USS ''Deal'' (AG-131/AKL-2) was constructed for the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

as U.S. Army ''FS-263'' shortly before the end of

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 ...

and later acquired by the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...

in 1947. She was configured as a transport and cargo ship, classed by the Navy as a ''Camano''-class

cargo ship A cargo ship or freighter is a merchant ship that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's List of seas, seas and Ocean, oceans each year, handling the bulk of international trade. ...

and operated with the U.S. Pacific Fleet from post-

and on through the end of the

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 ...

Construction

''FS-263'' was a Design 381 (Vessel, Supply, Diesel, Steel, 177') U.S. Army Freight and Supply vessel built in 1944 for the U.S. Army by Wheeler Shipbuilding Corp., Whitestone,

Long Island, New York Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

U.S. Army service

''FS-263'' was commissioned at New York on 16 August 1944 with a U.S. Coast Guard crew. The ship departed New York for the Southwest Pacific on 6 September 1944 for operations throughout the war. In August 1945 she was in

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...

awaiting cargo for the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

and during the closing days of the war was in drydock at

Finschhafen Finschhafen is a town east of Lae on the Huon Peninsula in Morobe Province of Papua New Guinea. The town is commonly misspelt as Finschafen or Finschaven. During World War II, the town was also referred to as Fitch Haven in the logs of some U. ...

, New Guinea. After transit to

Oro Bay Oro Bay is a bay in Oro Province, Papua New Guinea, located southeast of Buna. The bay is located within the larger Dyke Ackland Bay. A port is operated by PNG Ports Corporation Limited with limited wharf facilities, located at . History Du ...

, New Guinea during 15–16 August 1945 inspection revealed a cracked cylinder liner causing her to be drydocked again for repairs. The Coast Guard crew was removed and the ship was decommissioned on 12 October 1945.

U.S. Navy service

The ship was acquired by the Navy 2 March 1947; and commissioned at

Guam Guam ( ; ) is an island that is an Territories of the United States, organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. Guam's capital is Hagåtña, Guam, Hagåtña, and the most ...

3 August 1947. She was first classified as a Miscellaneous Auxiliary (AG) then reclassified as a Light Cargo Ship, ''AKL-2'', 31 March 1949.

Pacific Fleet support

While based at Guam, ''Deal'' carried cargo to the small islands in the

Mariana Islands The Mariana Islands ( ; ), also simply the Marianas, are a crescent-shaped archipelago comprising the summits of fifteen longitudinally oriented, mostly dormant volcanic mountains in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, between the 12th and 21st pa ...

, the

Marshall Islands The Marshall Islands, officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands, is an island country west of the International Date Line and north of the equator in the Micronesia region of the Northwestern Pacific Ocean. The territory consists of 29 c ...

, and the

Caroline Islands The Caroline Islands (or the Carolines) are a widely scattered archipelago of tiny islands in the western Pacific Ocean, to the north of New Guinea. Politically, they are divided between the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) in the cen ...

until arriving at

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Reci ...

11 August 1949. She conducted cargo operations from this base to the outlying islands of the

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

an chain,

Palmyra Atoll Palmyra Atoll (), also referred to as Palmyra Island, is one of the Line Islands, Northern Line Islands (southeast of Kingman Reef and north of Kiribati). It is located almost due south of the Hawaiian Islands, roughly one-third of the way be ...

, and

Canton Island Canton Island (also known as Kanton or Abariringa), previously known as Mary Island, Mary Balcout's Island or Swallow Island, is the largest, northernmost, and , the sole inhabited island of the Phoenix Islands, in the Republic of Kiribati. It i ...

until 16 May 1950. She sailed to Kwajalein for a brief period, returning to

3 July.

Korean War service

With the outbreak of hostilities in

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

, ''Deal'' got underway from Pearl Harbor 14 September 1950 for

Sasebo is a core city located in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. It is the second-largest city in Nagasaki Prefecture, after its capital, Nagasaki. , the city had an estimated population of 230,873 in 102,670 households, and a population density of 540 per ...

