USNS Point Barrow (T-AKD-1)

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" (CVN-65) and USS "Long Beach" (CGN-9) 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 USNS "Point Loma" (T-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.

References

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ee also

* List of auxiliaries of the United States Navy

External links

* [http://www.usmm.org/msts/arctic.html "To Boldly Go Where No Fleet Had Gone Before (Military Sea Transportation Service in the Arctic)"] by Salvatore R. Mercogliano