USS Nicollet

USS Nicollet (AK-199/AG-93/AVS-6) was originally an Alamosa-class cargo ship acquired by the U.S. Navy shortly before the end of World War II and converted into a "Gwinnett"-class aviation stores issue ship, to carry aviation parts and spares, and to issue them to the US Pacific Fleet and activities as needed. Nicollet was named for Nicollet County, Minnesota.

USS Nicollet (AVS-6), probably photographed underway in San Francisco Bay, California, in 1945
History
United States
Name	Nicollet
Namesake	Nicollet County, Minnesota
Ordered	as type (C1-M-AV1) hull, MC hull 2153[1]
Builder	Globe Shipbuilding Company, Superior, Wisconsin
Yard number	120
Laid down	9 February 1944
Launched	31 July 1944
Sponsored by	Mrs. F.C. Hanson
Completed	21 November 1944
Acquired	12 March 1945
Commissioned	27 April 1945
Decommissioned	17 June 1946
Reclassified	Miscellaneous Auxiliary (AG), 12 March 1945 Aviation Stores Issue Ship (AVS), 25 May 1945
Refit	Gwinnett-class Aviation Stores Issue Ship, at Port Houston Iron Works, Houston, Texas, 12 March 1945
Stricken	3 July 1946
Identification	Hull symbol: AK-199 Hull symbol: AG-93 Hull symbol: AVS-6 Code letters: NEOQ
Fate	Laid up in Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet, 17 June 1946, sold, 30 June 1947
Republic of France
Name	Djerada
Acquired	30 June 1947
Fate	Sold, 1959
Morocco
Name	Djerada
Fate	Scrapped in Spain, February 1970
General characteristics [2]
Class & type	Alamosa-class cargo ship (1944–1945) Gwinnett-class aviation stores issue ship (1945–1946)
Type	C1-M-AV1
Tonnage	5,032 LT DWT[3]
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	9 Officers 96 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

Nicollet was laid down under a Maritime Commission (MARCOM) contract, MC hull 2153, on 9 February 1944, by the Globe Shipbuilding Company, in Superior, Wisconsin. She received her name on 25 February 1944. She was launched on 31 July 1944, as AK-199; sponsored by Mrs. F. C. Hanson. She was floated down the Mississippi River and converted for Navy use by Samuelson Shipyard, Beaumont, Texas, and Brown Shipyard, Houston, Texas; redesignated AG–93, on 12 March 1945; and commissioned 27 April.^[4]

Service history

After shakedown in the Gulf of Mexico, Nicollet was reclassified AVS–6, effective 25 May 1945. Steaming to the Pacific Ocean, she arrived in the forward area and was assigned to Commander, Air Forces, Subordinate Command Forward, Pacific Fleet. She operated out of Apra Harbor, Guam.^[4]

Nicollet followed closely behind the invasion forces to supply newly acquired airstrips and aviation activities with spare parts and other needs. She salvaged goods, returned materials for repair and eventual re-use, and supplied aircraft carriers at sea.^[4]

At the end of hostilities, she continued to support naval and marine air groups, both carrier and land-based. In April 1946, she returned to the US West Coast, via Pearl Harbor. Following a cruise to the Gulf of Mexico, she sailed again to the western Pacific Ocean.^[4]

Defense fleet

Returning to San Francisco, California, she decommissioned and was returned to the War Shipping Administration (WSA), 17 June 1946, and laid up in the Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet, in Suisun Bay, California. She was struck from the Navy Register on 3 July 1946.^[4]

Merchant service

Nicollet was sold to the Republic of France, on 30 June 1947. She was reflagged and renamed Djerada.^[5] In 1959 she was transferred and reflagged in Morocco.^[2] She was eventually scrapped in 1970^[3]