USS Limestone

USS Limestone (IX-158), a Trefoil-class concrete barge designated an unclassified miscellaneous vessel, was the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for limestone, a rock consisting chiefly of calcium carbonate, which yields lime when burned.

History
United States
Name	USS Limestone
Builder	Barrett & Hilp, Belair Shipyard, San Francisco
Laid down	5 January 1944
Launched	25 March 1944
Completed	1 October 1944[1]
Acquired	14 October 1944
In service	14 October 1944
Out of service	12 December 1946
Fate	Sold, 11 September 1947
General characteristics
Class & type	Trefoil-class cargo barge
Displacement	10,970 long tons (11,146 t)
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	206 officers and men
Armament	1 × 40 mm AA gun 4 × 20 mm AA guns

The ship was laid down 5 January 1944 by Barrett & Hilp, Belair Shipyard, in San Francisco, under a Maritime Commission contract (MC Hull 1338), and named Corundum (IX-164) on 7 February 1944. Launched on 25 March 1944, sponsored by Mrs. Leo Heagerty, she was renamed and redesignated Limestone (IX-158) on 23 May 1944, acquired by the Navy on 14 October 1944, and placed in service the same day under command of Lt. W. T. Bresnahan USNR.^[2]

Service history

Limestone was towed to Eniwetok via Majuro, by USS Ute arriving on 1st February 1945.^[3] She was placed out of service 12 December 1946 at Seattle, Washington, and was sold to Foss Launch and Tug Company on 11 September 1947 for $3,511.00. Converted by Todd Shipyards into a floating dock & was in use as such at the port of Anchorage, Alaska by July, 1960, possibly as a joint venture of Foss Launch and Tug Company and Alaska Aggregate Corporation. Ship may have been demolished in place to build a permanent pier.^[4]