, Japan, arriving 8 November. She operated as a part of the U.S. 7th Fleet under the control of Commander, Service Squadron 3, in logistics support of the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

forces in Korea, and visited other ports in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

Formosa Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The island of Taiwan, formerly known to Westerners as Formosa, has an area of and makes up 99% of the land under ROC control. It lies about across the Taiwan Strait f ...

, the Pescadores,

Okinawa most commonly refers to: * Okinawa Prefecture, Japan's southernmost prefecture * Okinawa Island, the largest island of Okinawa Prefecture * Okinawa Islands, an island group including Okinawa itself * Okinawa (city), the second largest city in th ...

, and the

until 28 February 1955 when she departed

Yokosuka is a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city has a population of 373,797, and a population density of . The total area is . Yokosuka is the 11th-most populous city in the Greater Tokyo Area, and the 12th in the Kantō region. The city i ...

for the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Inactivation

After a short visit to

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...

, she arrived at Astoria Bay 13 April to start inactivation. She was placed out of commission in reserve at

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

, 8 September 1955 and sold 18 December 1961.

Civilian service

The further history of the ship's history sees her with the name of ''Olga Patricia'' and then ''Laissez Faire'' configured as a "pirate" radio ship off Essex in the United Kingdom housing 5 different radio stations from 3 May 1966 until 5 August 1967, then US court cases followed by allegations of "secret" use from 1971 in the Caribbean with the name of ''Akuarius II''. By 1974 the ship had been sold and converted to a

menhaden Menhaden, also known as mossbunker, bunker, and "the most important fish in the sea", are forage fish of the genera ''Brevoortia'' and ''Ethmidium'', two genera of marine fish in the order Clupeiformes. ''Menhaden'' is a blend of ''poghaden'' ...

vessel and was named the
Earl J. Conrad Junior
' operating for what is now th
Omega Protein
company which for many years operated the ship in the

Chesapeake Bay The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula, including parts of the Ea ...

area

fishery. It was scrapped 2011.

References

NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive – FS-263 – AG-131 / AKL-2 Deal

External links

Published online this omnibus continuing work contains a large number of documented and illustrated exclusive archive materials regarding the entire story of the history of the stations located on board the MV. Olga Patricia (renamed Laissez Faire); with contributions by Eric Gilder from his Don Pierson archives; Grey Pierson from the archives of William Vick; Hans Knot archives, plus individual contributions from many people who were directly involved with the financing, construction and operation of the station in 1966. References to documents supporting the legal disputes and court actions arising from the CEMCO contracts are also found on this site. Pictures are also available showing the original CEMCO transmission mast and shunt-fed cable system installed in Florida, and the mast that was built to replace it and support two cage antennas.

Earlier work which led to the creation of 'A Radio Rose of Texas'. *

Swinging Radio England Swinging Radio England ("SRE") was a top 40 offshore commercial station billed as the "''World's Most Powerful''" that operated from 3 May 1966 to 13 November 1966 from a ship in the North Sea, four and a half miles off Frinton-on-Sea, Essex, En ...

The story of Swinging Radio EnglandSwinging Radio England closes down for the night on 1322 kHz at 2300 hours on November 7th, 1966 with Roger 'Twiggy' Day.Bits of footage of Swinging Radio England from 1966 with a few seconds of Roger Day and News with John Ross-Barnard.In the summer of 1967 Maths Lindgren (ex Radio Syd) visited the offshore stations Radio 355 on the Olga Patricia and Radio London on the Galaxy. Watch John Aston of Radio 355 on air.Anglian TV footage with Ron O 'Quinn, the first Program Director of Swinging Radio England being interviewed onboard the Olga Patricia 1966
{{DEFAULTSORT:Deal Ships of the United States Army Design 381 coastal freighters Ships built in Queens, New York Camano-class cargo ships World War II auxiliary ships of the United States Korean War auxiliary ships of the United States Radio ships 1944 ships