USS Feldspar

USS Feldspar (IX-159), a Trefoil-class concrete barge designated an unclassified miscellaneous vessel, was the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for feldspar.

History
United States
Name	USS Feldspar
Laid down	1943
Launched	22 January 1944[1]
Completed	11 August 1944[2]
In service	11 August 1944
Stricken	28 August 1946
Fate	Sold
General characteristics
Class & type	Trefoil-class cargo barge
Displacement	5,636 long tons (5,726 t) light 10,960 long tons (11,136 t) full
Length	366 ft 4 in (111.66 m)
Beam	54 ft (16 m)
Draft	26 ft (7.9 m)
Propulsion	None
Speed	Not self-propelled
Complement	52
Armament	1 × 40 mm AA gun

She was acquired by the Navy and placed in service on 11 August 1944 under command of Lt. F. Harris USNR.^[3] She was towed to Pearl Harbor to Eniwetok and thence to Ulithi and then to the Philippine Islands where she provided United States Army and United States Marine Corps supplies. After the war ended she went to Okinawa. During the trip on 30 September, 1945 she was caught in Typhoon Jean, her towline snapped and she suffered great rolling, losing two L.C.V.P.s over board that were deck cargo, in 130-165 MPH winds. Her tow was reestablished three days later. She arrived off Buckner Bay just in time for Typhoon Louise to arrive driving her on shore. She was refloated and left for Subic Bay, Luzon on 25 January, 1946.^[4] She was transferred to the Reserve Fleet on 5 August 1946, and struck from the Navy List on 28 August. She was declined by the War Shipping Administration on LV-135, dated 22nd October 1946, and put up for sale. On 16th March 1948, she was sold to Asia Development Corporation of Shanghai at Subic Bay, and was delivered to them on 23rd April 1948. On 17th February 1951 she arrived at Whampoa, towed by ‘Caroline Moller’. Future history unknown, possibly sold to Communist China.^[5]