USS Schuyler (AK-209)

Career (USA)
Name:	Schuyler
Namesake:	Counties in New York, Illinois, and Missouri
Ordered:	as type (C1-M-AV1) hull, MC hull 2163
Builder:	Leatham D. Smith Shipbuilding Co., Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin
Laid down:	27 May 1944
Launched:	date unknown
Sponsored by:	Miss Marilyn Hughes
Acquired:	by the U.S. Navy, 20 June 1945
Commissioned:	13 July 1945 as USS Schuyler (AK-209) at Galveston, Texas
Decommissioned:	27 March 1946, at Yokosuka, Japan
Struck:	5 June 1946
Fate:	sold for scrapping, 5 February 1971
General characteristics
Type:	Alamosa-class cargo ship
Tonnage:	2,382 tons
Tons burthen:	7,435 tons
Length:	388' 8"
Beam:	50'
Draft:	21' 1"
Propulsion:	Diesel, single screw, 1,700shp
Speed:	11.5 knots
Complement:	85 officers and enlisted
Armament:	one 3"/50 dual purpose gun mount; six 20mm guns

USS Schuyler (AK-209) was an Alamosa-class cargo ship that was constructed for the U.S. Navy during the closing period of World War II. She served with distinction in the Pacific Ocean theatre of operations and returned home in 1946 to be placed into the “mothball” fleet where she silently remained until she was scrapped in 1971.

Built in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin

Schuyler (AK-209) was laid down under U.S. Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 2163) on 27 May 1944 by Leathern D. Smith Shipbuilding Co., Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin; sponsored by Miss Marilyn Hughes; acquired by the Navy on 20 June 1945; and commissioned on 13 July 1945, at Galveston, Texas, Lt. B. G. Fold, USNR, in command.

World War II service

Schuyler loaded cargo at Gulfport, Mississippi, and Mobile, Alabama, and sailed from the latter port on 9 August 1945 for the Pacific Ocean. She arrived at Leyte on 28 September; but, due to the end of the war, neither the cargo nor the ship was required there. She remained in the Philippine Islands until the cargo was purchased by the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration for distribution in China.

The ship then proceeded to Shanghai and discharged her cargo there between 18 January and 22 March. She arrived at Yokosuka on 27 March, was decommissioned and simultaneously returned to the War Shipping Administration on 22 April 1946, and struck from the Navy list on 5 June 1946.

Post-war inactivation

After service under charter to the Japanese government, the ship was laid up on 10 December 1954 in the National Defense Reserve Fleet at Olympia, Washington, where she remained until sold on 5 February 1971 for scrapping.

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 - AK-209 Schuyler