USS Gwinnett

History
United States
Name	Gwinnett
Namesake	Gwinnett County, Georgia
Ordered	as type (C1-M-AV1) hull, MC hull 2116[1]
Builder	Walter Butler Shipbuilders, Inc., Superior, Wisconsin
Yard number	34[1]
Laid down	21 December 1943
Launched	14 May 1944
Sponsored by	Mrs. Oliva Dionne
Acquired	13 March 1945
Commissioned	10 April 1945
Decommissioned	11 February 1946
Reclassified	prior to launch, Miscellaneous Auxiliary 25 May 1945, Aviation Stores Issue Ship
Refit	prior to 13 March 1945, converted to Gwinnett-class Aviation Stores Issue Ship
Stricken	26 February 1946
Identification	Hull symbol: AK-185 Hull symbol: AG-92 Hull symbol: AVS-5 Code letters: NEMV
Fate	Sold, 14 August 1947
History
Republic of France
Name	Sainte Helene
Acquired	14 August 1947
Fate	Scrapped 1970
General characteristics [2]
Class and type	Alamosa-class cargo ship (1943–1945) Gwinnett-class aviation stores issue ship (1945–1946)
Type	C1-M-AV1
Tonnage	5,010 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 m3) (refrigerated) 227,730 cu ft (6,449 m3) (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 Gwinnett (AK-185/AG-92/AVS-5) was originally an Alamosa-class cargo ship acquired by the U.S. Navy shortly before the end of World War II and converted into a Gwinnett-class aviation stores issue ship. She was found to be excess-to-needs and was placed into reserve in 1946.

Gwinnett was originally designated AK-185 and was launched as AG-92 under U.S. Maritime Commission contract, MC hull 2116, by Walter Butler Shipbuilders, Inc., Superior, Wisconsin, 14 May 1944; sponsored by Mrs. Oliva Dionne, mother of the Dionne quintuplets. After being taken down the Mississippi River to New Orleans, Louisiana, the ship was outfitted at Port Houston Iron Works, Houston, Texas, and commissioned there 10 April 1945.^[3]

Soon after commissioning, Gwinnett was redesigned AVS-5 on 25 May 1945. After shakedown in the Gulf of Mexico she was ordered to the Pacific coast for disposal.^[3]

Gwinnett arrived San Francisco, 25 January 1946. She decommissioned and was simultaneously redelivered to the U.S. Maritime Commission 11 February 1946.^[3]

Gwinnett was initially leased to the General Steamship Corporation, on 11 July 1947, but then sold to the Republic of France on 14 August 1947.^[4] She was reflagged for France and renamed Sainte Helene.^[2] She was scrapped in January 1970.

Citations

• Photo gallery of USS Gwinnett (AK-185) at NavSource Naval History