USS ''Tipton'' (AK-215) was an that was constructed for the

US 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 ...

during the closing period 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 ...

. She was commissioned; however, the war ended and she was declared "excess to needs." She was then transferred to the

US Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and maritime law enforcement, law enforcement military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight Uniformed services ...

in 1946.

Construction

''Tipton'' was laid down under

US 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 ...

(MARCOM) contract, MC hull 2169, on 28 December 1944, at

Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin Sturgeon Bay is a city in and the county seat of Door County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 9,646 at the 2020 Census. The city is well-known regionally for being the largest city of the Door Peninsula, after which the county is n ...

, by the Leathem D. Smith Shipbuilding Company; launched on 13 March 1945; sponsored by Mrs. W. F. Maister; transferred to the Navy Department on 7 September 1945; and commissioned on 9 October 1945.

Service history

Upon commissioning, the cargo ship was transferred to the custody of the US Coast Guard for maintenance and operation and was manned by a Coast Guard crew.

Inactivation

''Tipton'' was decommissioned and permanently transferred to the Coast Guard on 4 March 1946. She 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 20 March 1946.

US Coast Guard service

''Tipton'' was renamed ''Unalga'' by the Coast guard. She was one of two MARCOM C1-M-AV1 freighters acquired by the Coast Guard after World War II, along with her sister , which provided service in the construction of the many

LORAN LORAN, short for long range navigation, was a hyperbolic radio navigation system developed in the United States during World War II. It was similar to the UK's Gee system but operated at lower frequencies in order to provide an improved range u ...

stations planned for operation around the globe. She was converted for use as a construction supply freighter at the

Coast Guard Yard The United States Coast Guard Yard or just Coast Guard Yard is a United States Coast Guard operated shipyard located on Curtis Bay in northern Anne Arundel County, Maryland, just south of the Baltimore city limits. It is the largest industrial fa ...

Curtis Bay, Maryland Curtis Bay is a residential / commercial / industrial neighborhood in the southern portion of the City of Baltimore, Maryland, United States. The neighborhood is on steep sloping heights, about four city blocks wide (west to east) and fifteen blo ...

. After her conversion was complete she was ordered to the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Tho ...

. She was stationed at

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

, Washington and used primarily for the construction of the

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S. ...

n LORAN stations. On 28 November 1948 she rendered assistance to the M/V ''Kasilof''. She was decommissioned on 19 January 1950 and turned back over to MARCOM.

Merchant service

On 1 June 1950, she entered the Reserve Fleet in

Olympia, Washington Olympia is the capital of the U.S. state of Washington and the county seat and largest city of Thurston County. It is southwest of the state's most populous city, Seattle, and is a cultural center of the southern Puget Sound region. Europea ...

. Marine Power & Equipment Company, Inc. purchased her on 6 January 1971 for $32,200 to be scrapped. However, she was renamed ''Sea-Alaska'' and converted to a

Fish Factory ship A factory ship, also known as a fish processing vessel, is a large ocean-going vessel with extensive on-board facilities for processing and freezing caught fish or whales. Modern factory ships are automated and enlarged versions of the earlier w ...

owned by Trident Seafoods Inc. She was scrapped in 2007.

Notes

;Citations

Bibliography

Online resources * * * * *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tipton (AK-215) Alamosa-class cargo ships Ships built in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin 1945 ships World War II auxiliary ships of the United States Ships of the United States Coast Guard Tipton County, Indiana Tipton County, Tennessee