USNS Sgt. Sylvester Antolak

Sylvester Antolak

Sylvester Antolak was a United States Army Sergeant who posthumously received the Medal of Honor for actions on May 24, 1944...

(AP-192/T-AP-192) was a that served as a United States Army Transport, and in the United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

's Military Sea Transportation Service, in the post-World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 period.

The ship was a VC2-S-AP-2 type Victory ship

Victory ship

The Victory ship was a type of cargo ship produced in large numbers by North American shipyards during World War II to replace shipping losses caused by German submarines...

 built under a Maritime Commission contract (MCV hull 830). Laid down as the Stetson Victory on 3 May 1945 by the Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyard, Inc.

Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation

Bethlehem Steel Corporation Shipbuilding Division was created in 1905 when Bethlehem Steel Corporation acquired the San Francisco shipyard Union Iron Works in 1905...

, Baltimore

Baltimore

Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...

, Maryland

Maryland

Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...

 and launched on 16 June 1945; sponsored by Mrs. Joe Hendricks; and delivered to the Maritime Commission's War Shipping Administration

War Shipping Administration

The War Shipping Administration was a World War II emergency war agency of the US Government, tasked to purchase and operate the civilian shipping tonnage the US needed for fighting the war....

 on 18 July 1945 for operation by Isbrandtsen Co., Inc.

American Export-Isbrandtsen Lines

American Export-Isbrandtsen Lines, New York, was the leading US-flag shipping company between the US east coast and the Mediterranean from 1919 to 1977, offering both Cargo ship services and Passenger ship services, until declaring bankruptcy and was acquired by Farrell Lines, New York.-American...

US Army service

After operating under government contract for a year, Stetson Victory was returned to the War Shipping Administration in July 1946, and was transferred to the War Department

United States Department of War

The United States Department of War, also called the War Department , was the United States Cabinet department originally responsible for the operation and maintenance of the United States Army...

 for operation by the Army. Renamed USAT Sgt. Sylvester Antolak

Sylvester Antolak

Sylvester Antolak was a United States Army Sergeant who posthumously received the Medal of Honor for actions on May 24, 1944...

on 31 October 1947, the ship carried Army passengers and cargo across the globe. On 2 December 1948, the troop transport

Troopship

A troopship is a ship used to carry soldiers, either in peacetime or wartime...

 left Yokohama

Yokohama

is the capital city of Kanagawa Prefecture and the second largest city in Japan by population after Tokyo and most populous municipality of Japan. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of Tokyo, in the Kantō region of the main island of Honshu...

, Japan, with over 1,000 officers and enlisted men of 317th Troop Carrier Wing (Heavy) embarked. After a 40-day voyage the ship arrived in Bremerhaven

Bremerhaven

Bremerhaven is a city at the seaport of the free city-state of Bremen, a state of the Federal Republic of Germany. It forms an enclave in the state of Lower Saxony and is located at the mouth of the River Weser on its eastern bank, opposite the town of Nordenham...

, Germany, on 9 January 1949, delivering the personnel in support of the Berlin Airlift

Berlin Blockade

The Berlin Blockade was one of the first major international crises of the Cold War and the first resulting in casualties. During the multinational occupation of post-World War II Germany, the Soviet Union blocked the Western Allies' railway and road access to the sectors of Berlin under Allied...

. The transport was then returned to the Maritime Commission for berthing at Suisun Bay

Suisun Bay

Suisun Bay is a shallow tidal estuary at in northern California, USA. It lies at the confluence of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers, forming the entrance to the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, an inverted river delta...

, California, in the National Defense Reserve Fleet

National Defense Reserve Fleet

The National Defense Reserve Fleet consists of "mothballed" ships, mostly merchant vessels, that can be activated within 20 to 120 days to provide shipping for the United States of America during national emergencies, either military or non-military, such as commercial shipping crises.The NDRF is...

.

Korean War

On 22 July 1950, shortly after the start of the Korean War

Korean War

The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...

, she was reactivated by the Navy for operation by the Military Sea Transportation Service. Following minor alterations, including the addition of limited medical spaces, USNS Sgt. Sylvester Antolak (T-AP-192) sailed from San Francisco on 24 August to transport troops to Yokohama, Japan. She remained in the western Pacific, shuttling troops from Japan, as well as the Philippine Expeditionary Forces To Korea

Philippine Expeditionary Forces To Korea

The Philippine Expeditionary Forces to Korea was the Philippine contingent of the United Nations forces that fought in the Korean War . The unit arrived in Korea in August 1950. It was composed of 7,500 troops, and was the fourth largest force under the United Nations Command...

 (PEFTOK), into June 1951; then returned to the United States to embark more soldiers for transportation to the Far East. She continued to carry American troops on trans-Pacific voyages and shuttle runs between Japanese ports and between Japan and Korea until April 1952. She then operated briefly along the east coast of the United States and in the Caribbean until June, when she retransited the Panama Canal

Panama Canal

The Panama Canal is a ship canal in Panama that joins the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and is a key conduit for international maritime trade. Built from 1904 to 1914, the canal has seen annual traffic rise from about 1,000 ships early on to 14,702 vessels measuring a total of 309.6...

 to resume operations in the Pacific. By the end of July, she had conducted a round-trip run to Bangkok

Bangkok

Bangkok is the capital and largest urban area city in Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon or simply Krung Thep , meaning "city of angels." The full name of Bangkok is Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom...

 out of Sasebo

United States Fleet Activities Sasebo

U.S. Fleet Activities Sasebo is a United States Navy naval base, in Sasebo, Japan, on the island of Kyūshū. It provides facilities for the logistic support of forward-deployed units and visiting operating forces of the United States Pacific Fleet and designated tenant activities.- History :Sasebo...

 and was en route to the Aleutian Islands, whence she returned to the west coast for inactivation.

Sgt. Sylvester Antolak arrived at Seattle on 10 August and was returned to the Maritime Administration on 17 September for berthing in the National Defense Reserve Fleet. Her name was struck from the Navy List

Naval Vessel Register

The Naval Vessel Register is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from the time a vessel is authorized through its life cycle and...

on 6 November 1952. In December 1971, Sgt. Sylvester Antolak was sold for scrap by the Maritime Administration.

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