History | |
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Name |
|
Namesake | Joseph E. Muller, who was awarded the Medal of Honor |
Builder | Southeastern Shipbuilding Corporation, Savannah, Georgia |
Laid down | December 1944, as M/V Check Knot, type (C1-M-AV1) hull, MC hull 2485 |
Launched | 17 February 1945 |
Sponsored by | Mrs. D. R. Williams |
In service |
|
Out of service | 1969 |
Refit | as a Miscellaneous auxiliary (technical research ship) at Maryland Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, Baltimore, Maryland, in October 1962 |
Stricken | 25 October 1957 and on 16 September 1969 |
Identification | U.S. Official Number: 247488[1] |
Fate | Transferred to MARAD, 13 November 1969; sold on 3 October 1972 |
General characteristics | |
Type | C1-M-AV1 |
Tonnage | 3,805 GRT[1] |
Displacement | 6,090 tons[2] |
Length | 338 feet 9 inches (103.3 m)[2] |
Beam | 50 feet 4 inches (15.3 m)[2] |
Draft | 21 feet (6.4 m)[2] |
Propulsion | diesel, single propeller |
Speed | 11.5 knots |
Troops | 101[citation needed] |
Complement | 107 officers and enlisted[2] |
Armament | none |
USNS Sgt. Joseph E. Muller was a C1-M-AV1 cargo ship completed 9 June 1945 and delivered to the War Shipping Administration (WSA) as Check Knot. After operation by WSA's agent Waterman Steamship Company June 1945 – November 1946 and being placed in reserve the ship was transferred to the U.S. Army and renamed USAT Sgt. Joseph E. Muller. She was transferred to the United States Navy in 1950 after the establishment of the Military Sea Transportation Service under Navy and assigned to Korean War supply and transport operations. She was again place back in service in 1962 as one of the civilian crewed, Auxiliary General (AG), technical research ships working on National Security Agency/Naval Security Group missions, based out of Florida.[3] She was finally declared surplus to needs in 1969 and struck.[2]
Sgt. Joseph E. Muller was laid down under U.S. Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 2485) as Check Knot on 30 December 1944 by the Southeastern Shipbuilding Corporation, Savannah, Georgia and launched on 17 February 1945 sponsored by Mrs. D. R. Williams.[2] The ship was completed and delivered to the War Shipping Administration on 9 June 1945 for operation by the Waterman Steamship Company as its agent.[1] Check Knot was placed in the Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet on 4 November 1946.[1]
Just under five years later, in August 1962, Sgt. Joseph E. Muller was designated for activation, conversion to a research support ship, a cover for signals intelligence operations, and redelivery to the Navy on 20 September 1962.[1][2] On 1 October, reactivation and conversion was begun at the Maryland Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, Baltimore, Maryland; on 30 October, she was reinstated on the Navy List as the miscellaneous auxiliary (AG), USNS Sgt. Joseph E. Muller (T-AG-171).[2][4] A week later, the ship was towed to New Orleans, Louisiana, for further alterations.[2] In April 1963, she arrived at Port Everglades, Florida, where she took up duties as one of three Military Sea Transportation Service operated technical research ships classed as Miscellaneous Auxiliary (AG), designated at the time simply "special project ships," for National Security Agency/Naval Security Group operating out of Port Everglades to the Caribbean under the general cover of oceanographic or atmospheric research operations.[3]
On 16 September 1969, the ship was again declared surplus; and, on 13 November, she was transferred back to the NDRF for berthing in the James River. Her name was struck from the Navy List on the same date.[1][2] The ship was sold to Union Minerals and Alloys Corporation on 3 October 1972 with delivery for non transportation use on 7 December 1972.[1]