USS Whidbey ( AG - 141 ) USS " Whidbey " ( AG - 141 ) was a " Whidbey " - class miscellaneous auxiliary acquired from the U . S . Army where it was known as USA " FS - 395 " during World War II Army operations . She was transferred to the United States Navy in 1947 , and the Navy assigned her to support the needs of the Pacific Ocean Trust Territory created as a result of the war . " Whidbey " served the medical needs of natives and military personnel in the Trust Territory , and , when war broke out during the Korean War , " Whidbey " turned her attention to the tropical diseases contracted by American military personnel , treating their diseases before releasing them to return stateside . Built for the U . S . Army in Alabama . " FS - 395 " — an inter - island freighter and cargo vessel completed for the United States Army on 2 January 1945 at Decatur , Alabama , by the Ingalls Shipbuilding Corp . — was subsequently inspected by the Navy and accepted for service at the Naval Operating Base ( NOB ) , Subic Bay , Philippine Islands , on 22 February 1947 . " FS - 395 " was later given the name " Whidbey " and classified a miscellaneous auxiliary , AG - 141 ; she was commissioned at Naval Operating Base ( NOB ) , Guam , while moored alongside " SS Hamilton Victory " on 8 August 1947 , Chief Boatswain J . W . Jamieson in command . Supporting World War II Trust Territory . Later assigned to Service Division 51 , Service Force , Pacific Fleet , " Whidbey " initially performed service under the auspices of the Commander in Chief , Pacific Fleet , who was given the collateral duty of High Commissioner of the Trust Territories of the Pacific Islands , assigned by the United Nations to the United States after World War II . " Whidbey " carried passengers , provisions , and mail to the islands in the territories , returning to Guam with copra and other native products . Caught and damaged in a storm . A highlight of " Whidbey ' s " first year in commission occurred shortly before Christmas of 1947 . At 0945 on 22 December , the ship began doubling up all lines in anticipation of an approaching storm , while she was moored alongside the district oiler , " YO - 104 " , at Tomil Harbor , Yap Island ; and at 1605 got underway for Guam , standing out to sea as the wind and sea began to rise menacingly . By 2200 , the ship was maneuvering at various courses and speeds to keep headed into the wind ; by 2330 the situation looked critical — all hands were ordered to don life jackets ! " Whidbey " fought the sea into the next morning . At 0042 , a fire broke out in the bilge s . Shutting down the port main engine , the auxiliary ' s crew battled the small fire for only a short time before they succeeded in putting it out , while , topside , heavy seas carried away one of the snip ' s lifeboats . The craft ' s port engine came to life only briefly before it had to be secured — leaving the ship operating on only one engine . By 0413 , heavy waves were breaking over the port and starboard sides of the ship ; changing course at that instant , " Whidbey " suddenly ground onto a reef at 0418 . All hands manned their abandon ship stations to prepare for any eventuality should the ship have foundered ; but soundings were taken , and it looked as if the ship was on an even keel and not taking any water . Salvaging the grounded ship . " Whidbey " remained aground off the east coast of Yap , with no hope in sight until the afternoon of Christmas Day , when hove in sight at 1229 . After spending the afternoon in trying to pull " Whidbey " off the reef , " Tawakoni " secured salvage operations that evening , but resumed them the next morning . Ultimately , " Tawakoni " succeeded in her task , towing " Whidbey " approximately and moving her astern on the 27th . On the 28th , the fleet tug set out for Guam at 1836 with the crippled auxiliary in tow . The little convoy arrived safely at Guam on the afternoon of the 31st . Once repaired , " Whidbey " received a new task — a humanitarian mission . In an effort to look into the health and welfare of the inhabitants of all of the populated islands within the two and one - half million square miles of the Trust Territory , the Navy began a medical survey of those isles in 1948 . Converted to a mini - hospital . Converted from a small cargo vessel to a specially equipped floating clinic , " Whidbey ' s " medical technicians " surveyed " thousands of islanders — men , women , and children — conducting parasitology tests , providing dental care , and taking blood tests and X - rays . Her medical teams not only provided those services on board ship , but also ashore as well , visiting the sick and the aged . " Whidbey ' s " performance of duty enabled the Navy to ascertain a complete picture of both the common and the rare diseases that occurred in the territories . " Whidbey " s duties as a floating clinic came to an end with the completion of her last survey in late April 1951 . Not only had " Whidbey " performed significant and helpful medical services to and for the islanders of the Trust Territories , but she had also gathered useful hydrographic data in the course of her cruises throughout the many isles of the territories . Conversion to epidemiological disease control ship . When the Navy relinquished its administrative duties to the U . S . Department of the Interior , " Whidbey ' s " role changed ; her operations took on a different complexion in light of the Korean War that had broken out in the summer of 1950 . " Whidbey " , the value of her past service as a mini - hospital ship proved by experience in the Trust Territories , was overhauled at Yokosuka and converted from a medical survey vessel to a Fleet epidemiological disease control ship , becoming , in effect , a modern floating laboratory , with equipment and trained technicians capable of analyzing the most minute organism . Deployed to Yokosuka , Japan , a port through which United States Marines were being rotated back to the United States from the combat zones in Korea , " Whidbey ' s " embarked Fleet Epidemiological Disease Control Unit No . 2 processed the homeward - bound marines for dysentery , malaria , or any other parasites contracted at the front . After the ship ' s medical team had obtained the samples , the marines sailed for the United States . Working almost 24 - hour shifts to obtain the results in minimum time , " Whidbey ' s " technicians then dispatched a report of results to the port of embarkation for each individual processed . As each transport arrived at her destination , quarantine officials there would thus be ready to treat whatever parasitical disease any marine had brought back from Korea . That process enabled those who had contracted malaria or any dormant infections to be cured before they returned to stateside posts or civilian life . China area operations . On 3 January 1952 , " Whidbey " sailed for Taiwan ( formerly Formosa ) and carried out port visits to Keelung and Kaohsiung . She then shifted to the Nationalist Chinese naval base at Tsoying where , as " an ambassadress of good will and good health " she remained from 28 January to 5 May , her doctors working with those of the Chinese Navy . After touching at the Chinese naval base in the Pescadores , at Makung , until 15 May , " Whidbey " stopped briefly at Kaohsiung before she visited Hong Kong , en route to Sasebo . " Whidbey " again operated at Nationalist Chinese naval installations on Taiwan that summer . " Whidbey " remained in the Far East , principally at Kobe and Yokosuka , through December 1953 and , placed in reserve on 1 July 1954 , was assigned to the Pacific Reserve Fleet for overhaul and inactivation . Post - Korean War decommissioning . She was decommissioned on 15 November 1954 . Placed in the Columbia River group of the Pacific Reserve Fleet , she remained there into the late 1950s . Struck from the Navy List on 1 May 1959 , the unique craft was sold to Albert Heller on 31 May 1960 and subsequently scrapped .