USNS Sgt. George Peterson (T-AK-248)

USNS Sgt. George Peterson (T-AK-248) was an Alamosa-class cargo ship of the United States Navy. Originally planned as USS Washtenaw (AK-218), the contract for building was canceled by the Navy in August 1945. The ship, however, was completed as SS Coastal Guide. She was later acquired by the U.S. Army, 23 June 1948, and renamed USAT Sgt. George Peterson. And, 1 March 1950 she was reacquired by the Navy and placed in service by the Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS) as USNS Sgt. George Peterson (T-AK-248). She remained with the Navy until struck in 1977.

Service career
Sgt. George Peterson, originally projected as Washtenaw, but built as Coastal Guide, was laid down under a U.S. Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 2172) on 9 March 1945 by the Leathern D. Smith Shipbuilding Co., Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin; launched on 13 May 1945; sponsored by Mrs. L. R. Sanford; and delivered to the War Shipping Administration on 16 July 1945. Subsequently operated by the United Fruit Company and the Polaris SS Co., Inc., Coastal Guide was transferred to the U.S. Army on 23 June 1948; renamed Sgt. George Peterson. and operated by the Army Transportation Service.

She was transferred to the Navy in July 1950 and placed in service as USNS Sgt. George Peterson (T-AK-248). The cargo ship then commenced eight years of operations in the Gulf of Mexico, in the Caribbean, and along the southeastern seaboard of the United States for the Military Sea Transportation Service. During that period, she interrupted her regular service only once -- to carry supplies north to arctic stations in the summer of 1955.

Early in 1959, the AK was ordered inactivated; and, in March, she was placed out of service at New Orleans, Louisiana. At mid-month, she was towed to Mobile, Alabama, where, on the 27th, she was transferred to the U.S. Maritime Administration and berthed with the National Defense Reserve Fleet. She remained in reserve at Mobile until sold for non-transportation use in December 1971.

Honors and awards
Qualified personnel were eligible for the following:
 * National Defense Service Medal