Name Tipton Laid down 28 December 1944 Launched 13 March 1945 | Yard number 335 Construction started 28 December 1944 | |
Namesake Tipton County, Indiana, and
Tipton County, Tennessee Ordered as type (C1-M-AV1) hull, MC hull 2169 Builder Leathem D. Smith Shipbuilding Company, Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin | ||
USS Tipton (AK-215) was an Alamosa-class cargo ship that was constructed for the US Navy during the closing period of World War II. She was commissioned; however, the war ended and she was declared "excess to needs." She was then transferred to the US Coast Guard in 1946.
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Construction
Tipton was laid down under US Maritime Commission (MARCOM) contract, MC hull 2169, on 28 December 1944 at Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, by the Leathem D. Smith Shipbuilding Company; launched on 13 March 1945; sponsored by Mrs. W. F. Maister; transferred to the Navy Department on 7 September 1945; and commissioned on 9 October 1945, Lieutenant Commander H. E. Gray, USCGR, in command.
Service history
Upon commissioning, the cargo ship was transferred to the custody of the US Coast Guard for maintenance and operation and was manned by a Coast Guard crew.
Inactivation
Tipton was decommissioned and permanently transferred to the Coast Guard on 4 March 1946. She was struck from the Navy list on 20 March 1946.
US Coast Guard service
Tipton was renamed Unalga by the Coast guard. She was one of two MARCOM C1-M-AV1 freighters acquired by the Coast Guard after World War II, along with her sister Kukui, which provided service in the construction of the many LORAN stations planned for operation around the globe.
She was converted for use as a construction supply freighter at the Coast Guard Yard in Curtis Bay, Maryland. After her conversion was complete she was ordered to the Pacific Northwest.
She was stationed at Seattle, Washington and used primarily for the construction of the Alaskan LORAN stations. On 28 November 1948 she rendered assistance to the M/V Kasilof. She was decommissioned on 19 January 1950 and turned back over to MARCOM.
Merchant service
On 1 June 1950, she entered the Reserve Fleet in Olympia, Washington. Marine Power & Equipment Company, Inc. purchased her on 6 January 1971 for $32,200 to be scrapped. However, she was renamed Sea-Alaska and converted to a Fish Factory ship. She was finally scrapped in 1978.