USS Camano (AG-130)

Career (USA)
Name:	USS Camano
Namesake:	An island off the State of Washington
Builder:	Wheeler Shipbuilding Corporation, [Whitestone, Long Island, New York
Laid down:	date unknown, as FS-256 for the U.S. Army
Acquired:	by the US Navy, 16 July 1947, at Apra, Guam, as Miscellaneous Auxiliary
Commissioned:	16 July 1947 as USS Camano (AG-130)
Decommissioned:	26 July 1951
Reclassified:	AKL-1, 31 March 1949
Struck:	date unknown
Fate:	fate unknown
General characteristics
Type:	Camano-class cargo ship
Displacement:	550 tons
Length:	177 ft
Beam:	33 ft
Draft:	10 ft
Propulsion:	two 500 hp GM Cleveland Division 6-278A 6-cyl V6 diesel engines, twin screws
Speed:	12 knots
Complement:	42 officers and enlisted
Armament:	Two .50 caliber machines guns, one on Port and one on Starboard side of flying bridge.

USS Camano (AG-130/AKL-1) was the lead ship of her class of cargo ship constructed for the U.S. Army as FS-256 shortly before the end of World War II and later acquired by the U.S. Navy in 1947. She was configured as a transport and cargo ship and operated with the U.S. Pacific Fleet until 1951, when she was turned over to the U.S. Department of the Interior.

History

Camano (AG-130) was built in 1944 by Wheeler Shipbuilding Corp., Long Island, New York; acquired as the Army FS-256 at Apra, Guam, 16 July 1947; and commissioned the same day with Lieutenant (junior grade) J. J. Daly in command.

Following the completion of her conversion on 8 October 1947, Camano began cargo and passenger duty out of Guam to the Caroline Islands. She was reclassified AKL-1 on 31 March 1949.

On 2 June 1949 she sailed to Pearl Harbor for overhaul, then resumed duty at Guam on 24 September and remained there, except for another overhaul at Pearl Harbor, until 26 July 1951. On that date, she was decommissioned and transferred to the U.S. Department of the Interior. Camano was returned to the Navy 22 December 1952. She was struck from the Navy list at an unknown date. Her subsequent fate is not known.

References

• This article includes text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
• NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive - FS-256 - AG-130 / AKL-1 Camano