View source for USS Sharps

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|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag={{USN flag|1945}}
|Ship name= USS ''Sharps''
|Ship namesake= [[Sharps Island]] off the coast of [[Maryland]]
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|Ship builder=            [[Ingalls Shipbuilding Corp.]], [[Decatur, Alabama]]
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|Ship laid down=              date unknown
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|Ship completed=            date unknown, as [[U.S. Army]] ''FS-385''
|Ship acquired=               by the [[U.S. Navy]] in March 1947 
|Ship commissioned=        3 August 1947 as USS ''Sharps'' (AG-139) at [[Guam]]
|Ship recommissioned=              
|Ship decommissioned=        1955 at [[Astoria, Oregon]] 
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|Ship reclassified=               ''AKL-10'', 31 March 1949
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|Ship struck=       20 August 1974
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|Ship honours=             three [[battle star]]s for [[Korea]]n service         
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|Ship fate=     transferred to the [[South Korea]]n Navy 3 April 1955 as ''Kun San'' (AKL-908)
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|Ship notes=        subsequent fate unknown   
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|Ship type=          ''Camano''-class [[cargo ship]]
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|Ship displacement=     520 tons
|Ship tons burthen=           935 tons
|Ship length=           177'
|Ship beam=             33'   
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|Ship draft=               10'
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|Ship propulsion=     two 500hp GM Cleveland Division 6-278A 6-cyl V6 [[diesel engine]]s, twin screws
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|Ship speed=    12 knots
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|Ship complement=     26 officers and enlisted
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'''USS ''Sharps'' (AG-139/AKL-10)''' was a [[Camano-class cargo ship|''Camano''-class]] [[cargo ship]] constructed for the [[U.S. Army]] as '''USA ''FS-385''''' shortly before the end of  World War II and later acquired by the [[U.S. Navy]] in 1947. She was configured as a transport and cargo ship and was assigned to serve the [[Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands|World War II Trust Territories in the Pacific Ocean]]. She later served with distinction in the [[Korean War]].

== Constructed in Decatur, Alabama ==
''Sharps'' (AG-139) was built in 1944 by [[Ingalls Shipbuilding Corp.]], [[Decatur, Alabama]]; operated by the [[U.S. Army]] as a freight supply ship (USA ''FS-385'') in the Pacific Ocean until being transferred to the Navy at [[Guam]] in March 1947. She was converted to Navy use and commissioned there on 3 August 1947.
 
==Trust territory service==
One of a group of small Army cargo ships transferred to the Navy for use among the Pacific islands, ''Sharps'' provided logistic support to the Trust Territories of the [[Marshall Islands]] and the [[Caroline Islands]]. 

In August 1949, ''Sharps'' sailed to [[Pearl Harbor]] for an overhaul. From there, she steamed to [[American Samoa]]. She arrived there on 4 November 1949 and served as station ship for the next 10 months. She returned to [[Pearl Harbor]] and served as an ammunition disposal ship until she was overhauled in late 1951.

==Korean War service==
When the yard work was completed, ''Sharps'' stood out of Pearl Harbor and sailed for [[Sasebo, Nagasaki|Sasebo, Japan]]. She operated out of that port from 3 November 1951 until 17 May 1952, supporting the [[United Nations]]' forces in [[Inchon]] and [[Pohang]], [[Korea]]. ''Sharps'' returned to [[Guam]] and central Pacific operations until her home port was again changed to Sasebo on 9 August 1954. She operated in Japanese waters until November 1955 when she sailed for Pearl Harbor, en route to the United States.
 
==Post-war decommissioning==
''Sharps'' arrived at [[Astoria, Oregon]], on 13 December 1955. In March 1956, she moved to [[Seattle, Washington]]; and, on 3 April,  she was  leased to [[South Korea]] as ''Kun San'' (AKL-908).
 
==Honors and awards==
Sharps received three battle stars for Korean War service:
* UN Summer-Fall Offensive
* Second Korean Winter
* Korean Defense Summer-Fall 1952

==References==
* {{DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/s/sharps.html}} 
* [http://www.navsource.org/archives/09/49/49139.htm NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive - FS-385 - AG-139 / AKL-10 Sharps]

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{{Design 381 coastal freighters}}
{{Camano class cargo ships}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sharps (AG-139)}}
[[Category:Ships of the United States Army]]
[[Category:Design 381 coastal freighters]]
[[Category:Ships built in Decatur, Alabama]]
[[Category:1944 ships]]
[[Category:World War II auxiliary ships of the United States]]
[[Category:Camano-class cargo ships]]
[[Category:United States Navy Maryland-related ships]]
[[Category:Korean War auxiliary ships of the United States]]
[[Category:Ships transferred from the United States Navy to the Republic of Korea Navy]]