USS Adria (AF-30) Class)

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USS Latona (AF-35) circa February or March 1945.
Click on this photograph for links to larger images of this class.

Class:        ADRIA (AF-30)
Design:        MC R1-M-AV3
Displacement (tons):        3,139 light, 7,435 lim.
Dimensions (feet):        338.5' oa, 320.0' pp x 50.0' x 21.1' lim.
Original Armament:        1-3"/50 6-20mm (1944-45: all)
Later armaments:        1-3"/50 4-20mm (1946-48: AF-30, 32-34, 36-37); 1-3"/50 4-20mmT (1947-52: AF 30-33, 36-38); 1-3"/50 (1957-61: AF-31, 33, 38)
Complement:        69 (1944)
Speed (kts):        11.5
Propulsion (HP):        1,700
Machinery:        1 Nordberg diesel, 1 screw

Construction:

AF	Name	Acq.	Builder	Keel	Launch	Commiss.
30	ADRIA	30 Nov 44	Pennsylvania SY	27 Dec 43	16 Apr 44	26 Dec 44
31	AREQUIPA	19 Dec 44	Pennsylvania SY	17 Jan 44	4 May 44	14 Jan 45
32	CORDUBA	30 Dec 44	Pennsylvania SY	7 Feb 44	11 Jun 44	26 Jan 45
33	KARIN	8 Jan 45	Pennsylvania SY	17 Apr 44	22 Jun 44	3 Feb 45
34	KERSTIN	22 Jan 45	Pennsylvania SY	5 May 44	16 Jul 44	23 Feb 45
35	LATONA	31 Jan 45	Pennsylvania SY	12 Jun 44	10 Aug 44	25 Feb 45
36	LIOBA	17 Feb 45	Pennsylvania SY	23 Jun 44	27 Aug 44	6 Mar 45
37	MALABAR	24 Feb 45	Pennsylvania SY	17 Jul 44	17 Sep 44	8 Mar 45
38	MERAPI	5 Mar 45	Pennsylvania SY	11 Aug 44	4 Oct 44	21 Mar 45
39	PALISANA	22 Mar 45	Pennsylvania SY	28 Aug 44	21 Oct 44	16 Apr 45
41	ATHANASIA	13 Mar 45	Pennsylvania SY	14 Aug 44	12 Oct 44	3 Apr 45
42	BONDIA	31 Mar 45	Pennsylvania SY	18 Sep 44	9 Nov 44	17 Apr 45
43	GORDONIA	24 Apr 45	Pennsylvania SY	5 Oct 44	30 Nov 44	14 May 45
44	LAURENTIA	19 May 45	Pennsylvania SY	23 Oct 44	12 Dec 44	5 Jun 45
45	LUCIDOR	15 Jun 45	Pennsylvania SY	1 Dec 44	25 Jan 45	6 Jul 45
46	OCTAVIA	31 May 45	Pennsylvania SY	22 Nov 44	18 Jan 45	19 Jun 45
47	VALENTINE	25 Jun 45	Pennsylvania SY	7 Dec 44	3 Feb 45	17 Jul 45

Disposition:

