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USNS Sgt. Andrew Miller (T-AK-242)
Encyclopedia
USNS Sgt. Andrew Miller (T-AK-242) was a Boulder Victory-class cargo ship
built at the end of World War II and served the war and its demilitarization as a commercial cargo vessel. From 1946 to 1950 she served the U.S. Army as a transport named USAT Sgt. Andrew Miller. In 1950 she was acquired by the U.S. Navy and assigned to the Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS). In 1981 she ended her career and was placed into reserve.
; launched on 4 April 1945; sponsored by Mrs. Charles H. Owens; and delivered to the U.S. Maritime Commission's War Shipping Administration
(WSA) on 28 April 1945 for operation by the American-West African Line Inc.
Homeported at San Francisco, California
, Sgt. Andrew Miller made a round-trip run to Hawaii
and back in April; and, in May, she sailed for Yokosuka, Japan. From there, she continued on to Naha, Okinawa, whence she returned to the U.S. West Coast.
, she loaded cargo for units being shipped to Japan and Korea; and, on 18 July, she sailed west. On 3 August, she stopped at Sasebo, Japan; and, on the 4th, she arrived off Pusan to commence offloading. Two weeks later, she started back across the Pacific Ocean to Hawaii
, where she took on more cargo; and, on 15 September, she again sailed west.
During November, she delivered cargo at Inchon and Chinnampo; then put into Yokohama
. In early December, she got underway for Wonsan
but was diverted back to Yokohama, where she joined Task Group 90.2, the Hungnam
evacuation force. On 13 December, she sailed for that North Korea
n port; where, from the 18th to the 20th, she took on men and equipment as units fought back to the harbor after the entry of Communist Chinese forces into the conflict.
The ship offloaded at Pusan; then returned to Sasebo, whence she made another run to Korea before sailing for Pearl Harbor
and San Francisco. Arriving at the latter port in early February 1951, she made runs to bases in the Central Pacific Ocean and in the Aleutians into the summer; and, in August, she resumed runs to Japan and Korea.
During April and May 1952, she again carried cargo to islands in the Central Pacific; then, in June, returned to logistics support of United Nations
forces in Korea. In September, her operations in the Far East
were extended to include Okinawa; and, early in 1953, her calls at Central Pacific ports were made enroute to the Far East. During the spring of that year, she resumed non-stop runs to Japan and Korea.
which moved Vietnam
ese from Haiphong
to Saigon following the division of the former French colony.
Following one run, she resumed her transpacific operations and expanded her range to include ports in Taiwan
; in Thailand
, and in the Philippine Islands. During the late 1950s and into the 1960s, she occasionally interrupted her Pacific operations for brief periods of service on transatlantic runs; but, into the fall of 1974, she remains in the Pacific in the Military Sealift Command
(MSC) fleet. During the Fall of Saigon
she participated in the MSC evacuation operation conducted concurrently with Operation Frequent Wind
.
on 16 January 1981. She was returned to the U.S. Maritime Administration
on 18 February 1983. Her subsequent fate is not known.
Cargo ship
A cargo ship or freighter is any sort of ship or vessel that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's seas and oceans each year; they handle the bulk of international trade...
built at the end of World War II and served the war and its demilitarization as a commercial cargo vessel. From 1946 to 1950 she served the U.S. Army as a transport named USAT Sgt. Andrew Miller. In 1950 she was acquired by the U.S. Navy and assigned to the Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS). In 1981 she ended her career and was placed into reserve.
Victory ship built in California
Sgt. Andrew Miller was laid down under a U.S. Maritime Commission contract on 22 February 1945 as Radcliffe Victory (MCV hull 743) by the Permanente Metals Corporation, Richmond, CaliforniaRichmond, California
Richmond is a city in western Contra Costa County, California, United States. The city was incorporated on August 7, 1905. It is located in the East Bay, part of the San Francisco Bay Area. It is a residential inner suburb of San Francisco, as well as the site of heavy industry, which has been...
; launched on 4 April 1945; sponsored by Mrs. Charles H. Owens; and delivered to the U.S. 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....
(WSA) on 28 April 1945 for operation by the American-West African Line Inc.
U.S. Army service
After the end of World War II, Radcliffe Victory was returned to WSA and was further transferred to the U.S. War Department for operation by the Army Transportation Corps on 26 July 1946. Renamed Sgt. Andrew Miller on 31 October 1947, the cargo ship remained with the Army Transportation Corps until 1 March 1950.Service with the MSTS
She was transferred to the Navy for operation by the newly established Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS), becoming USNS Sgt. Andrew Miller (T-AK-242).Homeported at San Francisco, California
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
, Sgt. Andrew Miller made a round-trip run to Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
and back in April; and, in May, she sailed for Yokosuka, Japan. From there, she continued on to Naha, Okinawa, whence she returned to the U.S. West Coast.
Korean War service
Arriving after the outbreak of war in KoreaKorea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
, she loaded cargo for units being shipped to Japan and Korea; and, on 18 July, she sailed west. On 3 August, she stopped at Sasebo, Japan; and, on the 4th, she arrived off Pusan to commence offloading. Two weeks later, she started back across the Pacific Ocean to Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
, where she took on more cargo; and, on 15 September, she again sailed west.
During November, she delivered cargo at Inchon and Chinnampo; then put into 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...
