USS Habersham (AK-186) was an . She was named for Habersham County, Georgia

Habersham County, Georgia

Habersham County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. It was created on December 15, 1818, and named for Colonel Joseph Habersham. As of 2000, the population was 35,902. The 2007 Census Estimate shows a population of 42,272. Clarkesville is the county seat.Chartered in 1823, the...

.

Habersham was launched 7 June 1944 by the Walter Butler Shipbuilding Company in Superior, Wisconsin

Superior, Wisconsin

Superior is a city in and the county seat of Douglas County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 26,960 at the 2010 census. Located at the junction of U.S. Highways 2 and 53, it is north of and adjacent to both the Village of Superior and the Town of Superior.Superior is at the western...

, under a Maritime Commission contract. She was sponsored by Mrs. Carl Gray, Jr. and acquired by the US Navy on 26 April 1945 and commissioned 12 May 1945 with Commander

Commander

Commander is a naval rank which is also sometimes used as a military title depending on the individual customs of a given military service. Commander is also used as a rank or title in some organizations outside of the armed forces, particularly in police and law enforcement.-Commander as a naval...

 M.A. MacPhee in command.

Following shakedown training off Galveston, Texas

Galveston, Texas

Galveston is a coastal city located on Galveston Island in the U.S. state of Texas. , the city had a total population of 47,743 within an area of...

 the ship sailed 2 June 1945 for Gulfport, Mississippi

Gulfport, Mississippi

Gulfport is the second largest city in Mississippi after the state capital Jackson. It is the larger of the two principal cities of the Gulfport-Biloxi, Mississippi Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is included in the Gulfport-Biloxi-Pascagoula, Mississippi Combined Statistical Area. As of the...

, to take on cargo and departed four days later to join the Pacific Fleet

United States Pacific Fleet

The United States Pacific Fleet is a Pacific Ocean theater-level component command of the United States Navy that provides naval resources under the operational control of the United States Pacific Command. Its home port is at Pearl Harbor Naval Base, Hawaii. It is commanded by Admiral Patrick M...

. Habersham arrived at Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...

 via the Canal Zone

Panama Canal Zone

The Panama Canal Zone was a unorganized U.S. territory located within the Republic of Panama, consisting of the Panama Canal and an area generally extending 5 miles on each side of the centerline, but excluding Panama City and Colón, which otherwise would have been partly within the limits of...

 30 June, unloaded her cargo, and returned to San Francisco with passengers and cargo 12 July. She then loaded cargo and sailed 21 July for Eniwetok, arriving on 7 August.

Habersham was at Eniwetok when the surrender of Japan

Surrender of Japan

The surrender of Japan in 1945 brought hostilities of World War II to a close. By the end of July 1945, the Imperial Japanese Navy was incapable of conducting operations and an Allied invasion of Japan was imminent...

 was announced, and departed 9 September to carry cargo for occupation forces in Japan. Arriving Tokyo Bay

Tokyo Bay

is a bay in the southern Kantō region of Japan. Its old name was .-Geography:Tokyo Bay is surrounded by the Bōsō Peninsula to the east and the Miura Peninsula to the west. In a narrow sense, Tokyo Bay is the area north of the straight line formed by the on the Miura Peninsula on one end and on...

, 17 September, she unloaded cargo and departed for Guam

Guam

Guam is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States located in the western Pacific Ocean. It is one of five U.S. territories with an established civilian government. Guam is listed as one of 16 Non-Self-Governing Territories by the Special Committee on Decolonization of the United...

 and San Francisco 27 November. She arrived 12 January 1946 and sailed for the East Coast

East Coast of the United States

The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, refers to the easternmost coastal states in the United States, which touch the Atlantic Ocean and stretch up to Canada. The term includes the U.S...

 on 11 February, arriving Norfolk, Virginia

Norfolk, Virginia

Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....

 6 March. Habersham decommissioned at Baltimore, Maryland 9 April 1946 and was returned to the Maritime Commission. Sold into merchant service, she became Rosa Thorden and in 1952 Pusan for the Korean Shipping Corporation. Renamed MV Sam Dae (date unknown). Final Disposition, scrapped in Korea in 1979.

External links

• Photo gallery at navsource.org