AF	Name	Decomm.	Strike	Disposal	Fate	MA Sale
30	ADRIA	16 Jun 54	1 Jul 60	31 Jul 60	MA/T	27 Jul 77
31	AREQUIPA	25 Aug 55	1 Sep 61	1 Sep 62	MA/T	18 Dec 72
32	CORDUBA	18 Nov 55	1 Jul 60	30 Jun 60	MA/T	15 Jul 74
33	KARIN	15 Dec 58	1 Sep 61	1 Sep 62	MA/T	24 Oct 67
34	KERSTIN	12 May 50	16 Jun 50	12 May 50	MC/R	1972
35	LATONA	15 Apr 49	28 Apr 49	15 Apr 49	MC/R	14 Jun 73
36	LIOBA	14 Oct 55	1 Jul 60	30 Jun 60	MA/T	18 Oct 73
37	MALABAR	26 Sep 55	1 Jul 60	30 Jun 60	MA/T	27 Jul 77
38	MERAPI	16 Jan 59	1 Jul 60	30 Jun 60	MA/T	22 Apr 66
39	PALISANA	22 May 46	19 Jun 46	22 May 46	MC/R	8 Dec 71
41	ATHANASIA	20 Dec 45	8 Jan 46	8 Jan 46	MC/R	28 Jun 77
42	BONDIA	1973	1 May 73	9 Nov 73	MA/S	9 Nov 73
43	GORDONIA	8 Jul 46	31 Jul 46	8 Jul 46	MC/R	9 Nov 73
44	LAURENTIA	1970	28 Apr 70	19 Feb 70	MA/T	14 Jun 73
45	LUCIDOR	26 May 46	19 Jun 46	28 May 46	MC/R	31 Mar 67
46	OCTAVIA	12 Aug 46	8 Oct 46	12 Aug 46	MC/R	11 Dec 72
47	VALENTINE	Apr 59	16 Apr 59	16 Apr 59	MA/R	30 Jan 67

Class Notes:
FY 1944. These ships were a refrigerated variant of the C1-M-AV1 design, which had been developed in 1943 as small dry cargo vessels to remedy an acute supply problem within the south and southwest Pacific. On 15 Apr 43 the JCS asked the Maritime Commission to build 100 small freighters for use by the Army and Navy. The Maritime Commission ordered an initial batch of 100 C1-M-AV1s in August and September 1943. The basic AK design had a small refrigerated hold aft of the deckhouse, but by December 1943 the Maritime Commission had decided to complete ten of the ships as reefers with two of their three main holds refrigerated. These were to be altered by conversion yards after construction to the standard C1-M-AV1 design. On 15 Nov 43 the Army had asked the Navy to man 25 of the 50 vessels assigned to the Army, and on 17 Dec 43 the CNO advised the MC as to which 75 vessels would be outfitted and manned by the Navy, including 10 vessels to be completed by the Commission as reefer ships. The Auxiliary Vessels Board approved acquisition of these 75 ships on 10 Jan 44.

In initial Navy planning, ten ships building by Froemming Bros., Milwaukee (MC hulls 2141-50) were to become AF 30-39, and MC hulls 2194-2203 were to be AK 168-77. On 15 Feb 44 the CNO noted that the Maritime Commission had not finalized its plans for the AF conversions and cancelled all written references to AF 30-39 until the Maritime Commission announced which ships it would actually convert. In early April the Maritime Commission made the following designations: AF 30-34, building by Pennsylvania SY, Beaumont, Tex., ex MC hulls 2195 and 2197-2200, to be converted at the Waterman repair yard at Mobile, Ala.; and AF 35-39, building by Walter Butler, Superior, Wis., ex MC hulls 2113, 2116, 2119, 2122, and 2125, to be converted at the Avondale Marine Yard, New Orleans, La. In mid-April, however, the Maritime Commission changed this plan in order to obtain earlier deliveries. It decided to assign the first ten C1-M-AV1s building by Penn SY, Beaumont (MC hulls 2194-2203) as AF 30-39 and to have the builder complete them as AFs (now designated the R1-M-AV3 type) instead of converting them later elsewhere. In response the Navy shifted the hull numbers AK 168-77 to the ten Froemming hulls (MC 2141-50) that it originally had expected to become AF 30-39. The last four ships building at Penn SY as part of the Maritime Commission's original batch of 100 C1-M-AV1s, MC hulls 2204-07, remained AK 178-81.

