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

USS Avery Island (AG-76)

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - American Campaign Medal
Bottom Row - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp)
Basilan Class Miscellaneous Auxiliary:
  • Laid down, 31 October 1944, as a Maritime Commission type (EC2-S-C1) hull, under Maritime Commission contract (MCE hull 3085) at New England Shipbuilding Corp., South Portland, ME.
  • Launched, 13 December 1944
  • Acquired by the US Navy and placed in reduced commission, 20 December 1944, for transit to her conversion yard, LCDR. James. H. Graves, Jr., USNR (Aux Ship Ferry Crew #5) in command
  • Decommissioned, 24 December 1944, at Atlantic Basin Iron Works, Brooklyn, N.Y.
  • Commissioned USS Avery Island (AG-76), 31 July 1945, at New York Navy Yard
  • During World War II USS Avery Island was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater
  • Following World War II USS Avery Island was assigned to Occupation service in the Far East from 5 to 17 November 1945
  • USS Avery Island was assigned to Joint Task Force 1, Task Unit 1.1.2 (Technical Group - Instrumentation Units) for Operation Crossroads the atomic bomb tests at Bikini Atoll in July 1946
  • Decommissioned, 27 May 1947, at San Pedro, CA.
  • Laid up in the Pacific Reserve Fleet, San Diego Group
  • Redesignated General Stores Issue Ship (AKS-24), 18 August 1951
  • Struck from the Naval Register, date unknown
  • Transferred to the Maritime Administration, 4 January 1960, for lay up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet
  • Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, 5 December 1960, at San Diego, CA., to Hugo Neu Steel Products Inc., scrapped at Sakai Japan in 1961
    Specifications:
    Displacement 5,371 t.(lt) 14,350 t.(fl)
    Length 441' 6"
    Beam 56' 11"
    Draft 23' (lim)
    Speed 12.5 kts. (trial)
    Complement
    Officers 46
    Enlisted 862
    Largest Boom Capacity 36 t.
    Armament
    one single 5"/38 cal dual purpose gun mount
    four single 40mm AA gun mounts
    eight single 20mm AA gun mounts
    Fuel Capacities
    NSFO 7,400 Bbls
    Diesel 1,470 Bbls
    Propulsion
    One General Machine Corp. vertical triple-expansion reciprocating engine
    two Babcock and Wilcox header-type boilers, 220psi 450°
    Ship's Service Generators
    three Diesel-drive 350Kw 450V A,C,
    two turbo-drive 60Kw 120V D.C.
    single propeller, 2,500shp
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed By/Source
    Avery Island 114k USS Avery Island (AG-76) at anchor in San Francisco Bay, circa 1945-1946. After one voyage to Japan in late 1945, this ship was refitted at San Francisco between December 1945 and May 1946 to support Operation "Crossroads." She returned to San Francisco in August 1946 to begin a lengthy decommissioning process that included radiological decontamination in November 1946.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 82216, courtesy Shipscribe.com.    		 Robert Hurst and Courtesy Avery Island, Inc., Archives,
    Avery Island, LA.
    Safeguard 425k Aerial view of the south end of Mare Island Naval Ship, between 12 and 19 September 1946. Ships present include:
    USS Oklahoma City (CL-91)
    USS Safeguard (ARS-25)
    USS Avery Island (AG-76)
    USS Quapaw (ATF-110)
    USS Eldorado (AGC-11)
    USS Barricade (ACM-3)
    USS Fieberling (DE-640)
    AFD-6
    USS Alfred A. Cunningham (DD-752) and
    Endicott (YM-12)
    Safeguard and Avery Island were at the yard for decontamination from the Bikini Island tests. Oklahoma City is about to be decommissioned; Barricade is about to be turned over to Coast Guard; Endicott dredging berth 18 and the others are in for repairs.
    US Navy photo courtesy of the Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum.    		 Darryl Baker
    Avery Island (AG-76 / AKS-24)
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
     LCDR. Graves Jr., James Henry, USNR20 December 1944 - 24 December 1944
     Decommissioned24 December 1944 - 31 July 1945
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    MARAD Vessel History Database
    Back To The Main Photo Index Back To The Service Ship Photo Index Back To the Miscellaneous Auxiliary (AG) Photo Index Back To the General Stores Issue Ship (AKS) 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 19 February 2016