The USNS ''Point Barrow'' (T-AKD-1) was a one-of-a-kind "Cargo Ship Dock." She was the lone ship in her class, named for

Point Barrow Point Barrow or Nuvuk is a headland on the Arctic coast in the U.S. state of Alaska, northeast of Utqiagvik (formerly Barrow). It is the northernmost point of all the territory of the United States, at , south of the North Pole. (The northe ...

(the northernmost point in Alaska). ''Point Barrow'' was laid down 18 September 1956 by Maryland Drydock and Shipbuilding Company of

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

; launched 25 May 1957; sponsored by Mrs. Ruthven E. Libbey; and delivered 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 ...

(MSTS) 28 May 1958, where she was placed in service the following day. Especially designed for Arctic operations, ''Point Barrow'' was constructed along the general lines of a landing ship dock, but with strengthened hull and bow, and special insulation. After providing logistic support for U.S. forces in the Arctic, in 1962, ''Point Barrow'' transported huge fixed array radar antennas for the USS ''Enterprise'' and USS ''Long Beach'' to the East Coast. After extensive modification in June 1965, ''Point Barrow'' carried

Saturn Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest in the Solar System, after Jupiter. It is a gas giant, with an average radius of about 9 times that of Earth. It has an eighth the average density of Earth, but is over 95 tim ...

rocket parts and stages from California to the

Kennedy Space Center The John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC, originally known as the NASA Launch Operations Center), located on Merritt Island, Florida, is one of the NASA, National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) ten NASA facilities#List of field c ...

for

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

’s Apollo space flight program. T–AKD–1 also ferried LCMs to

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

in 1968 and 1969. Reclassified a "Deep Submergence Support Ship" and renamed USS ''Point Loma'' (AGDS-2) ''circa'' 1974, she was ultimately placed out of service and 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 ...

28 September 1993. Custody was transferred to the Maritime Administration for lay up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet at

Suisun Bay Suisun Bay ( ; Wintun for "where the west wind blows") is a shallow tidal estuary (a northeastern extension of the San Francisco Bay) in Northern California. It lies at the confluence of the Sacramento River and San Joaquin River, forming the e ...

in Benicia, California. ''Point Loma'' was scrapped by Marine Metal Inc. of

Brownsville, Texas Brownsville ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Cameron County, Texas, Cameron County, located on the western Gulf Coast in South Texas, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border, border with Matamoros, Tamaulipas ...

, on 27 October 2006.

References

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External links

* Salvatore R. Mercogliano
"To Boldly Go Where No Fleet Had Gone Before (Military Sea Transportation Service in the Arctic)"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Point Barrow Ships built in Baltimore 1957 ships Vietnam War auxiliary ships of the United States Cargo ships of the United States Navy