USNS New Bedford

New Bedford at anchor, circa 1944-current, location Ballard Shipyards
History
USA
Name	USNS New Bedford
Namesake	New Bedford, Massachusetts
Builder	Wheeler Shipbuilding Company
Laid down	as FS-289 for the U.S. Army (1944)
Launched	1945
Completed	1945
Acquired	by the U.S. Navy, July 1, 1950
Commissioned	July 1, 1950 as USNS New Bedford (IX-308)
Decommissioned	October 28th, 1994
In service	1945
Out of service	4 April 1995
Reclassified	AKL-17, June 1950
Refit	IX-308, USNS New Bedford in 1963
Stricken	October 28th, 1994
Fate	sold, 1996
Status	In Purchase Agreement
Notes	was used in the movie Mister Roberts
General characteristics
Class and type	Camano-class cargo ship
Tonnage	620 tons
Displacement	414 tons(lt)
Tons burthen	940 tons(fl)
Length	177 ft
Beam	32 ft
Draft	10 ft
Propulsion	Two 500 hp GM Cleveland Division 6-278A 6-cyl V6 diesel engines, twin screws
Speed	12 knots
Complement	26 officers and enlisted

USNS New Bedford (FS-289/AKL-17) was a Camano-class cargo ship constructed for the U.S. Army as FS-289 shortly before the end of World War II. FS-289 operated with a U.S. Coast Guard crew in the Southwest Pacific area.

U.S. Army

New Bedford was one of the Army's numerous coastal freighters of the WWII era. She was constructed by Wheeler Shipbuilding, Whitestone, New York, and completed in 1945. She was originally designated FS-289 (freight and supply) as an Army cargo ship. In 1950 the New Bedford was transferred to the Navy as AKL-17.

U.S. Navy

Acquired by the US Navy, 1 July 1950 Placed in service as USNS New Bedford (AKL-17). It was her size and the fact that she was a coastal freighter sailing out of Port Hueneme (near Los Angeles, California) that landed her the part in the movie Mister Roberts.

New Bedford's shakedown cruise initially took her across the central Pacific Ocean to Midway Islands, Guam and Saipan. Attached to the Service Force, Pacific Fleet, New Bedford carried supplies between Navy bases throughout the central Pacific. The New Bedford is also the sister ship of the ill-fated Pueblo, which was captured by the North Koreans in 1968 and whose crew was imprisoned for 11 months.

The (IX-308) then came to Keyport in 1963 and reclassified for torpedo testing duty and assigned service-craft status. The (IX-308), 1971 New Bedford (IX-308) served as a Torpedo Test Firing Vessel and during this assignment, she steamed over 310,000 nautical miles. She was equipped with both surface and underwater launchers and associated fire control equipment. She supported proofing, acceptance testing and research work on Keyport's ranges since that time.

During these past 31 years, the New Bedford has: 1) fired over 7200 units (torpedoes, targets, etc.); 2) recovered more than 900 units; 3) planted more than 5425 range buoys; 4) retrieved over 4650 range buoys; 5) made server port calls to Vancouver and Nanaimo, British Columbia and two trips to San Diego.

Filming Mister Roberts

In late August 1954 New Bedford departed Hawaii for Midway Island, mooring at the Naval Base there on 28 August to help film the Warner Brothers movie Mister Roberts. The film, starring Henry Fonda, James Cagney, William Powell and Jack Lemmon, was partially shot on board New Bedford, with underway footage filmed off Midway harbor between 1–16 September. The light cargo ship then sailed back to Hawaii between 24–29 September and additional film was shot off Kaneohe Bay between 30 September and 7 October.

Inactivation and sale

The IX-308's out-of-service ceremony incorporated elements of this important part of the vessel's history. The proceedings were highlighted by audio clips taken directly from the film. Those present heard memorable film quotes just as they had been spoken by the actors in the film so many years ago.

The ceremony was not limited to the ship's film history, but also touched on its long military career. The Mayor of the City of New Bedford, Massachusetts, the Honorable Rosemary Tierney, was in attendance along with retired Navy Captain Frederick R. Purrington.

The out of service ceremony commenced flawlessly, but did not end without one final act of good humor. Code 80's Steve Schultz appeared as Ensign Pulver at the end of the proceedings. He sprinted down the bow of the vessel with a palm tree. Schultz, or rather Pulver, launched the unsuspecting palm over the pier in one final act of defiance as well as in celebration and honor of the New Bedford IX-308.

In total, the USNS New Bedford served for nearly five decades in the Army and Navy. October 28, 1994 finally saw the flag lowered on the vessel, thus ending its military career. While this was a significant event, it was made even more so by the ship's cinematic past. The USNS New Bedford was just as much a movie star as it was a Navy vessel, and was the largest 'actor' to appear in the 1955 hit film, Mr. Roberts.

References

 This article includes information collected from the Naval Vessel Register, which, as a U.S. government publication, is in the public domain. The entry can be found here.

• USNS New Bedford the Mister Roberts Ship
• NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive - FS-289 - AKL-17 New Bedford
• Naval Undersea Warfare Center, Keyport, November 18, 1994, Volume 30

External links

• World War II Coast Guard-Manned U.S. Army Freight and Supply Ship Histories
• A Movie Sea-story That Bugged Me (Detailed look at how an AKL was temporarily modified and turned into a movie set)