_underway_in_Chesapeake_Bay_(USA)%2c_circa_in_February_1945_(80-G-K-3012).jpg) | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | USSTrego |
| Namesake | Trego County, Kansas |
| Builder | North Carolina Shipbuilding Company,Wilmington, North Carolina |
| Laid down | 14 April 1944 |
| Launched | 20 June 1944 |
| Commissioned | 21 December 1944 |
| Decommissioned | 21 May 1946 |
| Renamed |
|
| Stricken | 5 June 1946 |
| Honors & awards | 1battle star (World War II) |
| Fate | Sold for merchant service, scrapped 27 October 1969 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Tolland-classattack cargo ship |
| Displacement | 13,910 long tons (14,133 t) full |
| Length | 459 ft 2 in (139.95 m) |
| Beam | 63 ft (19 m) |
| Draft | 26 ft 4 in (8.03 m) |
| Speed | 16.5knots (30.6 km/h; 19.0 mph) |
| Complement | 395 |
| Armament |
|
USSTrego (AKA-78) was aTolland-classattack cargo ship in service with theUnited States Navy from 1944 to 1946. She was sold into commercial service and was scrapped in 1969.
Trego was named afterTrego County, Kansas. She was laid down as aType C2-S-AJ3 ship underUnited States Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 1384) on 14 April 1944 atWilmington, North Carolina, by theNorth Carolina Shipbuilding Co.; launched on 20 June 1944; sponsored by Mrs. M. W. Nettles; acquired by the Navy on 4 July 1944; andcommissioned on 21 December 1944.
Trego held shakedown training at Oyster Bay in the Chesapeake/Maryland area in early February 1945. On the first night at anchor the radar operators on duty noticed the ship was drifting towards shore at about 4 knots (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph). TheOfficer of the Deck was notified, but did not believe it. (Radar was new and its reliability was suspect by some). The Captain was woken and told. His response was the Officer of the Deck was in control of the ship. Again when told, the Officer of the Deck did not believe it, but at dawn he saw that the ship had drifted close to shore. The engine room was then accidentally signaled to go full speed ahead rather than reverse and the ship grounded at full speed within 15 feet of the shore. Two days later, tugs pulled theTrego off the beach. The ship was repaired at theBrooklyn Navy Yard, where 22 plates and the screw were replaced.
The attack cargo ship then loaded cargo atNorfolk. She stood out of Norfolk on 16 February bound forHawaii, transited thePanama Canal onWashington's Birthday, and arrived atPearl Harbor on 8 March. The ship unloaded; participated in training exercises for a week; discharged herlanding craft; and on 31 March got underway for San Francisco to replace them and to load equipment for the5th Marine Division which had just returned fromIwo Jima.
Trego discharged her cargo at Pearl Harbor on 19 April; loaded men and equipment of the7th Air Force; and sailed on 2 May with a convoy bound, viaEniwetok andUlithi, forOkinawa. After unloading her troops and supplies at theHagushi beaches between 3 and 11 June, the ship returned to Pearl Harbor. On 19 July, she headed forGuam laden with maintenance equipment and arrived atApra Harbor on 30 July. The following week, she got underway for the South Pacific; picked up equipment atGuadalcanal and at theRussell Islands; and delivered it back at Guam on the 29th.
On 8 September, she headed for the Philippines to join Transport Squadron 20 of the 5th Amphibious Force. She and the other ships of the squadron embarked the entire25th Infantry Division and sortied for Japan on 1 October. However, due to severaltyphoons, the convoy did not reachNagoya until the 28th. The ships began unloading immediately and finished on 1 November. After disembarking their troops, the squadron disbanded; andTrego got underway on 2 November for theSouth Pacific. She called atMilne Bay on the 11th; atManus in early December; at Batavia on 18 December 1945; and at Guam on 11 January 1946. On 18 January, the cargo ship headed for the United States and reached San Diego on 5 February.
She stood put to sea on 29 March, bound for the east coast and inactivation. She arrived atNorfolk on 17 April. Decommissioned there on 21 May,Trego was returned to theWar Shipping Administration the next day and was struck from theNavy List on 5 June 1946 and place in reserve with the James River Group of thereserve fleet atLee Hall, Virginia.
Ex-USSTrego was sold to Lykes Brothers Steamship Company in 1946 but was not withdrawn from reserve until 27 January 1947. She was towed toMobile, Alabama by Moran Towing & Transportation Co. On 9 July 1947 she was finally turned over to her new owners and renamed SSMason Lykes. Lykes sold the ship to Ocean Freighting & Brokerage Corp (a.k.a. T.J. Stevensons Steamship Company) and she was renamed SSFlower Hill. She served under this name until 27 October 1969 when she was sold for the final time to Tung Tan Manufacturing of Taiwan and subsequently scrapped.
Trego received onebattle star for her service inWorld War II
This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be foundhere.