Namesake Point Barrow, Alaska Decommissioned 28 November 1991 Launched 25 May 1957 Displacement 9.362 million kg | Laid down 18 September 1956 Construction started 18 September 1956 Length 139 m Builder Maryland Drydock Company | |
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Yard number Maritime Administration contract hull number 43 Renamed USS Point Loma (AGDS-2) circa 1974 Reclassified Deep Submergence Support Ship cira 1974 | ||
The USNS Point Barrow (T-AKD-1) was a one-of-a-kind "Cargo Ship Dock." She was the lone ship in her class, named for Point Barrow (the northernmost point in Alaska above the Arctic Circle).
Point Barrow was laid down 18 September 1956 by Maryland Drydock and Shipbuilding Company of Baltimore, Maryland; launched 25 May 1957; sponsored by Mrs. Ruthven E. Libbey; and delivered to the Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS) 28 May 1958, where she was placed in service the following day. Especially designed for Arctic operations, Point Barrow was constructed along the general lines of a landing ship dock, but with strengthened hull and bow, and special insulation. After providing logistic support for U.S. forces in the Arctic, in 1962, Point Barrow transported huge fixed array radar antennas for the USS Enterprise and USS Long Beach to the East Coast.
After extensive modification in June, 1965 Point Barrow carried Saturn rockets from California to Cape Kennedy for NASA’s manned space flight program. T–AKD–1 also ferried LCMs to Southeast Asia in 1968 and 1969. Reclassified a "Deep Submergence Support Ship" and renamed USS Point Loma (AGDS-2) circa 1974, she was ultimately placed out of service and struck from the Naval Vessel Register 28 September 1993. Custody was transferred to the Maritime Administration for lay up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet at Suisun Bay in Benecia, California. Point Loma was scrapped by Marine Metal Inc. of Brownsville, Texas on 27 October 2006.