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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

USNS Blue Jacket (T-AF-51)

International Radio Call Sign:
November - Sierra - Papa - Kilo
 NSPK
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

National Defense Service Medal (1)
Alstede Class Stores Ship:
  • Laid down, 23 October 1941, as SS Blue Jacket a Maritime Commission type (C2-S-B1) hull, under Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 183) at Moore Drydock Co., Oakland, CA.
  • Launched, 14 February 1942
  • Delivered to her operators, United Fruit Co., 25 March 1943
  • Returned to the Maritime Commission for charter to Pacific Far East Lines, 9 September 1946
  • Returned to the Maritime Commission for charter to Black Diamond SS Corp., 9 July 1947
  • Returned to the Maritime Commission for charter to the War Department at New York, 1 October 1948 and Commissioned USAT Blue Jacket
  • Acquired by the US Navy from the US Army Transportation Service, 1 March 1950
  • Assigned to the Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS) and placed in service as USNS Blue Jacket (T-AF-51)
  • Placed out of service, 19 August 1970 and transferred, temporary custody, to the Maritime Administration (MARAD) for lay up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, James River, Lee Hall, VA.
  • Transferred, 1 September 1971, permanent custody to MARAD
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 19 October 1971
  • Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, 1 March 1973, to Andy International, Inc., Houston, TX.
    Specifications:
    Displacement 6,329 t.(lt) 13,893 t.(fl)
    Length 459' 2"
    Beam 63'
    Draft 25' 9"
    Speed 15. 5 kts.
    Complement 55
    Armament none
    Propulsion cross-compound turbine, single propeller, 6.000shp
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    Blue Jacket 82k USNS Blue Jacket (T-AF-51) moored pierside at Bremerhaven, Germany, May 1963. Photo by Gerhard L. Mueller-Debus
    Blue Jacket 83k USNS Blue Jacket (T-AF-51) arriving at Bremerhaven, Germany immediately after she had collided in thick fog with a German coaster in the River Weser estuary off Bremerhaven in March 1964. There was heavy lose of lives aboard the German coaster. Note scratches on Blue Jacket's bow and lost starboard anchor. Gerhard L. Mueller-Debus
    Blue Jacket 179k USNS Blue Jacket (T-AF-51) moored at Bremerhaven, Germany after she had collided in thick fog with a German coaster in the River Weser estuary, off Bremerhaven (Germany) in March 1964. Gerhard L. Mueller-Debus
    Blue Jacket 71k USNS Blue Jacket (T-AF-51) moored pierside at Bremerhaven, Germany, March 1970. Photo by Gerhard L. Mueller-Debus
    View the USNS Blue Jacket (AF-51)
    DANFS history entry located at the US Naval Historical Center
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S.Navy Memorial Foundation
    Fleet Reserve Association
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    No Information Available
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 15 February 2008