USS Fairfield (AK-178)

For other ships with the same name, see USS Fairfield.

History
United States
Name	Fairfield
Namesake	Fairfield County, Connecticut, Fairfield County, Ohio, and Fairfield County, South Carolina
Ordered	as type (C1-M-AV1) hull, MC hull 2374[1]
Builder	Kaiser Shipbuilding Co., Richmond, California
Yard number	70[1]
Laid down	1944
Launched	6 February 1945
Sponsored by	Mrs. Henry W. Creeger
Acquired	28 March 1945
Commissioned	28 March 1945
Decommissioned	11 January 1946
Stricken	12 April 1946
Identification	Hull symbol: AK-178 Code letters: NEKE
Fate	Wrecked 18 December 1946
General characteristics [2]
Class and type	Alamosa-class cargo ship
Type	C1-M-AV1
Tonnage	5,032 long tons deadweight (DWT)[1]
Displacement	2,382 long tons (2,420 t) (standard) 7,450 long tons (7,570 t) (full load)
Length	388 ft 8 in (118.47 m)
Beam	50 ft (15 m)
Draft	21 ft 1 in (6.43 m)
Installed power	1 × Nordberg, TSM 6 diesel engine 1,750 shp (1,300 kW)
Propulsion	1 × propeller
Speed	11.5 kn (21.3 km/h; 13.2 mph)
Capacity	3,945 t (3,883 long tons) DWT 9,830 cu ft (278 m^3) (refrigerated) 227,730 cu ft (6,449 m^3) (non-refrigerated)
Complement	15 Officers 70 Enlisted
Armament	1 × 3 in (76 mm)/50 caliber dual purpose gun (DP) 6 × 20 mm (0.8 in) Oerlikon anti-aircraft (AA) cannons

USS Fairfield (AK-178) was an Alamosa-class cargo ship acquired by the U.S. Navy during the final months of World War II. She served in the Pacific Ocean theatre of operations and was decommissioned shortly after war’s end.

Construction

The second ship to be so named by the Navy, Fairfield was launched on 6 February 1945, by Kaiser Cargo Inc., Richmond, California, under a Maritime Commission contract, MC hull 2374; sponsored by Mrs. Henry W. Creeger; acquired by the Navy on a loan-charter basis; and commissioned on 28 March 1945.^[3]

Service history

World War II-related service

Fairfield completed shakedown and fitting out before 8 May, when she arrived at San Francisco, California, to load cargo for Manus, Samar and Calicoan Islands. In early July she loaded US Army cargo at Parang, Mindanao, and was en route to Agusan province when on the 14th she picked up six Filipino guerillas from the wreckage of their boat which had been cut in two and sunk by a submarine.^[3]

Fairfield continued her cargo operations among the islands of the southwest Pacific Ocean through October 1945 when she was drydocked at Newcastle, Australia, for a brief period before being assigned to carry Australian Army cargo from Sydney, Australia, to Borneo, Tacloban, and Manila, Philippines.^[3]

Post-war decommissioning

During December the Navy removed all excess gear and she steamed into Yokosuka, Japan, on the 25th. On 8 January 1946 a Japanese crew came on board for training and on the 11th she was decommissioned and turned over to the War Shipping Administration for disposal.^[3]

US Army service

Fairfield was transferred to the US Army on 5 February 1946, and wrecked on 18 December 1946.^[2][4][5]

Notes

Citations

1. C1 Cargo Ships 2009.
2. Navsource 2014.
3. DANFS 2015.
4. MARAD.
5. "Fairfield (6121046)". Miramar Ship Index. Retrieved 1 February 2022.

Bibliography

Online resources

• "Fairfield II (AK-178)". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Naval History and Heritage Command. 8 July 2015. Retrieved 16 November 2016. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
• "C1 Cargo Ships". www.ShipbuildingHistory.com. 28 August 2009. Retrieved 16 November 2016.
• "FAIRFIELD (AK-178)". Navsource.org. 23 May 2014. Retrieved 16 November 2016.
• "FAIRFIELD (AK-178)". United States Department of Transportation. Retrieved 16 November 2016.

External links

• Photo gallery of Fairfield (AK-178) at NavSource Naval History