USS Gwinnett (AG-92)

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Name: USS Gwinnett
Namesake: Gwinnett County, Georgia
Builder: Walter Butler Shipbuilders, Inc., Superior, Wisconsin
Laid down: 21 December 1943, as Gwinnett (AK-185), type (C1-M-AV1)
Launched: 14 May 1944
Sponsored by: Mrs. Oliva Dionne, mother of the Dionne quintuplets
Commissioned: 10 April 1945 as USS Gwinnett (AG-92) at Houston, Texas
Decommissioned: 11 February 1946, at San Francisco, California
Reclassified: AG-92, date unknown; AVS-5, 25 May 1945
Refit: Port Houston Iron Works, Houston, Texas
Struck: date unknown
Fate: delivered to the U.S. Maritime Commission for lay up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet on 11 February 1946
General characteristics
Type: Alamosa-class cargo ship
Displacement: 2,411 tons
Tons burthen: 6,240 tons
Length: 338' 8"
Beam: 50' 4”
Propulsion: Diesel, single shaft, 1,700shp
Speed: 11 knots
Complement: 105 officers and enlisted
Armament: one single 3"/50 dual purpose gun mount, six single 20mm guns

USS Gwinnett (AK-185/AG-92/AVS-5) was a Alamosa-class cargo ship acquired by the U.S. Navy shortly before the end of World War II. She was found to be excess-to-needs and was placed into reserve.

Constructed at Superior, Wisconsin

Gwinnett (AVS-5) was originally designated AK-185 and was launched as AG-92 under U.S. Maritime Commission contract by Walter Butler Shipbuilders, Inc., Superior, Wisconsin, 14 May 1944; sponsored by Mrs. Oliva Dionne, mother of the Dionne quintuplets.

World War II-related service

After being taken down the Mississippi River to New Orleans, Louisiana, the ship was outfitted at Port Houston Iron Works, Houston, Texas, and commissioned there 10 April 1945, Lt. H. K. Golwey in command.

Soon after commissioning, Gwinnett was redesigned AVS-5 on 25 May 1945. After shakedown in the Gulf of Mexico she was ordered to the Pacific coast for disposal.

Inactivation

Gwinnett arrived San Francisco, California, 25 January 1946. She decommissioned and was simultaneously redelivered to the U.S. Maritime Commission 11 February 1946. Her subsequent fate is not known.

C1-M-AV1 reserve fleet

The U.S. Air Force acquired a number of these C1-M-AV1 ships from the Navy reserve fleet and used them as telemetry tracking vessels on the Atlantic Missile Range in the 1950s and 1960s.

References