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NavSource Online: Army Ship Photo Archive

Sturgis (MH-1A)

Non Self-propelled Nuclear Power Barge:

Laid down, 23 June 1945, as the Z-EC2-S-CS Liberty Ship SS Charles H. Cugle at Jones Construction Co., Panama City. FL.

Launched, 13 August 1945

Delivered to the War Shipping Administration, 13 August 1945

Transferred under a General Agency Agreement to Isbrandston Co,, Inc. 31 August 1945

Returned to the Maritime Commission, 24 September 1945 for lay up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, James River Group

Transferred to the National Defense Reserve Fleet, Mobile AL., 12 January 1948

Permanent transfer to the US Army, 15 April 1963

Named Sturgis (MH-1A) in 1963

Propulsion system removed, a new mid-body section was added and a Nuclear Power Station reactor was built into the ship at Alabama Shipbuilding, Mobile AL. in 1963

Delivered to the U.S. Army at Fort Belvoir, VA., 22 April 1966

Towed to the Panama Canal, Gatun Lake, July 1968 where she supplied power to the Canal Zone from October 1968 to 1975

Towed back to Fort Belvior in December 1976, arriving in January 1977

After the fuel was removal and the plant put in safe storage, Sturgis was moored in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, James River Group

In 2014 Chicago Bridge and Iron dismantled the nuclear reactor installed in Sturgis

Sturgis was towed to Brownsville, TX. for dismantling in 2018 and dismantled in 2019

Specifications:
Displacement 9400 t.
Length 441.5'
Beam 65'
Draft 18'

Click On Image For Full Size Image	Size	Image Description	Source
3028003305	75k	Sturgis (MH-1A) underway with the assistance of tugboat *Socrates, probably at Mobile, AL., circa 1963. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Philadelphia District, Steve Rochette*	John Spivey
3028003301	133k	Sturgis (MH-1A), date and location unknown U.S. Maritime Administration photo	MARAD
3028003302	57k	Sturgis (MH-1A) under tow, date and location unknown	MARAD
3028003306	109k	Sturgis (MH-1A) operating in the Panama Canal Zone where it provided power for several years for military and civilian use. *Sturgis, a former World War II Liberty Ship was converted into the first floating nuclear power plant in the 1960s and operated until its deactivation in 1976. Its final decommissioning and dismantling was complete in early 2018 and in addition to safely removing more than 1.5 million pounds of radioactive material the project team was able to recycle approximately 600,000 pounds of lead and more than 5,000 tons of steel and other assorted recyclables. Photo from picryl.com via www.dvidshub.net*	John Spivey
3028003303	104k	Sturgis (MH-1A) moored at Fort Belvoir, VA., circa January 1967. U.S. Maritime Administration photo	John Spivey
3028003307	200k	The Reactor Pressure Vessel from Sturgis (MH-1A), the Army’s retired floating nuclear power plant recently decommissioned, is carefully loaded onto a transport vehicle inside its specially designed shielded shipping container. The RPV and its specially-designed shielded container combined to weigh a total of approximately 80 tons. The RPV’s safe delivery to the designated disposal facility was completed in early June, 2017. Photo from picryl.com by U.S. Army and www.wikimedia.org	John Spivey
3028003304	80k	Ex-Sturgis (MH-1A) under tow enroute to International Shipbreaking Limited in Brownsville, TX for dismantling September 2018.	John Spivey

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This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo

Last Updated 7 February 2025