In February 1944 the Maritime Commission contracted for a second group of 100 C1-M-AV1s. On 26 Apr 44 the CNO asked that five of them be completed as R-M-AV3s. He added that the Navy could not furnish naval crews for these but asked that they be allocated for naval use with merchant crews, along with 45 of the dry cargo ships. To simplify their building program, the Maritime Commission designated the next five ships building at Penn SY, hulls 2204-7 and 2332, to be completed as R1-M-AV3s, and the navy accordingly shifted the designations AK 178-81 to four C1-M-AV1s just ordered at another yard (MC 2374-77). On 5 Aug 44 the MC informed the Navy that delays in production of the refrigerating machinery ordered by the Maritime Commission would delay all the R1-M-AV3s by three months. In response the Navy decided to supply refrigerating machinery of its own design for AF 30-39 and install it in fitting-out yards, which would allow maintaining the original delivery schedule for all but the first two or three ships. Subsequently the CNO was informed that a total of seven additional AFs would be required in 1945. In view of this requirement and since Navy furnished equipment was being provided, the Auxiliary Vessels Board on 22 Sep 44 recommended that the Navy acquire MC hulls 2332 and 2204-07, then building at Pennsylvania Shipyards, Inc., along with the two earliest additional hulls to be built there, and specified that they be completed in the same manner as AF 30-39. On 20 Sep 44 the Navy requested the ships from the MC, and on 5 Oct 44 the MC designated MC hulls 2338-39 as the two additional ships to be transferred.

The Navy continued to need even these small refrigerated cargo ships after World War II, and it retained eight ships from the first group of ten in commissioned service into the 1950s. All seven ships of the second group were returned to the Maritime Commission at the end of World War II, but the Navy reacquired three of them in 1950-51 for non-commissioned service in MSTS. Two of these remained in service into the early 1970s.

Ship Notes:

