Please report any broken links or trouble you might come across to the Webmaster. Please take a moment to let us know so that we can correct any problems and make your visit as enjoyable and as informative as possible.

NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive
Contributed by Tommy Trampp

NOAA R/V George B. Kelez
ex
 USNS T-AKL-30 (1950 - 1961)
USAV FS-400 (1944 - 1950)

Camano Class Light Cargo Ship:
  • Built in 1944 as a US Army Small Coastal Freighter FS-400 at Ingalls Shipbuilding, Decatur, AL.
  • Completed and delivered in 1944
  • Commissioned USAV FS-400 with a US Coast Guard crew
  • During World War II FS-400 was assigned to and operated in the Central Pacific area including Noumea, Guadalcanal, Wake, etc
  • Decommissioned by US Army, date unknown
  • Acquired by the US Navy, 1 July 1950, and placed in service as USNS AKL-30 (T-AKL-30)
  • Placed out of service and struck from the Naval Register in 1961, declared excess property at Mare Island, CA.
  • Acquired by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration NOAA in 1962
  • Converted at Seattle for fisheries research and placed in service as the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries Research Ship R/V George B.Kelez
  • Decommissioned at the end of 1972, retained by NOAA
  • Reactivated in March 1973 on temporary loan to the Geological Survey in southern California
  • Reassigned in 1974 to NOAA's Atlantic Marine Center at Norfolk, Virginia.
  • From 1976-1980 Kelez's primarily supported the Marine Ecosystems Analysis (MESA) New York Bight Project, During this time the Kelez was listed with NOAA's Environmental Research Laboratories (1976-77) and Office of Marine Pollution Assessment (1978-79)
  • Decommissioned in January 1980
  • Custody transferred to the Harry Lundeberg School of Seamanship in Maryland for service as the school ship Earl Bull Shepherd
  • Sold for foreign service, renamed M/V Croyance
  • Renamed MV Rest Express in 1997
  • Renamed MV Mon Repos in 1998
  • Renamed MV Croyance in 1999
  • Resold to Omega Protein, Reedville, VA. circa 2006, reflagged US, converted to a menhaden seiner, re-named F/V Smugglers Point
    Specifications:
    Displacement 550 t.
    Length 177'
    Beam 33'
    Draft 10'
    Speed 12 kts.
    Complement 42
    Propulsion two 500hp GM Cleveland Division 6-278A 6-cyl V6 diesel engines, twin screws
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    U.S. Bureau of Commercial Fisheries
    AKL-30 236k Starboard bow view of Bureau of Commercial Fisheries Ship George B. Kelez under way in 1963. The ship served the BCF from 1962 until 1972 when cutbacks forced it to be transferred to NOAA.
    NOAA Photo Library, NOAA Central Library Photo No. theb0358, NOAA's Fleet Then and Now - Sailing for Science Collection.    		 Mike Green
    AKL-30 254k Bureau of Commercial Fisheries Ship RV George B. Kelez at anchor date and location unknown.
    Image ID: ship0036, NOAA's Fleet Then and Now - Sailing for Science Collection, Photographer: Captain Robert A. Pawlowski, NOAA Corps    		 NOAA
    U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
    AKL-30 33k NOAA RV George B. Kelez underway, date and location unknown.
    Image ID: Auke Bay Laboratories photo    		 NOAA
    AKL-30 127k Starboard bow view of NOAA ship George B. Kelez (CRS-41) while in service with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, date and location unknown.
    NOAA Photo Library, NOAA Central Library, Photo No. theb0258, NOAA's Fleet Then and Now - Sailing for Science Collection    		 Mike Green
    AKL-30
    09143008    		 251k George B. Kelez (CRS-41) underway, date and location unknown.
    NOAA Photo Library    		 Tommy Trampp
    Commercial Service
    AKL-30 127k Ex-NOAA ship George B. Kelez moored at Moss Point, Mississippi in 2005. She is moored inboard of unknown vessel Calcasicu Pass. This photo shows the ship, here re-named MV Croyance, deteriorating in an unmaintained condition, but with it's blue stripe still visible on the funnel. The ship was later reconditioned, becoming the menhaden seiner F/V Smugglers Point homeported at Reedville. VA.
    NOAA Photo Library, NOAA Central Library, Photo No. ship1707, NOAA's Fleet Then and Now - Sailing for Science Collection    		 Mike Green
    AKL-30 40k Ex-NOAA ship George B. Kelez in commercial service as the menhaden seiner FVSmugglers Point under way as she searches for menhaden in various areas along the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel system off Virginia Beach, Virginia, 25 May 2007. Photo by Magogman courtesy Shipspotting.com  
    AKL-30 76k FV Smugglers Point under way at Norfolk, VA., 19 December 2016.
    Photo by @copyGary L. Naigle    		 Maritime Traffic.com
    There is no history available for USNS T-AKL-30 at Navsource
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    Activation of the US Bureau of Commercial Fisheries Research Vessel George B. Kelez
    Back to the Navsource Photo Archives Main Page Back To The US Army Ship Index Back To The US Army Freight and Supply Vessel Index Back To The US Navy Service Ship Photo Index Back To The US Navy Light Cargo Ship (AKL) Photo Index
    Comments, Suggestions, E-mail Webmaster.
    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
    All pages copyright NavSource Naval History
    Last Updated 3 March 2023