Sgt. Joseph E Muller APC-188

Sgt. Joseph E. Muller
(APC-118. dp. 6,090 (f.); 1. 338'9"; b. 50'4'', dr. 21'; s. 11.5 k.; cpl. 107; cl. Jonah E. Kellely; T. C1-M AV1)

Sgt. Joseph E. Muller was laid down under Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 2485) as Check Knot on 30 December 1944 by the Southeastern Shipbuilding Corp., Savannah, Ga; launched on 17 February 1946; sponsored by Mrs. D. R. Williams delivered to the Maritime Commission's Shipping Administration on 9 June 1945 for operation by the Waterman SS Co.

Returned to the Maritime Commission and transferred to the War Department for operation by the Army's transportation service after the end of World War II, Check Knot was renamed Sgt. Joseph E. Muller and was operated in support of occupation forces in Japan and Korea. In late 1949, the Navy-operated Military Sea Transportation Service (now Military Sealift Command) was established; and, in July 1950 the ship was transferred to that organization. Through the Korean conflict, she continued to shuttle passengers and cargo primarily to Japan and Korea, but with an occasional run to Okinawa, Taiwan, and the Philippines.

In the spring of 1955, she sailed east, arriving in Hawaii for repairs in mid-May, and at New York in late June for operations out of that port. Initially slated for arctic resupply missions, she was transferred temporarily and in ready status to the Maritime Administration's National Defense Reserve Fleet ( NDRF )

Hudson River berthing area, in December 1956, and, in September 1957, was declared surplus to the needs of the Navy. The following month, she was returned to the Navy and, on 25 October, was permanently transferred to the NDRF and laid up with the Hudson River unit.

Just under five years later, in August 1962, Sgt. Joseph E. Muller was designated for activation, conversion to a research support ship, and redelivery to the Navy. On 1 October, reactivation and conversion was begun at the Maryland Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Baltimore, on 30 October, she was reinstated on the Navy list as USNS Sgt. Joseph E. Muller (T-AG171). A week later, the ship was towed to New Orleans for further alterations; and, in April 1963, she arrived at Port Everglades, Fla., where she took up duties as a special project ship for oceanographic research operations.

On 16 September 1969, the ship was again declared surplus; and, on 13 November, she was transferred back to the NDRF for berthing in the James River. Her name was struck from the Navy list on the same date.