USNS Mission Soledad
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SS ''Mission Soledad'' was a Type T2-SE-A2 tanker built for the
United States Maritime Commission The United States Maritime Commission was an independent executive agency of the U.S. federal government that was created by the Merchant Marine Act of 1936, which was passed by Congress on June 29, 1936, and was abolished on May 24, 1950. The co ...
during
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. After the war she was acquired by the
United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...
as USS ''Mission Soledad'' (AO-136). Later the tanker transferred to the
Military Sea Transportation Service The 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 U ...
as USNS ''Mission Soledad'' (T-AO-136). She was a member of the and was named for
Mission Nuestra Señora de la Soledad Mission Nuestra Señora de la Soledad (), commonly known as Mission Soledad, is a Spanish mission located in Soledad, California. The mission was founded by the Franciscan order on October 9, 1791, to convert the Native Americans living in th ...
, located in
Soledad, California Soledad is a city in Monterey County, California, United States. It is in the Salinas Valley, southeast of Salinas, California, Salinas, the county seat. Soledad's population was 24,925 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, down from ...
.


Career

''Mission Soledad'' was laid down 12 July 1943 under a
Maritime Commission The United States Maritime Commission was an independent executive agency of the U.S. federal government that was created by the Merchant Marine Act of 1936, which was passed by Congress on June 29, 1936, and was abolished on May 24, 1950. The c ...
contract by Marine Ship Corporation,
Sausalito, California Sausalito ( Spanish for "small willow grove") is a city in Marin County, California, United States, located southeast of Marin City, south-southeast of San Rafael, and about north of San Francisco from the Golden Gate Bridge. Sausalito's ...
; launched 28 September 1943; sponsored by Mrs. Atholl McBean; delivered 16 January 1944. Chartered to Pacific Tankers, Inc. for operations, she spent the remainder of the War carrying fuel to Allied forces in the western
Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...
. She remained in this capacity until mid-February 1946, when she returned to her building yard and was laid up in reserve. Acquired by the Navy 16 October 1947 she was chartered to Pacific Tankers, Inc. for operation and placed under the operational control of the
Naval Transportation Service The 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 U ...
as ''Mission Soledad'' (AO-136). When operational control of this tanker was assumed by the newly created
Military Sea Transportation Service The 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 U ...
on 1 October 1949, she was redesignated USNS ''Mission Soledad'' (T-AO-136). In October 1957, while on one of her voyages to the
Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...
, she received an
SOS SOS is a Morse code distress signal (), used internationally, originally established for maritime use. In formal notation SOS is written with an overscore line (), to indicate that the Morse code equivalents for the individual letters of "SOS" a ...
from the USS ''Merrimack'' (AO-37) after the oiler had lost all propulsion power. ''Mission Soledad'' rushed to the scene and rendered assistance until USS ''Pecos'' (AO-65) arrived and began towing the stricken ship into
Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...
,
India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
. Upon her arrival in the United States, she was returned to the
Maritime Administration Maritime administrations, or flag state administrations, are the executive arms/state bodies of each government responsible for carrying out the shipping responsibilities of the state, and are tasked to administer national shipping and boating issu ...
(MARAD) on 31 October 1957, struck from the
Naval Vessel Register The ''Naval Vessel Register'' (NVR) is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from t ...
on the same date, and laid up in the Maritime Reserve Fleet. The ship was sold to the Hudson Waterways Corporation on 4 November 1966 and renamed ''Seatrain California'' on 7 November. She was transferred to Transwestern Associates, Inc., and renamed ''Transontario'', IMO 6704464, on 27 February 1967. In 1969 she was converted to a
container ship A container ship (also called boxship or spelled containership) is a cargo ship that carries all of its load in truck-size intermodal containers, in a technique called containerization. Container ships are a common means of commercial intermodal ...
at
Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS), a division of Huntington Ingalls Industries, is the sole designer, builder, and refueler of aircraft carriers and one of two providers of submarines for the United States Navy. Founded as the Chesapeake Dry Dock ...
. Upon completion of the conversion she was sold to Greyhound Leasing and began hauling containerized cargo for
Seatrain Lines Seatrain Lines, officially the Over-Seas Shipping Company, was a shipping and transportation company conducting operations in the Americas and trans-Pacific regions. Seatrain Lines began intermodal freight transport in December 1928 by transporting ...
between U.S. west coast ports and Hawaii, Guam and other U.S. Pacific territories. In 1974 ''Transontario'' was leased to Matson, Inc. when Seatrain sold its Hawaiian operations to the Hawaiian-based shipping company. The ship was sold to be scrapped in 1979. During her active military service she was awarded the
National Defense Service Medal The National Defense Service Medal (NDSM) is a service award of the United States Armed Forces established by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1953. It was awarded to every member of the U.S. Armed Forces who served during any one of four s ...
, the
Korean Service Medal The Korean Service Medal (KSM) was a military award for service in the United States Armed Forces and was established November 8, 1950, by executive order of President Harry Truman. The Korean Service Medal is the primary US military award for ...
(five times), the
United Nations Service Medal The United Nations Service Medal Korea (UNSMK) is an international military decoration established by the United Nations on December 12, 1950 as the United Nations Service Medal. The decoration was the first international award ever created by the ...
and the
Republic of Korea War Service Medal The Korean War Service Medal (KWSM, , ), also known as the Republic of Korea War Service Medal (ROKWSM), is a military award of South Korea which was first authorized in December 1950. History 6.25 Incident Participation Medal Originally and te ...
(retroactively). She also received five
battle star A service star is a miniature bronze or silver five-pointed star in diameter that is authorized to be worn by members of the eight uniformed services of the United States on medals and ribbons to denote an additional award or service period. T ...
s for her
Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...
service.


References

* * * Hendrickson, David; From Boxcars to Boxships: The Ships of Seatrain Lines; Steamboat Bill No.254, 2005, pp. 89–102, Steamship Historical Society of America. {{DEFAULTSORT:Mission Soledad (T-AO-136) Type T2-SE-A2 tankers Ships built in Sausalito, California 1943 ships World War II tankers of the United States Soledad Type T2-SE-A2 tankers of the United States Navy