SS ''Albert M. Boe'' was a

Liberty ship Liberty ships were a class of cargo ship built in the United States during World War II under the Emergency Shipbuilding Program. Though British in concept, the design was adopted by the United States for its simple, low-cost construction. Ma ...

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one o ...

on 11 July 1945 at the East Yard of

New England Shipbuilding Corporation The New England Shipbuilding Corporation was a shipyard located in the city of South Portland, Maine, United States. The yard originated as two separate entities, the Todd-Bath Iron Shipbuilding Corporation and the South Portland Shipbuilding C ...

Portland, Maine Portland is the largest city in the U.S. state of Maine and the seat of Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 in April 2020. The Greater Portland metropolitan area is home to over half a million people, the 104th-largest metropo ...

, as a boxed aircraft transport. The ship is notable as the final liberty ship built. She was named after Chief Engineer Albert M. Boe who remained in the engine room acting to control the spread of fire, despite fatal burns, when an engine of the aircraft repair vessel U.S. Army '' FS-214'' exploded. He is credited with saving the lives of other crew members by that action and received the posthumous

Merchant Marine Distinguished Service Medal The Merchant Marine Distinguished Service Medal is a decoration of the United States Merchant Marine (USMM). The decoration is the highest award which can be bestowed upon members of that service. It is awarded to any seaman in the USMM who, on ...

History

''Albert M. Boe'' was assigned hull number 3132 by the U.S. Maritime Commission (USMC), launched on 26 September 1945, assigned official number 248849 and delivered to the

War Shipping Administration The War Shipping Administration (WSA) was a World War II emergency war agency of the US government, tasked to purchase and operate the civilian shipping tonnage the United States needed for fighting the war. Both shipbuilding under the Maritime C ...

(WSA) on 30 October 1945. The ship was a special boxed aircraft transport variant of the standard Liberty with four large holds, rather than the usual five and kingpost lifting gear instead of the usual booms. The C5 design varied in other respects from the standard C1 Liberty: * vice * vice *4,300 Net vice 4,380 Net *490,000 vice 500,000 Bale cubic capacity The ship was operated under a WSA agreement by Wessel, Duval & Co. until entering the Wilmington, N.C. Reserve Fleet on 16 November 1946. ''Albert M. Boe'' was delivered to the

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

on 17 February 1947 and from 30 October 1945 was operated as USAT ''Albert M. Boe'' under bareboat charter from WSA. On 1 March 1950, due to the reorganization into the

Department of Defense Department of Defence or Department of Defense may refer to: Current departments of defence * Department of Defence (Australia) * Department of National Defence (Canada) * Department of Defence (Ireland) * Department of National Defense (Philipp ...

and transfer of

Army Transportation Service The United States Army Transport Service (ATS) was established as a sea-going transport service that was independent of the Navy Department. ATS operated army transport ships for both troop transport and cargo service between United States ports ...

(ATS) ships to the newly formed

Military Sea Transportation Service Military Sealift Command (MSC) is an organization that controls the replenishment and military transport ships of the United States Navy. Military Sealift Command has the responsibility for providing sealift and ocean transportation for all US m ...

, the ship was transferred to

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 ...

and placed in service as USNS ''Albert M. Boe'' (T-AKV-6). The ship supported operations in the Pacific, Korea, transporting crated aircraft, engines, and spare parts. ''Albert M. Boe'' was removed from service and on 22 January 1954 was transferred to custody of the Maritime Administration entering the Reserve Fleet at Olympia, Washington. On 11 March 1954, she was struck from the

Naval Register 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 ...

. The ship was sold on a bid of $65,556.58 for commercial service awarded on 7 August 1964 to Zidell Explorations, Inc. for non-transportation service. The ship was withdrawn from the reserve fleet on 19 August 1964 and converted for use as the fish cannery ship ''Star of Kodiak'' in February 1965. Though currently landlocked, ''Star of Kodiak'' is still in use as the

Kodiak, Alaska Kodiak ( Alutiiq: , russian: Кадьяк), formerly Paul's Harbor, is the main city and one of seven communities on Kodiak Island in Kodiak Island Borough, Alaska. All commercial transportation between the island's communities and the outside ...

facility of

Trident Seafoods Trident Seafoods is the largest seafood company in the United States. It is based in Seattle, Washington. It manages a network of fishing ships, processing plants, and a vertically integrated distributorship of its products. It sells frozen, can ...

References

External links

Merchant Marine Heroes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Albert M. Boe Liberty ships Ships built in Portland, Maine Aircraft transports of the United States Navy 1945 ships