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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

USS Acontius (AGP-12)


International Radio Call Sign:
November - Juliet - Xray - Quebec
 NJXQ
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (1)
Bottom Row - World War II Victory Medal - Philippines Presidential Unit Citation - Philippines Liberation Medal (1)
Acontius Class Motor Torpedo Boat Tender::
  • Laid down, 5 June 1943, as SS Cape Carthage, a Maritime Commission type (C1-A) hull under Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 304) at Pusey and Jones Corp., Wilmington, DE.
  • Launched, 12 October 1943
  • Acquired by the Navy, 22 December 1943
  • Converted for naval service at Maryland Drydock Co., Baltimore MD.
  • Commission USS Acontius (AGP-12), 23 June 1944, LCDR. Roland G. Heppard, USNR, in command
  • During World War II USS Acontius was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater and participated in the following campaign:

    Asiatic-Pacific Campaign
    Campaign and Dates
    Luzon operation, 3 March to 1 April 1945

  • Decommissioned, and transferred to the Maritime Commission, 22 March 1946
  • Laid up, 22 March 1946, in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, Suisun Bay, Benecia, CA., name reverted to SS Cape Carthage
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 17 April 1946
  • USS Acontius earned one battle star for World War II service
  • Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, 12 April 1965, (PD-X-689) to Nicolai Joffe Corp., Beverly Hills, CA., removed 29 April 1965
    Specifications:
    Displacement 5,236t.(lt) 10,590 t.(fl)
    Length 413'
    Beam 60'
    Draft 22' 6"
    Speed 14 kts
    Complement
    Officers 37
    Enlisted 252
    Largest Boom Capacity 50 t.
    Armament
    one single 5"/38 cal dual purpose gun mount
    four twin 40mm AA gun mounts
    twelve single 20mm AA gun mounts
    Fuel Capacities
    NSFO 8,000 Bbls
    Diesel 360 Bbls
    Gasoline 105,000 Gals
    Propulsion
    one Allis Chalmers geared turbine engine
    two Babcock and Wilcox header-type boilers, 450psi 750°
    double Falk Main Reduction Gears
    three 300Kw 120V/240V D.C. Ship's Service Generators
    single propeller, 4,000shp
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		Size Image Description Source
    Acontius 82k USS Acontius (AGP-12) underway, 24 December 1943, enroute to her conversion yard, two days after delivery to the Navy by the Maritime Commission and the builder. Features not required in the conversion to AGP - including the entire merchant ship rig forward of the bridge - were omitted by the builder.
    US National Archives, RG-80-G, Photo # 80-G-299221, a US Navy Bureau of Ships photo now in the collections of the US National Archives.    		 Robert Hurst
    Acontius
    19-N-68352    		 103k USS Acontius (AGP-12) underway in Chesapeake Bay off Port Covington, Baltimore, MD., 5 July 1944, shortly after completing conversion
    US National Archives, RG-80-G, Photo #s 19-N-68352, 19-N-68351 & 19-N-68353, US Navy Bureau of Ships photos now in the collections of the US National Archives.    		 Robert Hurst
    Acontius
    19-N-68351    		 97k
    Acontius
    19-N-68353    		 120k
    Acontius 108k Aerial view of USS Acontius (AGP-12) taken from a blimp from NAS Lakehurst, N.J. while underway off the eastern seaboard, 12 August 1944. The ship is pained in Measure 31, design 2F camouflage (dull black, ocean green and Navy green). The ship appears complete, note the cradle for repairing PT boats on deck forward under the ship's 50-ton main boom.
    US National Archives photo # 80-G-453343, a US Navy photo, now in the collections of the US National Archives.    		 Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret. and Robert Hurst
    Acontius 213k USS Acontius (AGP-12) at anchor while tending PT boats. Note the PT boat out of the water on a barge on Acontius's port side. Robert Wenzel for his father RT/2c Robert H. Wenzel USS Acontius
    Acontius 178k USS Acontius (AGP-12) at anchor probably in the Philippines while tending PT boats. Note the APL in the background. Robert Wenzel for his father RT/2c Robert H. Wenzel USS Acontius
    Acontius 197k USS Acontius (AGP-12) 1944 or 1945 Christmas card. Robert Wenzel for his father RT/2c Robert H. Wenzel USS Acontius
    USS Acontius (AGP-12)
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
    01LCDR. Heppard, Roland Gerard, USNR23 June 1944 - 31 October 1945
    02LT. Liberty, Franklin Paul, USNR31 October 1945 - 22 March 1946
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
    All pages copyright NavSource Naval History
    Last Updated 18 August 2017