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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

AG-73 / AKS-21 Belle Isle

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - American Campaign Medal
Bottom Row - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp)
Basilan Class Miscellaneous Auxiliary:
  • Laid down, 19 September 1944, as a Maritime Commission type (EC2-S-C1) hull under Maritime Commission contract (MCE hull 3070) at New England Shipbuilding Corp., South Portland, ME.
  • Launched, 3 November 1944
  • Commissioned, USS Belle Isle (AG-73), 15 November 1944, Lcdr. James H. Graves, Jr., USNR, in command
  • Ferried to Bethlehem Steel Co., Hoboken, N.J. and decommissioned, 18 November 1944, for conversion to an electronics repair vessel
  • Recommissioned, 13 July 1945
  • Decommissioned, 30 August 1946, at San Diego, CA.
  • Laid up in the Pacific Reserve Fleet, San Diego Group
  • Reclassified General Stores Issue Ship (AKS-21), 18 August 1951
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 1 April 1960
  • Final Disposition, possibly sunk as a target in 1960
    Specifications:
    Displacement 5,766 t.(lt) 14,350 t.(fl)
    Length 441' 6"
    Beam 56' 11"
    Draft 23'
    Speed 12.5 kts.
    Complement 895
    Armament
    one single 5"/38 dual purpose gun mount
    four single 40mm AA gun mounts
    Propulsion reciprocating steam engine, single propeller, 2,500shp
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		Size Image Description Source
    Belle Isle 91k Belle Isle (AG-73) in San Francisco Bay, CA., circa April 1946. Note the electronics antennas on the forecastle, used for repairing electronics equipment. The stern of Saratoga (CV-3) is in the background at left.
    US Navy photo # NH 98707 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center, donated by Boatswain's Mate First Class Robert G. Tippins, USN (Retired), 2003.    		 US Navy Historical Center
    Belle Isle 67k Belle Isle (AG-73) underway off San Diego, CA. in 1946.
    US Navy photo # NH 82191 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center, courtesy of Donald M. McPherson, 1975.    		 US Navy Historical Center
    Belle Isle 17k Belle Isle (AG-73) underway, date and place unknown. Gunter Krebs
    View the Belle Isle (AG-73)
    DANFS     history entry located at the US Naval Historical Center web site
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S.Navy Memorial Foundation
    Fleet Reserve Association
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    No Information Available
    Back to the Navsource Photo Archives Main Page Back To the Service Force Ship Type Index Back To The Miscellaneous (AG) Photo Index Back To The General Stores Issue Ship (AKS) Photo Index
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
    © 2005 Gary P. Priolo © 1996 - 2008 NavSource Naval History. All Rights Reserved.
    Last Updated 7 April 2006