USS Midland

History
United States
Name	Coastal Harbinger (1944–1945) Midland (1945)
Namesake	Midland County, Michigan, and Midland County, Texas
Ordered	as type (C1-M-AV1) hull, MC hull 2126[1]
Builder	Walter Butler Shipbuilders, Inc., Superior, Wisconsin
Yard number	44[1]
Laid down	29 July 1944
Launched	23 December 1944
Sponsored by	Mrs. William G. Mitsch
Acquired	17 August 1945
Commissioned	27 September 1945
Decommissioned	13 November 1945
Stricken	date unknown
Identification	Hull symbol: AK-195 Code letters: NEOI
Fate	Transferred to the Maritime Commission, 13 November 1945
History
United States
Name	Coastal Spartan
Owner	Maritime Commission
Operator	States Marine Corporation (1945) North Atlantic & Gulf SS Company (1946) Dichman, Wright & Pugh (1948)
Acquired	13 November 1945
In service	13 November 1945
Out of service	3 February 1948
Fate	Sold, 1 June 1948
Notes	sold without cost
History
Republic of China
Name	Union Banker
Acquired	1 June 1948
Fate	Scrapped, 1970[1]
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 Midland (AK-195) was an Alamosa-class cargo ship that was constructed by the US Navy during the closing period of World War II. She was declared excess-to-needs and returned to the US Maritime Commission shortly after being in commission for only a short period of time.

Midland was laid down under Maritime Commission contract, MC hull 2126, by Walter Butler Shipbuilders, Inc., Superior, Wisconsin, 29 July 1944; launched 23 December 1944; sponsored by Mrs. William G. Mitsch; converted by the New Orleans Naval Station; acquired by the Navy from the Maritime Commission on loan-charter 17 August 1945; placed in service the same day to be ferried from Beaumont, Texas, to Galveston, Texas, and placed out of service upon arrival on 18 August; and commissioned 27 September 1945.^[3]

Because of the reduced need for cargo ships following World War II, Midland decommissioned at New Orleans, Louisiana, 13 November 1945 and was returned to the War Shipping Administration (WSA) the same day for service under the Maritime Commission as Coastal Harbinger.^[3]

Coastal Harbinger was used by several shipping companies from 1945 to 1948, when she was placed in the reserve fleet before being sold.^[2]

On 1 June 1948, she was sold to The Republic of China for "no cost" and renamed Union Banker. She was scrapped in 1970.^[4]

Citations

• Photo gallery of USS Midland (AK-195) at NavSource Naval History