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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

USNS PVT. Leonard C. Brostrom (T-AK-255)
ex
 USAT PVT. Leonard C. Brostrom (1948 - 1950)

International Radio Call Sign:
November - Lima - Whiskey - Alpha
 NLWA
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

National Defense Service Medal
PVT Leonard C. Brostrom Class Cargo Ship:
  • Laid down, 5 December 1942, as SS Marine Eagle, a Maritime Commission type (C4-S-B1) hull, under Maritime Commission contract (MC 735) at Sun Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Chester, PA.
  • Launched, 10 May 1943
  • Delivered to the Maritime Commission, 18 September 1943 for operation by American-Hawaiian S.S. Co.
  • Laid up, 29 October 1946, in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, Olympia, WA.
  • Reactivated, 27 March 1948, and transferred to the US Army Transportation Service, renamed USAT Private Leonard C. Brostrom
  • Laid up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, Olympia, WA., 27 January 1950
  • Reactivated, 3 August 1950, and transferred to Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS)
  • Placed in service as USNS PVT Leonard C. Brostrom (T-AK-255), 9 August 1950
  • Converted to a heavy-lift ship in 1953-54 at Bethlehem Steel Co., Brooklyn, N.Y.
  • Placed out of service in 1980
  • Struck from the Naval Register, date unknown
  • Transferred to the Maritime Administration (MARAD), 29 May 1980, for lay up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, Suisun Bay, Benecia, CA.
  • Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, 8 June 1982, to A. L. Burbank, New York, N.Y. agents for Eastern Overseas Inc. for scrapping in either Taiwan or South Korea, physically withdrawn, 25 October 1982
    Specifications:
    Displacement 15,589 t.(fl)
    Length 455'
    Beam 62'
    Draft 29' 2"
    Speed 15.5 kts.
    Armament none
    Complement 99
    Propulsion steam turbine, single screw, 8,500shp
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		Size Image Description Source
    Brostrom 34k
    Namesake
    Medal of Honor
    Private First Class Leonard C. Brostrom, U.S. Army, Company F,17th Infantry,7th Infantry Division
    Dagami, Leyte, Philippine Islands, 28 October 1944
    Citation
    He was a rifleman with an assault platoon which ran into powerful resistance near Dagami, Leyte, Philippine Islands, on 28 October 1944. From pillboxes, trenches, and spider holes, so well camouflaged that they could be detected at no more than 20 yards, the enemy poured machine gun and rifle fire, causing severe casualties in the platoon. Realizing that a key pillbox in the center of the strong point would have to be knocked out if the company were to advance, PFC. Brostrom, without orders and completely ignoring his own safety, ran forward to attack the pillbox with grenades. He immediately became the prime target for all the riflemen in the area, as he rushed to the rear of the pillbox and tossed grenades through the entrance. Six enemy soldiers left a trench in a bayonet charge against the heroic American, but he killed 1 and drove the others off with rifle fire. As he threw more grenades from his completely exposed position he was wounded several times in the abdomen and knocked to the ground. Although suffering intense pain and rapidly weakening from loss of blood, he slowly rose to his feet and once more hurled his deadly missiles at the pillbox. As he collapsed, the enemy began fleeing from the fortification and were killed by riflemen of his platoon. PFC. Brostrom died while being carried from the battlefield, but his intrepidity and unhesitating willingness to sacrifice himself in a l-man attack against overwhelming odds enabled his company to reorganize against attack, and annihilate the entire enemy position.    		 Bill Gonyo
    Brostrom 36k USNS PVT. Leonard C. Brostrom (T-AK-255) underway, circa 1954, prior to conversion to a heavy-lift cargo ship.
    US Navy photo.    		 Robert Hurst
    Brostrom 109k USNS PVT Leonard C. Brostrom (T-AK-255) 50-ton booms tower skyward as she steams through New York harbor narrows on a trial run, 14 April 1954. PVT. Leonard C. Bronstrom and USNS Marine Fiddler (T-AK-267) were recently fitted with the giant booms, making them the heaviest-lift cargo ships under the US flag. Both ships are capable of loading and unloading massive and bulky cargo without the aid of shoreside lift facilities. David Wright
    Brostrom 49k USNS PVT. Leonard C. Brostrom (T-AK-255) moored pierside at Kaohsiung,Taiwan, in September 1977.
    Photo by Karsten Petersen    		 Robert Hurst
    Brostrom 117k USNS PVT. Leonard C. Brostrom (T-AK-255) under way in harbor, date and location unknown.
    US Navy photo.    		 Richard Miller BMCS USNR Ret.
    Brostrom 119k USNS PVT. Leonard C. Brostrom (T-AK-255) lightering cargo ashore at Diego Garcia, 23 March 1980.
    US National Archives photo # K-127419, a US Navy photo now in the collections of the US National Archives.    		 Captain Wade Armstrong
    PVT. Leonard C. Brostrom (T-AK-255)
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    MARAD Vessel History Database
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 6 July 2018