USS Codington

USS Codington (AK-173) was an Alamosa-class cargo ship commissioned by the U.S. Navy for service in World War II. She was responsible for delivering troops, goods and equipment to locations in the war zone.

History
United States
Name	Codington
Namesake	Codington County, South Dakota
Operator
Ordered	as type (C1-M-AV1) hull, MC hull 2146[1]
Builder	Froemming Brothers, Inc., Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Yard number	18[1]
Laid down	1944
Launched	29 November 1944
Sponsored by	Mrs. W. P. Plehl
Commissioned	23 July 1945
Decommissioned	27 February 1946
Stricken	5 June 1946
Identification	Hull symbol: AK-173 Code letters: NEIR
Fate	Sold to a South Korean buyer, 27 May 1956
History
South Korea
Name	Pohang
Namesake	City of Pohang, South Korea
Acquired	27 May 1956
Fate	Scrapped at Kaohsiung, Taiwan, January 1974
General characteristics [2]
Class and type	Alamosa-class cargo ship
Type	C1-M-AV1
Tonnage	5,032 long tons deadweight (DWT)[1]
Displacement	2,382 long tons (2,420 t) (standard) 7,450 long tons (7,570 t) (full load)
Length	388 ft 8 in (118.47 m)
Beam	50 ft (15 m)
Draft	21 ft 1 in (6.43 m)
Installed power	1 × Nordberg, TSM 6 diesel engine 1,750 shp (1,300 kW)
Propulsion	1 × propeller
Speed	11.5 kn (21.3 km/h; 13.2 mph)
Capacity	3,945 t (3,883 long tons) DWT 9,830 cu ft (278 m3) (refrigerated) 227,730 cu ft (6,449 m3) (non-refrigerated)
Complement	15 Officers 70 Enlisted
Armament	1 × 3 in (76 mm)/50 caliber dual-purpose gun (DP) 6 × 20 mm (0.8 in) Oerlikon anti-aircraft (AA) cannons

Construction

Codington was launched 29 November 1944, by Froemming Brothers, Inc., Milwaukee, Wisconsin, under a Maritime Commission contract, MC hull 2145; sponsored by Mrs. W. P. Plehl; and commissioned at Galveston, Texas, 23 July 1945.^[3]

Service history

World War II Pacific Theatre operations

Codington departed Galveston 11 August 1945 for Leyte, arriving 11 October. She assumed cargo operations in the Philippines, with one voyage to New Guinea, 1 – 27 December, until 30 January 1946, when she sailed from Subic Bay for Yokosuka.^[3]

Post-war decommissioning

Codington was decommissioned at Tokyo 27 February 1946, and transferred to the War Shipping Administration for disposal.^[3]

Merchant service

Codington was leased by Coastwise Line for Military Sea Transportation Service, 7 May 1956, then sold to a South Korean buyer, 27 May 1956, for $693,862. She was renamed Pohang, for the South Korean city of Pohang, and reflagged South Korean.^[2]

On 11 November 1972, while discharging her cargo at Phnom Penh, Cambodia, she was damaged by a mine. She was able to proceed to Singapore, for dry docking. She was finally scrapped at Kaohsiung, Taiwan, January 1974.^[2]