SDASM Archives

This is probably the ex-APA-109 USS GRAFTON after she was purchased by the shipping company "American Mail Line" and renamed JAVA MAIL.

"Following the end of Magic Carpet, Grafton sailed for Norfolk, Virginia via the Panama Canal and San Francisco, arriving in Hampton Roads on 21 March 1946. On 16 May she was decommissioned, and the next day returned for disposal to the US Maritime Commission.

In 1947, the Maritime Commission sold Grafton to American Mail Lines, who registered her at Portland, Oregon and dubbed her Java Mail. She continued with that company until 1969, when she was sold on to Waterman Steamship Corporation who named her Carrier Dove. The vessel remained in service with Waterman Steamship until 1974, when she was sold to Taiwanese interests and scrapped at Kaohsiung on 28 May of the same year." Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Grafton_(APA-109)#:~:text=USS%20Grafton%20%28APA-109%29%20was%20a%20Bayfield%20-class%20attack,service%20in%201947%20and%20was%20scrapped%20in%201975.

When the USAAF released requirements for a "Penetration Fighter" competition in early 1946, the resulting competitors were the McDonnell F-88, the Lockheed F-90, and the North American F-93 (initially called the F-86C). An unhappy marriage between thirsty but low-thrust early jet engines and a desire for lots of range (and therefore lots of gas), none of the designs were chosen (although the F-88 eventually was developed into the F-101 Voodoo). This a/c is the NA XF-93 48-317 (NA-157 / NACA-139 / 1st of two prototypes) with conventional intakes. It served as a chase a/c for years @ Edwards until scrapped in the late '50's.

YF-93A, s/n 48-317 (msn 157-1). First flew 24 January 1950. Designed by North American Aviation to compete with the McDonnell XF-88 Voodoo and Lockheed XF-90 to fulfill a USAF Penetration Fighter requirement for a bomber escort. Participated in a flyoff where the XF-88 Voodoo was declared the winner. The overall program was scrapped when the Boeing B-47's performance proved a bomber escort was unnecessary. The Air Force turned both prototypes over to the NACA Ames Laboratory, Moffett Field, CA for further testing and evauation (48-317 arrived 5 February 1951 and 48-318 arrived 5 June 1951). Beginning in 1953, both aircraft served as chase aircraft for the newly developed Century Series fighters. Both aircraft were eventually declared surplus in the late 1950s and scrapped.

This is probably the ex-APA-109 USS GRAFTON after she was purchased by the shipping company "American Mail Line" and renamed JAVA MAIL.

"Following the end of Magic Carpet, Grafton sailed for Norfolk, Virginia via the Panama Canal and San Francisco, arriving in Hampton Roads on 21 March 1946. On 16 May she was decommissioned, and the next day returned for disposal to the US Maritime Commission.

In 1947, the Maritime Commission sold Grafton to American Mail Lines, who registered her at Portland, Oregon and dubbed her Java Mail. She continued with that company until 1969, when she was sold on to Waterman Steamship Corporation who named her Carrier Dove. The vessel remained in service with Waterman Steamship until 1974, when she was sold to Taiwanese interests and scrapped at Kaohsiung on 28 May of the same year." Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Grafton_(APA-109)#:~:text=USS%20Grafton%20%28APA-109%29%20was%20a%20Bayfield%20-class%20attack,service%20in%201947%20and%20was%20scrapped%20in%201975.