- USS Montague (AKA-98)
USS "Montague" (AKA-98) was an "Andromeda" class
attack cargo ship named after a county in Texas. She served as a commissioned ship for 10 years and 7 months."Montague" (AKA–98), was built under
Maritime Commission contract by theFederal Shipbuilding and Drydock Co. ,Kearny, N.J. ; launched12 February 1945 ; sponsored by Mrs. Irving S. Olds; and commissioned13 April 1945 , Capt. B. H. Thomas in command.After shakedown in the
Chesapeake Bay , "Montague" proceeded to Hawaii, arrivingPearl Harbor 10 June 1945 . She departed Pearl Harbor2 July , unloading her cargo10 July atEniwetok . The next 5 months she shuttled cargo, ranging fromGuam toChina . After discharging equipment in China, she departed Tsingtao29 November , for the United States. "Montague" operated off the east coast for the next 2 years, and participated in training exercises in theCaribbean . Getting underway from Norfolk, Va.,3 January 1948 , she sailed for duty with the6th Fleet , helping to stabilize the postwar situation in theMediterranean . She returned to Norfolk15 March , and participated in amphibious exercises off the east coast before getting underway13 September to join the 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean, returningMorehead City , N.C.,24 January 1949 . The following 15 months were spent training off the east coast, and in the Caribbean.She departed Morehead City
2 May 1950 for her third tour of duty with the 6th Fleet. Receiving orders to supportUnited Nations action inKorea in August, she transited theSuez Canal , arrivingKobe, Japan 9 September . Anchored offInchon , she disembarked troops and cargo from8 October to16 October . After a run to Kobe she embarked troops at Inchon, disembarking them atWonsan on the east coast. Then she sailed to Chinnampo, the port city of the North Korean capital, to embark refugees. She continued to operate betweenHungnam and Wonsan, and the port ofPusan until returning to Japan29 December . She cruised between Korea and Japan for 3 months, before sailing home, arrivingSan Diego ,April 28 ,1951 .Between 1951 and 1954, "Montague" made three more voyages to the Far East, visiting ports in the "Philippines", Japan, and Korea. On her last tour of duty, she departed Japan
2 August 1954 , and proceeded toIndochina to take part inOperation Passage to Freedom shuttling helpless victims ofCommunist persecution to freedom inSouth Vietnam following the French defeat in theFirst Indochina War . She returned to the west coast, and anchored9 October at Long Beach.She decommissioned
22 November 1955 ; was berthed atMare Island, Calif. , as a unit of thePacific Reserve Fleet ; and was transferred to theMaritime Administration 29 January 1960 . She remains, into 1969, a unit of theNational Defense Reserve Fleet at Olympia, Washington. "Montague" received four battle stars for Korean service.References
External links
* [http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/m13/montague.htm Naval Historical Center: USS "Montague"]
* [http://www.navsource.org/archives/10/02098.htm NavSource Online: AKA-98 "Montague"]
* [http://ussrankin.org/id352.htm 51 Years of AKAs]
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