USS USS Belle Isle (AG-73) Class

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USS Belle Isle (AG-73) on 13 July 1945.
Click on this photograph for links to larger images of this class.

Class:        BELLE ISLE (AG-73)
Design:        MC EC2-S-C1
Displacement (tons):        5,766 light, 14,350 lim.
Dimensions (feet):        441.5' oa x 56.9' e x 23.0' lim.
Original Armament:        1-5"/38 4-40mm 12-20mm
Later armaments:        --
Complement:        --
Speed (kts.):        12.5
Propulsion (HP):        2,500
Machinery:        Gen. Mach. Corp. vertical triple expansion, 1 screw

Construction:

AG	Name	Acq.	Builder	Keel	Launch	Commiss.
73	BELLE ISLE	15 Nov 44	New England SB	19 Sep 44	3 Nov 44	13 Jul 45
74	COASTERS HARBOR	27 Nov 44	New England SB	4 Oct 44	17 Nov 44	29 Jul 45
75	CUTTYHUNK ISLAND	7 Dec 44	New England SB	16 Oct 44	26 Nov 44	1 Sep 45
76	AVERY ISLAND	21 Dec 44	New England SB	31 Oct 44	13 Dec 44	31 Jul 45
77	INDIAN ISLAND	30 Dec 44	New England SB	5 Nov 44	19 Dec 44	27 Jul 45
78	KENT ISLAND	19 Jan 45	New England SB	19 Nov 44	9 Jan 45	1 Aug 45

Disposition:

AG	Name	Decomm.	Strike	Disposal	Fate	MA Sale
73	BELLE ISLE	30 Aug 46	1 Apr 60	1960	Tgt.	--
74	COASTERS HARBOR	3 Jul 47	1 Apr 60	5 Dec 60	MA	17 Oct 60
75	CUTTYHUNK ISLAND	3 May 46	1 Apr 60	1 Oct 60	MA	15 Sep 60
76	AVERY ISLAND	26 May 47	1 Apr 60	5 Dec 60	MA	17 Oct 60
77	INDIAN ISLAND	11 May 47	1 Apr 60	8 Oct 60	MA	15 Sep 60
78	KENT ISLAND	22 Jun 46	1 Apr 60	11 Oct 60	MA	15 Sep 60

Class Notes:
FY 1944. On 5 Jul 44 the Auxiliary Vessels Board recommended acquiring 54 ships from the Maritime Commission, including six Liberty ships to be converted to combined barracks, issue and distilling ships similar to AG 68-71. These hulls were to be taken incomplete but capable of steaming under their own power for conversion by the Navy. Some or all of the six ships were to be acquired before the end of 1944. MC hull 3076 was originally selected as AG-74, but MC hull 3073 was substituted on 19 Sep 44. They were delivered to the Navy at South Portland, Maine, around 88 percent complete and were converted and fitted out at six different repair yards in the New York area. BuShips appointed H. Newton Whittelsey as design agent for the class.

The conversion features for the class as specified on 21 Aug 44 were based on those of the AG-68 class. They included facilities for 25 officers, 81 CPO's, and 702 enlisted who comprised the repair personnel in addition to ship's company and one 80,000 gallon per day distiller. Shops, storerooms, tool rooms and equipment were provided to permit repair work on board other vessels, and limited general-stores issue facilities were also included. On 27 Jan 45 ComServPac asked for some changes including deletion of the pilot house and addition of bin stowage for 25,000 radio items and a 90-foot boom on number 1 kingpost. On 10 Mar 45 they asked for even more extensive enhancements to the radio and radar support and repair facilities of the ships. BuShips replied on 16 Mar 45 that making all of these modifications was not practicable given the advanced stage of the work on the ships but that many of the requests were in fact covered by the specifications being implemented. The stowage space for spares was less than requested, but the ships were receiving the requested radio and radar workshop spaces as well as a radar antenna test platform on the main deck adjacent to the radar workshops and a 90-foot, 1-ton capacity boom to permit handling radar antennas to and from ships alongside. The ships as completed were thus equipped to serve as electronics repair ships as well as barracks and issue ships. Some of these features were also added to the AG-68 class in the Pacific in early 1945.

Ship Notes:

AG	Name	MCE	Notes
73	BELLE ISLE	3070	Delivered 87.9% complete. Ferry commission 15-18 Nov 44. Converted by Bethlehem Steel, Hoboken, N.J. In USN reserve 1946-60. To AKS-21 18 Aug 51. Disposal approved 3 Aug 60, apparently expended as target late 1960.
74	COASTERS HARBOR	3073	Delivered 87.8% complete. Ferry commission 27-30 Nov 44. Converted by Todd Shipyards, Brooklyn, N.Y. In USN reserve 1946-60. To AKS-22 18 Aug 51. To buyer 5 Dec 60, scrapped by Oct 61.
75	CUTTYHUNK ISLAND	3080	Delivered 88.2% complete. Ferry commission 7-11 Dec 44. Converted by Eureka SB, Newburgh, N.Y. In USN reserve 1946-60 To AKS-23 18 Aug 51. To buyer 1 Oct 60, scrapped by 3 May 61.
76	AVERY ISLAND	3085	Delivered 88.2% complete. Ferry commission 21-24 Dec 44. Converted by Atlantic Basin IW, Brooklyn. In USN reserve 1946-60. To AKS-24 18 Aug 51. To buyer 5 Dec 60, scrapped by Oct 61.
77	INDIAN ISLAND	3088	Delivered 88.2% complete. Ferry commission 30 Dec 44-2 Jan 45. Converted by Bethlehem 56th St., Brooklyn, N.Y. In USN reserve 1946-60. To AKS-25 18 Aug 51. To buyer 8 Oct 60, scrapped by 23 May 61.
78	KENT ISLAND	3092	Delivered 88.2% complete. Ferry commission 19-23 Jan 45. Converted by Todd Shipyards, Hoboken, N.J. In USN reserve 1946-60. To AKS-26 18 Aug 51. To buyer 11 Oct 60, scrapped by 31 Jul 61.