AF	Name	MC#	Notes
30	ADRIA	2194	Keel 27 Dec 43. Converted by Todd Galveston DD, Galveston, Tex. (in service for ferrying 1-4 Dec 44). In USN reserve 1953-60. To NDRF 30 Jun 60, to buyer 19 Aug 77.
31	AREQUIPA	2195	Keel 17 Jan 44. Converted by Todd Galveston DD, Galveston, Tex. (in service for ferrying 20 Dec 44.) In USN reserve 1955-60. To NDRF 1 Dec 60. Sold by MA to Star Kist Foods, Inc. (to buyer 15 Feb 73), and converted to freezing and storage vessel AREQUIPA 1973.
32	CORDUBA	2196	Keel 7 Feb 44. Converted by Todd Galveston DD, Galveston, Tex. (in service for ferrying 30-31 Dec 44). In USN reserve 1955-60. To NDRF 6 Apr 60. Loaned by MA to Army 2 Jan 62 to 10 Jan 64 and 22 Jun 66 to 1 Oct 68 for training stevedores. To buyer 30 Jul 74.
33	KARIN	2197	Keel 17 Apr 44. Converted by Todd Galveston DD, Galveston, Tex. (in service for ferrying 8-10 Jan 45). In USN reserve 1958-60. To NDRF 15 Jun 60. Sold by MA for scrap (to buyer 9 Nov 67) but resold and converted to drilling rig TYPHOON 1967. Was BEN OCEAN TYPHOON in 1976.
34	KERSTIN	2198	Keel 5 May 44. Converted by Todd Galveston DD, Galveston, Tex. (in service for ferrying 22-23 Jan 45) and by Brown SB, Houston, Tex. (in service for ferrying 12-13 Feb 45). To NDRF 1950. Sold by MA under its exchange program (to buyer 10 Aug 72), merc. REEFER STAR 1972.
35	LATONA	2199	Keel 12 Jun 44. Converted by Todd Galveston DD, Galveston, Tex. (in service for ferrying 31 Jan-2 Feb 45) and by Brown SB, Houston, Tex. (in service for ferrying 12-13 Feb 45). To NDRF 1949, to buyer 9 Jul 73.
36	LIOBA	2200	Keel 23 Jun 44. Converted by Todd Galveston DD, Galveston, Tex. (in service for ferrying 17 Feb 45). In USN reserve 1955-60. To NDRF 26 Jan 60, to buyer 23 Oct 73.
37	MALABAR	2201	Keel 17 Jul 44. Converted by Brown SB, Houston, Tex. (in service for ferrying 25 Feb 45). In USN reserve 1955-60. To NDRF 26 May 60, to buyer 19 Aug 77.
38	MERAPI	2202	Keel 11 Aug 44. Converted by Todd Galveston DD, Galveston, Tex. (in service for ferrying 6 Mar 45). In USN reserve 1958-59. To NDRF 11 Dec 59. Sold by MA to Marine View, Inc. (to buyer 23 May 66) and converted to floating fish factory 1969.
39	PALISANA	2203	Keel 28 Aug 44. Converted by Todd Galveston DD, Galveston, Tex. (in service for ferrying 24 Mar 45). Operated as merchant ship under charter from MA 1946-59, to NDRF 3 Dec 59. To buyer 4 Jan 72. Merc. SEA HARVESTER 1978, SPIRIT (operated by Friend Ships) 1985, still active 2006.
41	ATHANASIA	2332	Ex merc. STEVEDORE KNOT. Keel 14 Aug 44. Converted by Todd Galveston DD, Galveston, Tex. (in service for ferrying 14 Mar). To NDRF 1946, to buyer 11 Aug 77.
42	BONDIA	2204	Ex merc. FLEMISH BEND. Keel 18 Sep 44. Converted by Brown SB, Houston, Tex. (in service for ferrying 1 Apr 45). To MC and to NDRF as FLEMISH BEND 29 Jul 46, stk. 28 Aug 46. To Army 30 Jul 47, to NDRF 14 Nov 49. From MA to MSTS 5 Jul 51, reinst. as BONDIA 17 Jul 51.
43	GORDONIA	2205	Ex merc. WHALE KNOT. Keel 5 Oct 44. Converted by Todd Galveston DD, Galveston, Tex. (in service for ferrying 24-25 Apr 45). Operated as merc. WHALE KNOT under charter from MC 1946-48, to NDRF 4 Mar 48. To Army 29 Sep 48, to NDRF 10 Jan 49. To buyer 17 Dec 73.
44	LAURENTIA	2206	Ex merc. WALL AND CROWN. Keel 23 Oct 44. Converted by Todd Galveston DD, Galveston, Tex. (in service for ferrying 19-20 May 45). To MC 18 Jun 46, stk. 3 Jul 46. Operated as Merc. WALL AND CROWN under charter from MC 1946, to Army 4 Nov 46. Reinstated on list as LAURENTIA (T-AF-44) ca. 7 Jun 50, from Army to MSTS 1 Jul 50. To NDRF 2 Dec 69, to buyer 10 Jul 73.
45	LUCIDOR	2207	Keel 1 Dec 44. Converted by Todd Galveston DD, Galveston, Tex. (in service for ferrying 15-16 Jun 45). Operated as merc. LUCIDOR under charter from MC 1946-57, to NDRF 28 Jun 57. Sold by MA under its exchange program (title transferred 31 Mar 67, delivered to owner 3 Apr 67), merc. POLAR PIONEER 1967. To fishing service 10 Jan 72 as MERMAID, to Peru 19 Oct 72 as MOCHICA. Was CARIBEA in 1977.
46	OCTAVIA	2338	Ex merc. YARDARM KNOT. Keel 1 Dec 44. Converted by Todd Galveston DD, Galveston, Tex. (in service for ferrying 31 May-1 Jun 45). Operated as merc. YARDARM KNOT under charter from MC 1946-47, to NDRF 26 Nov 47. Sold by MA to Van Camp Sea Food, Inc (to buyer 24 Dec 72) and converted to a brine freezing and cold storage ship for the fishing industry (non-transportation use, but fully sea going).
47	VALENTINE	2339	Ex merc. PIER BEND. Keel 7 Dec 44. Converted by Todd Galveston DD, Galveston, Tex. (in service for ferrying 25-26 Jun 45). To MC 6 Aug 46, stk. 8 Oct 46. Operated as merc. PIER BEND under charter from MC 1946, to Army 9 Oct 46, to merc. 13 Jun 47, to Army 23 Sep 47, and to NDRF 31 Oct 49. From MC to MSTS 5 Jul 51, reinst. as VALENTINE 17 Jul 51. To NDRF from MSTS 16 Apr 59. Exchanged by MA (title transferred 30 Jan 67, delivered to owner 8 Feb 67), converted to fish processing vessel NORTHGATE. Was ALL ALASKAN in 1977.