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NavSource Online: Army Ship Photo Archive

USAT Chirikof

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Precedence of awards is from left to right
American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Champaign Medal - World War II Victory Medal

Transport:

Laid down in 1907 as the Passenger ship SS Lurline at Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Newport News, VA.

Launched, 11 January 1908

Delivered to Matson Navigation Co., 18 March 1908

Acquired by the Alaska Packers Association Inc., date unknown, renamed SS Chirikof

Chartered by the War Shipping Administration in July 1940

Re-delivered to the Alaska Packers Association Inc. in April 1941

Re-acquired by the War Shipping Administration, 12 June 1942 and chartered to the War Department US Army Quartermaster Corps.

Allocated to the US Army Transportation Corps, commissioned USAT Chirikof

Decommissioned in January 1946 at Seattle, WA.

Transferred, 6 February 1946 to the War Shipping Administration at Seattle.

Re-delivered, 12 March 1946 to the Alaska Packers Association Inc.

Re-named SS Radnik in 1947

Final Disposition, scrapped in 1953

Specifications:
Displacement 6,509 gross tons
Length 437'
Beam 53'
Draft 25'6"
Speed 11 kts

Complement

Officers unknown

Enlisted, unknown

Troopship Passenger Capacity 1,290

Cargo Capacity 218,079 cu. ft.

Cruise Radius 10,600 nm

Propulsion

two oil-fired geared steam turbines, 2,500 shp

1,900 KW

twin shafts

Click On Image For Full Size Image	Size	Image Description	Source
Commercial Service
301300905	94k	*Namesake* Chirikof - Chirikof Island is located in the Gulf of Alaska approximately 80 miles southwest of Kodiak Island. Name for Aleksei Ilyich Chirikof (December 24, 1703 – June 4, 1748) a Russian navigator and captain who along with Bering was the first Russian to reach North-West coast of North America. He discovered and charted some of the Aleutian Islands while he was deputy to Vitus Bering during the Great Northern Expedition. Aleksei Chirikof sketch courtesy Alaska State Library Chirikof Island satellite photo - ©Goodgle Earth Map - ©Kmusser	Tommy Trampp
301300903	199k	SS Chirikof transporting Alaska Packers Association employees between Nanek, AK. and San Francisco, circa 1937. Photo by Wayne Heinbockel.	Warren Payne, grandson of Wayne Heinbockel
301300904	128k	Three Alaska Packers Association employees including Wayne Heinbockel (center) aboard SS Chirikof while traveling between Nanek, AK. and San Francisco, circa 1937.	Warren Payne, grandson of Wayne Heibockel
USAT Chirikof
	103k	USAT Chirikof moored pierside, date and location unknown	Troopships of World War II
301300902	250k	USAT Chirikof moored pierside at NAS Dutch Harbor, Alaska, 18 January 1942. US National Archives photo # 80-G-398601	Joe Radigan
301300906	279k	USAT Chirikof underway, 22 February 1944, location unknown. Gerhard Muller-Debus personnel archive, Canadian Armed Forces photo	Gerhard Muller-Debus
301300907	352k	USAT Chirikof arriving at Seattle, WA., circa 1945. Photos by LT James W Merchant, U.S. Army Chaplain	Wes Merchant for his father James W. Merchant USAT Chirikof
301300909	481k
301300908	267k
301300910	236k

USAT Chirikof history is from "Troopships of World War II", by Roland W. Charles, Published by The Army Transportation Association, Washington, D.C., 1947

Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
MARAD Vessel History Database

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Back To The US Army Transport Photo Index

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This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo

Last Updated 26 January 2024