. In early December, she got underway for Wonsan
Wonsan
Wŏnsan is a port city and naval base in southeastern North Korea. It is the capital of Kangwŏn Province. The population of the city is estimated to have been 331,000 in 2000. Notable people from Wŏnsan include Kim Ki Nam, diplomat and Secretary of the Workers' Party.- History :The original name of...
but was diverted back to Yokohama, where she joined Task Group 90.2, the Hungnam
Hungnam
Hŭngnam was the third largest city in North Korea.It is a port city on the eastern coast, in South Hamgyong Province, on the Sea of Japan . The city covers an area of 250 square kilometers...
evacuation force. On 13 December, she sailed for that North Korea
North Korea
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea , , is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea...
n port; where, from the 18th to the 20th, she took on men and equipment as units fought back to the harbor after the entry of Communist Chinese forces into the conflict.
The ship offloaded at Pusan; then returned to Sasebo, whence she made another run to Korea before sailing for Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...
and San Francisco. Arriving at the latter port in early February 1951, she made runs to bases in the Central Pacific Ocean and in the Aleutians into the summer; and, in August, she resumed runs to Japan and Korea.
During April and May 1952, she again carried cargo to islands in the Central Pacific; then, in June, returned to logistics support of United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
forces in Korea. In September, her operations in the Far East
Far East
The Far East is an English term mostly describing East Asia and Southeast Asia, with South Asia sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons.The term came into use in European geopolitical discourse in the 19th century,...
were extended to include Okinawa; and, early in 1953, her calls at Central Pacific ports were made enroute to the Far East. During the spring of that year, she resumed non-stop runs to Japan and Korea.
Vietnam operations
After the truce agreement in July 1953, Sgt. Andrew Miller continued runs to Japan and Korea and to the islands of the central and northern Pacific. In the summer of 1954, she was called on to assist in Operation Passage to FreedomOperation Passage to Freedom
Operation Passage to Freedom was the term used by the United States Navy to describe its transportation in 1954–55 of 310,000 Vietnamese civilians, soldiers and non-Vietnamese members of the French Army from communist North Vietnam to South Vietnam...
which moved Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
ese from Haiphong
Haiphong
, also Haiphong, is the third most populous city in Vietnam. The name means, "coastal defence".-History:Hai Phong was originally founded by Lê Chân, the female general of a Vietnamese revolution against the Chinese led by the Trưng Sisters in the year 43 C.E.The area which is now known as Duong...
to Saigon following the division of the former French colony.
Following one run, she resumed her transpacific operations and expanded her range to include ports in Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
; in Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
, and in the Philippine Islands. During the late 1950s and into the 1960s, she occasionally interrupted her Pacific operations for brief periods of service on transatlantic runs; but, into the fall of 1974, she remains in the Pacific in the Military Sealift Command
Military Sealift Command
The Military Sealift Command is a United States Navy organization that controls most of the replenishment and military transport ships of the Navy. It first came into existence on 9 July 1949 when the Military Sea Transportation Service became solely responsible for the Department of Defense's...
(MSC) fleet. During the Fall of Saigon
Fall of Saigon
The Fall of Saigon was the capture of Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, by the People's Army of Vietnam and the National Liberation Front on April 30, 1975...
she participated in the MSC evacuation operation conducted concurrently with Operation Frequent Wind
Operation Frequent Wind
Operation Frequent Wind was the evacuation by helicopter of American civilians and 'at-risk' Vietnamese from Saigon, South Vietnam, on 29–30 April 1975 during the last days of the Vietnam War...
.
Decommissioning
The ship was decommissioned at an unknown date and struck from the Navy ListNaval 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 16 January 1981. She was returned to the U.S. Maritime Administration
U.S. Maritime Administration
The United States Maritime Administration is an agency of the United States Department of Transportation that maintains the National Defense Reserve Fleet as a ready source of ships for use during national emergencies, and assists the NDRF in fulfilling its role as the nation's fourth arm of...
on 18 February 1983. Her subsequent fate is not known.
Honors and awards
Eligible on-board personnel were authorized the following:- National Defense Service MedalNational Defense Service MedalThe National Defense Service Medal is a military service medal of the United States military originally commissioned by President Dwight D. Eisenhower...
- Korean Service MedalKorean Service MedalThe Korean Service Medal is an award of the United States military and was created in November 1950 by executive order of President Harry Truman. The Korean Service Medal is the primary United States medal for participation in the Korean War and is awarded to any U.S. service member, who...
- Armed Forces Expeditionary MedalArmed Forces Expeditionary MedalThe Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal is a military award of the United States military, which was first created in 1961 by Executive Order of President John Kennedy...
- (Operation Frequent WindOperation Frequent WindOperation Frequent Wind was the evacuation by helicopter of American civilians and 'at-risk' Vietnamese from Saigon, South Vietnam, on 29–30 April 1975 during the last days of the Vietnam War...
) - Vietnam Service MedalVietnam Service MedalThe Vietnam Service Medal is a military award which was created in 1965 by order of President Lyndon B. Johnson. The distinctive design was the creation of sculptor Thomas Hudson Jones, a former employee of the Army Institute of Heraldry. The medal is issued to recognize military service during...
(1) - United Nations Service MedalUnited Nations Service MedalThe United Nations Service Medal for Korea is an international military decoration which was established by the United Nations on December 12, 1950...
- Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal
- Republic of Korea War Service Medal