USNS Private John R. Towle (T-AK-240) was a Greenville Victory-class cargo ship

Cargo ship

A cargo ship or freighter is any sort of ship or vessel that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's seas and oceans each year; they handle the bulk of international trade...

 that served as a commercial cargo ship during the final year of World War II. Post-war she was acquired by the U.S. Army as USAT Private John R. Towle until the 1950s when she was assigned to the U.S. Navy's Military Sea Transportation Service for various duties, including runs to Antarctica's McMurdo Sound

McMurdo Sound

The ice-clogged waters of Antarctica's McMurdo Sound extend about 55 km long and wide. The sound opens into the Ross Sea to the north. The Royal Society Range rises from sea level to 13,205 feet on the western shoreline. The nearby McMurdo Ice Shelf scribes McMurdo Sound's southern boundary...

.

Victory built in Oregon

Private John R. Towle (AK-240) was laid down, under U.S. Maritime Commission contract, as Appleton Victory (MCV hull 162) by the Oregon Shipbuilding Corporation

Oregon Shipbuilding Corporation

Oregon Shipbuilding Corporation was a World War II emergency shipyard located in Portland, Oregon, United States, that built over 1000 Liberty and Victory ships between 1941 and 1945. It was closed after the war ended....

, Portland, Oregon

Portland, Oregon

Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...

, 9 December 1944; launched 19 January 1945; sponsored by Mrs. John Goodland, Jr.

World War II service

She was delivered to the Maritime Commission, thence to the American Mail Line for operation, 23 March 1945. She operated along the Pacific coast for a year, was returned to the Maritime Commission.

U.S. Army service

Appleton Victory was transferred to the Army Transportation Service (ATS) at New York City, in June 1946. Later returned to the U.S. West Coast, she was renamed Private John R. Towle, 31 October 1947, and, under that name, continued to serve ATS until returned to the Maritime Commission; transferred to the Navy, and designated AK–240 in March 1950.

U.S. Navy service

Between 1950 and 1955, the Victory ship

Victory ship

The Victory ship was a type of cargo ship produced in large numbers by North American shipyards during World War II to replace shipping losses caused by German submarines...

, assigned to the Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS) and manned by a civil service

Civil service

The term civil service has two distinct meanings:* A branch of governmental service in which individuals are employed on the basis of professional merit as proven by competitive examinations....

 crew, continued cargo operations in the Pacific Ocean.

Antarctic operations

Then reassigned to MSTS, Atlantic, she began preparations for her first Antarctic

Antarctic

The Antarctic is the region around the Earth's South Pole, opposite the Arctic region around the North Pole. The Antarctic comprises the continent of Antarctica and the ice shelves, waters and island territories in the Southern Ocean situated south of the Antarctic Convergence...

 resupply mission. During the southern summers of 1956–57, 1957–58, 1959–60, and 1960–61 she steamed south to deliver cargo to McMurdo Sound

McMurdo Sound

The ice-clogged waters of Antarctica's McMurdo Sound extend about 55 km long and wide. The sound opens into the Ross Sea to the north. The Royal Society Range rises from sea level to 13,205 feet on the western shoreline. The nearby McMurdo Ice Shelf scribes McMurdo Sound's southern boundary...

.

Needed elsewhere, the ice-strengthened AK did not return to Antarctic waters until the 1963–64 season. Since then, however, and into 1970, she returned annually to support the military and civilian personnel working there.

Post-war decommissioning and career

During July 1974 Towle sustained ice damage to her hull off of Hamilton Inlet

Hamilton Inlet

Hamilton Inlet is a fjord-like inlet on the Labrador coast of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Together with Lake Melville, it forms the province's largest estuary, extending over 140 kilometres inland to Happy Valley-Goose Bay and primarily draining the Churchill River and...

 Labrador

Labrador

Labrador is the distinct, northerly region of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It comprises the mainland portion of the province, separated from the island of Newfoundland by the Strait of Belle Isle...

, Canada, and was assisted by the icebreaker USCGC Edisto (WAGB-284)

USCGC Edisto (WAGB-284)

The USS Edisto was a in the service of the United States Navy which was later transferred to the United States Coast Guard as USCGC Edisto ...

.
On 25 August 1980 Private John R. Towle was returned to the U.S. Maritime Administration

U.S. Maritime Administration

The United States Maritime Administration is an agency of the United States Department of Transportation that maintains the National Defense Reserve Fleet as a ready source of ships for use during national emergencies, and assists the NDRF in fulfilling its role as the nation's fourth arm of...

 and laid up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet

National Defense Reserve Fleet

The National Defense Reserve Fleet consists of "mothballed" ships, mostly merchant vessels, that can be activated within 20 to 120 days to provide shipping for the United States of America during national emergencies, either military or non-military, such as commercial shipping crises.The NDRF is...

, James River Group, Lee Hall, Virginia

Lee Hall, Virginia

Lee Hall is a former unincorporated town long located in the former Warwick County. Since 1958, Lee Hall has been a suburban community in the extreme western portion of the independent city of Newport News in the Commonwealth of Virginia....

. She was struck from the Navy List

Naval Vessel Register

The Naval Vessel Register is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from the time a vessel is authorized through its life cycle and...

 on 31 July 1982 and was sold for scrapping on 4 June 1982.

Honors and awards

Eligible vessel personnel were authorized the following:

• National Defense Service Medal
  National Defense Service Medal
  The National Defense Service Medal is a military service medal of the United States military originally commissioned by President Dwight D. Eisenhower...
  
  
• Antarctica Service Medal
  Antarctica Service Medal
  The Antarctica Service Medal was established by the United States Congress on July 7, 1960 under Public Law 600 of the 86th Congress. The medal was intended as a military award to replace several commemorative awards which had been issued for previous Antarctica expeditions from 1928 to 1941...