USS Antelope (IX-109)
{{Short description|Liberty ship of World War II}}
{{other ships|USS Antelope}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2022}}
| {{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image | Ship image = File:USS Antelope (IX-109).jpg | Ship caption = USS Antelope }} {{Infobox ship career | Hide header = | Ship homeport = | Ship out of service = 3 May 1946 | Ship renamed = | Ship reclassified = | Ship refit = | Ship struck = 21 May 1946 | Ship reinstated = | Ship identification = *Callsign: NJCZ
| Ship decommissioned = | Ship motto = | Ship nickname = | Ship honors = See Awards | Ship captured = | Ship fate = Scrapped, 1948 | Ship notes = | Ship in service = | Ship commissioned = 4 October 1943 | Ship country = United States | Ship builder = Permanente Metals | Ship flag = {{USN flag|1947}} | Ship name = *M. H. De Young (1942–1943)
| Ship namesake = *M. H. de Young | Ship owner = *R. A. Nicol & Company (1943)
| Ship ordered = | Ship awarded = | Ship original cost = | Ship acquired = 19 July 1943 | Ship yard number = | Ship way number = | Ship laid down = 15 June 1943 | Ship launched = 6 July 1943 | Ship sponsor = Mrs. George T. Cameron | Ship christened = | Ship completed = | Ship badge = }} {{Infobox ship characteristics | Hide header = | Ship capacity = {{Liberty ship cargo capacity}} | Ship speed = {{Liberty ship speed}} | Ship armament = *3 × single 3"/50 cal guns
| Ship complement = | Ship propulsion = {{Liberty ship propulsion|8}} | Ship power = {{Liberty ship power}} | Ship hold depth = | Ship draft = {{Liberty ship draft}} | Ship beam = {{Liberty ship beam}} | Ship length = {{Liberty ship length}} | Ship displacement = {{Liberty ship displacement}} | Ship tonnage = {{Liberty ship tonnage}} | Ship type = | Ship class = {{Liberty ship class}} | Ship notes = }} |
SS M. H. De Young was an American Liberty ship built in 1943 for service in World War II. She was later acquired by the United States Navy and renamed USS Antelope (IX-109). Her namesake was M. H. de Young, an American journalist and businessman from 1865 to 1925.
Description
{{main|Liberty ship}}
The ship was {{Convert|442|ft|8|in|m|2|abbr=on}} long overall ({{Convert|417|ft|9|in|m|2|abbr=on}} between perpendiculars, {{Convert|427|ft|0|in|m|2|abbr=on}} waterline), with a beam of {{Convert|57|ft|0|in|m|2|abbr=on}}. She had a depth of {{convert|34|ft|8|in|m|2|abbr=on}} and a draught of {{Convert|27|ft|9|in|m|2|abbr=on}}. She was assessed at {{GRT|7,210}}, {{NRT|4,880}}, {{DWT|10,856}}.{{cite web|last=Davies|first=James|year=2012|title=Liberty Cargo Ships|url=http://ww2ships.com/acrobat/us-os-001-f-r00.pdf|work=ww2ships.com|page=23|accessdate=7 May 2012}}{{cite journal|year=1943|title=Lloyd's Register, Steamers and Motorships|url=https://plimsoll.southampton.gov.uk/shipdata/pdfs/44/44b0113.pdf|journal=Lloyd's Register|publisher=Lloyd's|accessdate=21 June 2021}}
She was powered by a triple expansion steam engine, which had cylinders of {{convert|24.5|in|cm}}, {{convert|37|in|cm}} and {{convert|70|in|cm}} diameter by {{convert|70|in|cm}} stroke. The engine was built by the Worthington Pump & Machinery Corporation, Harrison, New Jersey. It drove a single screw propeller, which could propel the ship at {{convert|11|kn|km/h}}.
Construction and career
M. H. De Young was laid down on 15 June 1943 Richmond, California, by the Permanente Metals Corp., under a Maritime Commission contract (M.C.E. Hull 1587). She was launched on 6 July 1943 and sponsored by Mrs. George T. Cameron. the ship was delivered to the Maritime Commission at 3:15 p.m. on 19 July 1943.{{cite web |last1=Mann |first1=Raymond A. |last2=Cressman |first2=Robert J. |title=Antelope II (IX-109) |url=https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/nhhc/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/a/antelope-ii.html |publisher=Naval History and Heritage Command |access-date=11 February 2022 |date=24 August 2020}} {{PD-notice}}{{Cite web|title=Antelope II (IX-109)|url=https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/nhhc/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/a/antelope-ii.html|access-date=2022-02-09|website=NHHC|language=en-US}}{{Cite web|title=Miscellaneous Photo Index|url=http://www.navsource.org/archives/09/46/46109.htm|access-date=2022-02-09|website=www.navsource.org}}
Operated under a general agency agreement by R. A. Nicol & Company, M. H. DeYoung was torpedoed by the Japanese submarine I-19 (the celebrated Cmdr. Kinashi Takakazu, commanding, who had torpedoed and sunk USS Wasp (CV-7), damaged {{USS|North Carolina|BB-55}} and caused catastrophic, mortal, damage to {{USS|O'Brien|DD-415}} in one spread of torpedoes on 15 September 1942) on 14 August 1943 about 1,000 miles east of Nouméa, New Caledonia, less than a month after being completed.{{Cite book|last=H. Williams|first=Greg|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BhIBBAAAQBAJ&dq=M.+H.+De+Young+1943&pg=PA239|title=The Liberty Ships of World War II|publisher=McFarland|date=July 17, 2014|isbn=978-0786479450|pages=239}}{{Cite book|last1=Smith|first1=Gordon|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cGUuDwAAQBAJ&dq=M.+H.+De+Young+Convoy&pg=PA251|title=World War II Sea War, Vol 10: Il Duce Deposed|last2=Kindell|first2=Don|last3=A. Bertke|first3=Donald|publisher=Lulu.com|date=December 25, 2016|isbn=978-1937470173|pages=August 1943 - 251}} Brought into Espíritu Santo in the New Hebrides, the Liberty ship was partially repaired on board USS Artisan (ABSD-1) and taken over by the Navy under a bareboat charter at 12:01 a.m. on 4 October 1943.{{Cite web|title=NH 97018 USS Antelope (IX-109)|url=https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/nhhc/our-collections/photography/numerical-list-of-images/nhhc-series/nh-series/NH-97000/NH-97018.html|access-date=2022-02-09|website=NHHC|language=en-US}} She was renamed Antelope (IX-109) and placed in service the day she was taken over.
Antelope had her engines removed and spent the entire war as a non-self-propelled dry cargo storage vessel assigned to Service Squadron 8. Scanty records make it impossible to compile a list of locations at which Antelope served, but Espíritu Santo appears to have been her first duty station and Subic Bay in the Philippines was her last known location while still a naval vessel. It is also possible that she saw some duty at Leyte when support forces established a base there after the Battle of Leyte. In any event, she was inspected at Subic Bay and found to be beyond economical repair and surplus to the needs of the Navy.
Antelope was placed out of service and laid up at Subic Bay at 11:00 a.m. on 3 May 1946 and was simultaneously delivered to the Maritime Commission's War Shipping Administration. Her name was stricken from the Navy Register on 21 May 1946, and, along with 14 other vessels, she was sold for scrapping to the Asia Development Corp., Shanghai, China, on 3 March 1948. The ship was broken up in 1950.