USS Kent Island (AG-78)

Career (USA)
Name:	USS Kent Island
Namesake:	An island in the Chesapeake Bay, Maryland, where a trading post was established in 1631 by William Claiborne
Builder:	New England Shipbuilding Corporation, South Portland, Maine
Laid down:	19 November 1944 as type (EC2-S-C1) hull, (MCE hull 3092)
Launched:	9 January 1945
Sponsored by:	Mrs. Nan Hatch
Acquired:	by the Navy 19 January 1945
Commissioned:	1 August 1945 as USS Kent Island (AG-78)
Decommissioned:	22 June 1946, at Orange, Texas
In service:	19 January 1945 as USS Kent Island
Out of service:	23 January 1945
Reclassified:	AKS-26, 18 August 1951
Refit:	Todd Shipbuilding Company, Hoboken, New Jersey
Struck:	1 April 1960
Fate:	scrapped, 2 November 1960
General characteristics
Type:	Belle Isle-class miscellaneous auxiliary
Displacement:	5,766 tons
Tons burthen:	14,200 tons
Length:	441'6"
Beam:	56'11"
Draft:	23'
Propulsion:	reciprocating steam engine, single shaft, 1,950hp
Speed:	12.5 knots
Complement:	883 officers and enlisted
Armament:	one single 5'/38 dual purpose gun mount, twelve 20mm single AA gun mounts

USS Kent Island (AG-78/AKS-26) was a Belle Isle-class miscellaneous auxiliary acquired by the U.S. Navy shortly before the end of World War II. She was used to transport personnel and cargo and was inactivated and disposed of shortly after the war.

Constructed at Portland, Maine

Kent Island (AG-78) was launched 9 January 1945 by New England Shipbuilding Corporation, South Portland, Maine, under a U.S. Maritime Commission contract; sponsored by Mrs. Nan Hatch; transferred to the Navy 19 January 1945; commissioned the same day, ferried to Todd Shipbuilding Company, Hoboken, New Jersey; decommissioned 23 January 1945 for conversion to a barracks and issue ship; and recommissioned 1 August 1945, Comdr. W. C. Ball, USNR, in command.

World War II-related service

After shakedown in the Chesapeake Bay, Kent Island cleared Norfolk, Virginia, 31 August for duty with the Service Force Pacific Fleet. She arrived Pearl Harbor 9 October via San Diego, California, to commence operations in Hawaiian waters.

She sailed for Okinawa 17 October to receive Navy veterans for transportation to the United States, and returned San Francisco, California, 30 November. Kent Island cleared San Francisco 3 January 1946, transited the Panama Canal, and arrived Hampton Roads 26 January.

Inactivation

Following upkeep, she put into Orange, Texas, 15 March where she was placed out of commission in reserve 22 June 1946. She was redesignated AKS-26 on 18 August 1951 and struck from the Navy List 1 April 1960. Kent Island was sold to Southern Scrap Material Co. 2 November 1960 to be scrapped.

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 - AG-78 / AKS- 26 Kent Island