View source for USS Alamance

{{short description|Cargo ship of the United States Navy}}

{{Use American English|date=July 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2022}}
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|Ship image=USS Alamance (AKA-75) off Charleston, South Carolina (USA), on 15 January 1945 (BS 77195).jpg
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{{Infobox ship career
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|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag= {{USN flag|1946}}
|Ship name=USS ''Alamance''
|Ship namesake=[[Alamance County, North Carolina]]
|Ship ordered=
|Ship builder=[[North Carolina Shipbuilding Company]], [[Wilmington, North Carolina]]
|Ship laid down=15 September 1944
|Ship launched=11 November 1944
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned=22 December 1944
|Ship decommissioned=25 June 1946
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship struck=19 July 1946
|Ship renamed=*SS ''Southstar''
*SS ''American Supplier''
*SS ''Alcoa Voyager''
*SS ''Columbia Fox''
*SS ''Antillian Fox''
|Ship reclassified=
|Ship homeport=
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|Ship fate=*Sold for merchant service
*Scrapped 1971 in Taiwan
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{{Infobox ship characteristics
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|Ship class={{sclass|Tolland|attack cargo ship}}
|Ship displacement= {{convert|14160|LT|t|0|abbr=on}} full
|Ship length= {{convert|459|ft|2|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam= {{convert|63|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship draft= {{convert|26|ft|4|in|m|abbr=on}}
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|Ship propulsion=GE geared turbine drive, single propeller, {{convert|6000|hp|MW|abbr=on}}
|Ship speed= {{convert|16.5|kn|lk=in}}
|Ship range=
|Ship complement=395
|Ship armament=*1 × [[5-inch/38-caliber gun]]
*4 × twin [[Bofors 40 mm Automatic Gun L/60|40 mm guns]]
*16 × [[Oerlikon 20 mm cannon|20 mm guns]]
|Ship armor=
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'''USS ''Alamance'' (AKA-75)''' was a {{sclass|Tolland|attack cargo ship}} in service with the [[United States Navy]] from 1944 to 1946. She was sold into commercial service and was scrapped in 1971.

==History==
''Alamance'' was named after [[Alamance County, North Carolina]]. She was laid down as a [[Type C2 ship|Type C2-S-AJ3 ship]] under a [[Maritime Commission]] contract (MC hull 1405) on 15 September 1944 at [[Wilmington, North Carolina]], by the [[North Carolina Shipbuilding Co.]]; launched on 11 November 1944; sponsored by Mrs. Carl T. Durham; acquired by the Navy on 22 December 1944; and [[Ship commissioning|placed in commission]] on that same day.

===World War II, 1945===
Following shakedown in the [[Chesapeake Bay]] area, the attack cargo ship got underway for the Pacific theater on 12 February 1945. She transited the [[Panama Canal]] on the 18th and proceeded to [[Pearl Harbor]]. Upon arriving there, the vessel reported to Transport Division 65 for duty. During the remainder of [[World War II]], ''Alamance'' shuttled cargo and personnel from Pearl Harbor to ports in the [[Philippines]], [[Eniwetok]], [[Saipan]], [[Palau Islands]], and [[Ulithi]].
During the last month of the war, the ship operated out of Pearl Harbor on amphibious training exercises.

===Post-war activities, 1945&ndash;1946===
On 1 September, she sailed for the [[Marianas]] where she joined a convoy transporting occupation forces to Japan. She arrived at [[Sasebo, Japan|Sasebo]] on the 22nd and discharged personnel and equipment of the [[5th Marine Division (United States)|5th Marine Division]]. She then steamed on to [[Lingayen Gulf]] to load more troops.

''Alamance'' returned to Sasebo on 18 October. After the embarked Army troops left the ship, she began the long journey back to American waters, stopping at [[Buckner Bay]], Okinawa, en route, before continuing on to the west coast. The ship reached [[Portland, Oregon]], on 14 November. A period of repair work was begun.

Returning to duty in early 1946, ''Alamance'' touched back at Pearl Harbor on 26 January. For the remainder of her naval career, she transported personnel from the various island bases to Pearl Harbor for eventual routing on to the United States in other ships. ''Alamance'', herself, returned to the west coast of the United States in April. She transited the Panama Canal once again and finally anchored at [[Naval Station Norfolk|Norfolk]], on 13 May.

===Decommissioning===
The ship was placed out of commission at the [[Norfolk Naval Shipyard]], [[Portsmouth, Virginia]], on 25 June 1946; she was returned to the [[MARAD|Maritime Commission]] for disposal. Her name was struck from the [[Naval Vessel Register|Navy List]] on 19 July 1946.

===Civilian service and fate===
Ex-USS ''Alamance'' was sold for commercial service in 1947 to [[Prudential Lines]] and renamed SS ''Southstar''. She served under that name for about 14 years before being sold to another line. Purchase and sale records are spotty at best, but she was sold in 1961 and renamed SS ''American Supplier'', in 1963 (presumably to the [[Alcoa|Alcoa Aluminum Company]]) and named SS ''Alcoa Voyager'', in 1969 and named SS ''Columbia Fox'', and again in 1971 being renamed for the final time as SS ''Antillian Fox''. Later in 1971 the former AKA met her end, being scrapped in Taiwan.

==References==
*{{DANFS|https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/nhhc/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/a/alamance.html}}
*[http://www.navsource.org/archives/10/02/02075.htm Ship History at NavSource.]

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* {{navsource|10/02/02075|USS Alamance}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060620071629/http://ussrankin.org/id352.htm 51 Years of AKAs]

{{Tolland class attack cargo ship}}
{{MARCOM ships North Carolina SB Co.}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alamance (AKA-75)}}
[[Category:Tolland-class attack cargo ships]]
[[Category:Alamance County, North Carolina]]
[[Category:World War II amphibious warfare vessels of the United States]]
[[Category:Ships built in Wilmington, North Carolina]]
[[Category:1944 ships]]