eprice> (11/26/90)
From: Eric Price <sagpd1!eprice>
Howdee Bill and Fellow sci.military Netters,
I wonder If any body out there has any information on what ever
happend to the USS Colonel Willam O'Brian (aka the O'Brien).
It is a knot class ship (a transport) that my father served aboard
in the meditirrenean circa 1970 home ported a Leghorn (Livorno)
Italy. She sailed for an arm of the Navy called MSTS. Does anyone
know if she has been mothballed, sold for scrap or what ?
Can anyone give any specifics as to this type of ship, gross weight,
powerplant etc etc. Any and all information will be gladly appreciated.
Cheers,
Eric CSC 1/509 ABCTswilliam@dtoa1.dt.navy.mil (Williams) (11/29/90)
From: swilliam@dtoa1.dt.navy.mil (Williams) In article <1990Nov25.223548.14775@cbnews.att.com> someone writes: >From: Eric Price <sagpd1!eprice> > I wonder If any body out there has any information on what ever > happend to the USS Colonel Willam O'Brian (aka the O'Brien). > Can anyone give any specifics as to this type of ship, gross weight, > powerplant etc etc. I believe that you are talking about USS Colonel William J. O'Brien (T-AK 246). She was a "CALLAGHAN" type cargo ship. >From Jane's Fighting Ships 1974-75, page 499, the following information of the lead ship of the ADMIRAL WM. M. CALLAGHAN class is given: Name: ADMIRAL WM. M. CALLAGHAN Displacement, tons: 24,000 full load Dimension, feet: 694 Main Engines: 2 gas turbines (General Electric LM 2500); 50,000 SHP; 2 shafts=26 knots Complement: 33 Builder: SUN SB & DD Launched: 17 Oct 1967 Named for the first commander of Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS). Roll-on/roll-off vehicle cargo ship built especially for long-term charter to Military Sealift Command. Internal parking decks and ramps for carrying 750, employing four side ramps and stern ramp, the CALLAGHAN can off load and reload full vehicle capacity in 27 hours. All surviving small cargo ships of this type have been stricken: HERKIMER (T-AK 188), MUSKINGUM (T-AK 198) transferred to US Department of Interior on 15 June 1973; SHORT SPLICE (T-AK 249) stricken on 15 June 1973; COLONEL WILLIAM J. O'BRIEN (T-AK 246) stricken on 1 Sep 1973; FENTRESS (T-AK 180), PVT. FRANK J. PETRARCA (T-AK 250) stricken on 15 Oct 1973. See 1973-1974 and previous editions for characteristics.
eprice@sagpd1.mps.ohio-state.edu (Eric Price) (12/03/90)
From: eprice@sagpd1.mps.ohio-state.edu (Eric Price)
Dear Sir,
Many thanks for your reply to my query, but however the ship my father
served on was a Knot class ship, this I'm sure of. Before he passed
away I was fortunate enough to do some commercial fishing up in Alaska
and sailed the inside passage on a vessel named the "Yardarm Knot"
also of the "Knot" class. She was ~365 feet and (I may be wrong)
~2800 tonnes. The main was a Nordberg 6 cylinder two stroke diesel,
started by compressed air. I would fire both clockwise and counter-
clockwise by advancing and reatadind the cam and starting her up
in that particular manner(CW, CCW) for fore and aft thrust. She also
had Enterprise for storke DC generators. Not quite a T-AK.
However if you have any other information that would be helpfull
to my query, please feel free to email me at eprice@sagpd1.
Many Thanks,
Eric Price