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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

Inca (IX-229)

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Precedence of awards is from left to right
Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal - World War II Victory Medal
Miscellaneous Unclassified Storage Ship:
  • Laid down, 24 July 1943, as SS Henry L. Abbott, Maritime Commission type (EC2-S-C1) hull, under Maritime Commission contract (MCE hull 2063) at Oregon Shipbuilding Corp., Portland, OR.
  • Launched, 12 August 1943
  • Delivered to the Maritime Commission, 19 August 1943, managed by the Alaska Transportation Co, Seattle, WA.
  • Damaged off Okinawa in 1945
  • Acquired by the US Navy, 30 July 1945
  • Acquisition canceled, found unfit for service, returned to the Maritime Commission, name reverted to SS Henry L. Abbott
  • Sold for scrapping, 3 March 1948, to Asia Development Corp. as part of a fifteen vessel package (PD-X-402) for $271,000.00
  • While in tow by the tug Christine Moller, intercepted by Chinese Nationalist warships, 26 September 1950, in international waters 180 miles off Keelung. The tug was ordered to cut loose the tow and the vessel was cast adrift in position 28.05N° 123.00E°
  • Salved by Chinese Nationalist tug and towed to Keelung, 4 October 1950
  • Released, 24 August 1951, and towed to Hong Kong, scrapped in September 1951
    Specifications:
    Displacement 4,023 t.(lt) 14,550 t.(fl)
    Length 441' 6"
    Beam 56' 11"
    Draft 28' 4"
    Speed 12.5 kts.
    Complement unknown
    Cargo Capacity 7,750 DWT
    non-refrigerated 404,845 Cu ft
    Largest Boom Capacity 50 t.
    Armament unknown
    Fuel Capacity
    NSFO 7,285 Bbls
    Propulsion
    one Joshua-Hendy. vertical triple-expansion reciprocating steam engine
    two Babcock and Wilcox header-type boilers, 220psi 450°
    Ship's Service Generators
     one turbo-drive 60Kw 120V D.C.
     three recip-drive 20Kw 120V D.C.
    single propeller, 2,500shp
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    Inca
    1213009102    		 65k
    Namesake
    The Inca Empire (Quechua: Tawantinsuyu, lit. "four parts together", also known as the Incan Empire and the Inca Empire, was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The administrative, political and military center of the empire was located in the city of Cusco. The Inca civilization arose from the Peruvian highlands sometime in the early 13th century. Its last stronghold was conquered by the Spanish in 1572
    Photo shows Inca Gold Jewelry. The saw gold as a representative of the sun and even thought that it shines like one. Because of this, most people wore it on special occasions and even decorated their temple with it. Their belief is that the more gold you have or wear, the closer you [would] be with their god named Inti    		 Tommy Trampp
    Inca 44k Inca (IX-229) aground in Buckner Bay, Okinawa next to a small floating drydock after they were blown ashore by a typhoon 9 October 1945. Another "Liberty" ship is in the left distance. In the original image, Inca's hull number (IX-229) is clearly visible in the dark patch on her starboard bow.
    US Navy History and Heritage Center photo # NH 101694, courtesy Dr. Herbert F. Gabriel, DDS, 1987.    		 Robert Hurst
    Inca 67k Close-up view of Inca (IX-229) aground in Buckner Bay, Okinawa. The hull number IX-229 is clearly legible on the bow, indicating that the ship's crew was unaware in October that the ship had been redesignated Gamage (IX-227) by the Navy Department back in August. News of this change does not appear to have arrived in the Western Pacific until January 1946. This photo was taken by an Army Air Force dental officer, Herbert F. Gabriel, who probably visited the site relatively soon after the end of the war.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command, Photo # NH 101694 (detail), courtesy Shipscribe.com.    		 Mike Green
    LST-823 213k Inca (IX-229) (renamed Gamage (IX-227)) and USS LST-823 aground in Buckner Bay, Okinawa, after being stricken from the Naval Register in early 1946 and before their removal by scrappers circa the late 1940s. Inca served under this name and number into January 1946, when local authorities learned that she had been redesignated Gamage (IX-227) in August 1945. The hull number barely visible on her bow is probably IX-229.
    US National Archives, Army Signal Corps Collection photo # US Army C-6343.    		 Nike Smolinski
    Inca 122k Close-up view of Inca (IX-229) aground in Buckner Bay, Okinawa, after Typhoon Louise ravaged the harbor there on 9 October 1945. The wreck beyond her on the right is USS LST-823.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command, Photo No. US Army C-6343 (detail)    		 Mike Green
    Inca (IX-229)
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 8 January 2021