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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

USS Glacier (AK-183)


International Radio Call Sign:
November - Echo - Lima - Quebec
 NELQ
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Precedence of awards is from left to right
American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal - World War II Victory Medal
Alamosa Class Cargo Ship:
  • Laid down in 1944 as a Maritime Commission type (C1-M-AV1) hull, under Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 2114) at Port Houston Iron Works for Walter Butler Shipbuilders, Inc., Superior, WI.
  • Launched, 22 April 1944
  • Completed and delivered to the Maritime Commission, 29 March 1945, at Houston, TX.
  • Acquired by the US Navy, 29 March 1945
  • Commissioned USS Glacier (AK-183), 14 April 1945, LT. Cecil L. Hitchcock, USNR in command
  • During World War II USS Glacier was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater
  • Decommissioned, 19 February 1946, at Norfolk, VA.
  • Returned to the Maritime Commission, 22 February 1946, for lay up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, James River Group
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 12 March 1946
  • Merchant Service
    Sold to Koninklikje Nederlandsche Stoomboot Mj', Amsterdam, 17 April 1947, reflagged Netherlands, renamed MV Hydra
    Sold to Saudi Arabia in 1962, renamed MV Asma B.
  • Final Disposition, sold for scrapping in July 1970 at Hsinkang, China
    Specifications:
    Displacement 2,382 t.(lt) 7,450 t.(fl)
    Length 338' 6"
    Beam 50'
    Draft 21' 1"
    Speed 11.5kts
    Complement
    Officers 15
    Enlisted 70
    Largest Boom Capacity 30 t.
    Cargo Capacity 3,945 DWT
    non-refrigerated 227,730 Cu. ft.
    refrigerated 9,830 Cu. ft.
    Armament
    one single 3"/50 cal dual purpose gun mount
    six single 20mm AA gun mounts
    Fuel Capacity Diesel 6,300 Bbls
    Propulsion
    one Nordberg Diesel TSM6 engine
    two Diesel-drive 250Kw 120V/240V D.C. Ship's Service Generators
    single propeller, 1,700shp
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		Size Image Description Source
    Merchant Service
    Glacier 70k Ex-USS Glacier (AK-183) Dutch flagged, in merchant service as the Koninklikje Nederlandsche Stoomboot Mj's MV Hydra underway, date and location unknown. While under the Dutch flag MV Hydra operated in the Netherlands - Caribbean trade for 15 consecutive years, sometimes transiting the Panama Canal, ongoing to Peruvian ports.
    ©Sawyer and Mitchel Collection    		 Gerhard Mueller-Debus
    Glacier 188k MV Hydra passing down the Weser River, after leaving Bremen, Germany, on a hazy November day in 1958 Gerhard Mueller-Debus
    Glacier 145k
    USS Glacier (AK-183)
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
    01LT. Hitchcock, Cecil L., USNR14 April 1945 - 19 February 1946
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    MARAD Vessel History Database
    USS Glacier (AK-183) War Diary April to December 1945 and History
    Back To The Navsource Photo Archives Main Page Back To The Service Force Ship Type Index Back To The Cargo Ship (AK) Photo Index
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
    All pages copyright NavSource Naval History
    Last Updated 3 May 2019