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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

USAV LT. Walter J. Will (FS-244)
ex
USAV FS-244 (1944 - 1945)

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Precedence of awards is from left to right
American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal - World War II Victory Medal
Aircraft Repair Ship
  • Laid down in 1943 as the Design 342 Freight-Supply Vessel (FS-244), for the US Army at Northwesten Shipbuilding Co., South Bellingham, WA.
  • Launched in 1943
  • Delivered April 1944 to the US Army Quartermaster Corps
  • Allocated to the US Army Transportation Corps, Commissioned USAV FS-244, date unknown, LT. V.A. Molstead, USCGR in command
  • LT W.J. Barry, USCGR, the second commanding officer, assumed command, 1 November 1945.
  • During World War II USAV FS-244 was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater, South West Pacific Area
  • Named USAV Walter J. Will (FS-244) circa late 1945
  • Decommissioned, date and location unknown
  • Transferred in November 1948 to the US Department of the Interior's Fish and Wildlife Service, renamed MV Dennis Winn and assigned to service in the waters of the Territory of Alaska making regular voyages to and from Bristol Bay, transporting supplies and personnel
  • Stationed at Juneau, Alaska starting in 1956 supporting US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Bureau of Commercial Fisheries (BCF) operating in support of BCF management and biological research activities
  • Reallocated to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game in 1960
  • Sold at public auction in the spring of 1961
  • Renamed MV Expansion, home ported at Seward, Alaska, she served as a commercial mail boat and passenger vessel, operating along the coast of the Alaska Peninsula and in the Aleutians Islands
  • Sold in November 1965 to French interests, renamed MV Temehani for service as a transport in the South Pacific
  • Final Disposition, sank near Bora Bora in the Society Islands in French Polynesia in 1982
    Specifications:
    Displacement 540 t.
    Length 148'
    Beam 33'
    Draft 14'
    Speed 12 kts.
    Complement unknown
    Armament unknown
    Propulsion 875-hp (740-kw) Fairbanks-Morse diesel engine
    single screw
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    LT. Walter J. Will
    300724401     		31k USAV LT. Walter J. Will (FS-244) underway, date and location unknown.
    Kodiak Military History Museum photo    		 NOAA Alaska Fisheries Science Center
    LT. Walter J. Will
    300724402     		43k Ex-USAV LT. Walter J. Will (FS-244) in service as the US Fish and Wildlife Service vessel FWS Dennis Winn underway, date and location unknown NOAA Alaska Fisheries Science Center
    LT. Walter J. Will
    300724403     		25k Ex-USAV LT. Walter J. Will (FS-244) in service as served as the Alaska Peninsula and Aleutian Islands mail boat MV Expansion at anchor off False Pass, date unknown.
    Photo by Terry Reeve    		 False Pass City Government
    There is no history record available for LT. Walter J. Will (FS-244) at NavSource
    First Lieutenant Walter J. Will, United States Army Medal of Honor Citation
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 12 February 2021