for scrapping in Spain.

References

* * * Hendrickson, David; From Boxcars to Boxships: The Ships of Seatrain Lines; Steamboat Bill No.254, 2005, pp. 89–102, Steamship Historical Society of America. {{DEFAULTSORT:Mission San Gabriel (T-Ao-124) Type T2-SE-A2 tankers Ships built in Sausalito, California 1944 ships World War II tankers of the United States San Gabriel Type T2-SE-A2 tankers of the United States Navy