USS Minidoka

History
United States
Name	Coastal Herald (1944–1945) Minidoka (never commissioned)
Namesake	Minidoka County, Idaho
Ordered	as type (C1-M-AV1) hull, MC hull 2127[1]
Builder	Walter Butler Shipbuilders, Inc., Superior, Wisconsin
Yard number	45[1]
Laid down	26 August 1944
Sponsored by	Mrs. R. N. Elder
Completed	5 May 1945
Commissioned	canceled 25 August 1945
Identification	Hull symbol: AK-196 (never commissioned) Code letters: NEOK
Fate	returned to the Maritime Commission
United States
Name	Coastal Herald
Owner	Maritime Commission
Operator	Waterman SS Corp. (1945) United Fruit Company (1946–1948)
Acquired	4 December 1945
In service	4 December 1945
Out of service	2 July 1948
Fate	Sold 13 July 1956
Brazil
Name	Coastal Herald
Operator	Companhia Nacional de Navegacao Costerira, Patrimonio Nacional
Acquired	13 July 1956
In service	3 January 1957
Fate	Scrapped 1977
General characteristics [2]
Class and type	Alamosa-class cargo ship
Type	C1-M-AV1
Tonnage	5,032 long tons deadweight (DWT)[1]
Displacement	2,382 long tons (2,420 t) (standard) 7,450 long tons (7,570 t) (full load)
Length	388 ft 8 in (118.47 m)
Beam	50 ft (15 m)
Draft	21 ft 1 in (6.43 m)
Installed power	1 × Nordberg, TSM 6 diesel engine 1,750 shp (1,300 kW)
Propulsion	1 × propeller
Speed	11.5 kn (21.3 km/h; 13.2 mph)
Capacity	3,945 t (3,883 long tons) DWT 9,830 cu ft (278 m3) (refrigerated) 227,730 cu ft (6,449 m3) (non-refrigerated)
Complement	15 Officers 70 Enlisted
Armament	1 × 3 in (76 mm)/50-caliber dual-purpose gun (DP) 6 × 20 mm (0.8 in) Oerlikon anti-aircraft (AA) cannons

USS Minidoka (AK-196) was an Alamosa-class cargo ship that was constructed for the US Navy during the closing period of World War II. She was declared excess-to-needs and returned to the US Maritime Commission.

Minidoka, a C1-M-AV1 type cargo ship, was laid down under Maritime Commission contract, MC hull 2127, by Walter Butler Shipbuilding Co., Inc., Superior, Wisconsin, 26 August 1944; launched 13 January 1945; sponsored by Mrs. R. N. Elder; and completed 5 May 1945. While under conversion for Navy use at the Superior yard of Walter Butler, her conversion was canceled 25 August 1945.^[3]

Subsequently, she was returned to the Maritime Commission, renamed Coastal Herald, and operated for the Maritime Commission by Waterman Steamship Corporation^[3] and then the United Fruit Company until 1948. She was then sent to the reserve fleet awaiting sale.^[2]

On 13 July 1956, she was sold to Companhia Nacional de Navegacao Costerira, Patrimonio Nacional, of Brazil, for $693,682, under the condition that she be used for coastal shipping. She was delivered on 3 January 1957.^[4] She was scrapped in 1977.^[1]

Citations

• Photo gallery of USS Minidoka (AK-196) at NavSource Naval History