View source for USS Trefoil (IX-149)

{{Other ships|USS Midnight|USS Trefoil}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2021}}
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|Ship image=[[Image:USS Midnight IX-149 094614902.jpg|300px|The Trefoil, when she was known as the Midnight in 1944]]
|Ship caption=''Midnight'' in March 1944
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|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag={{USN flag|1948}}
|Ship name=USS ''Midnight''
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|Ship builder=Barrett, Hilp & Belair, [[San Francisco, California]]
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|Ship laid down=1944
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|Ship acquired=5 March 1944
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|Ship in service=9 March 1944
|Ship out of service=28 May 1948
|Ship renamed= ''Trefoil'', 10 June 1944
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|Ship struck=22 December 1948
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|Ship fate=Sold, 1948
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|Ship class=''Trefoil''-class cargo barge
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|Ship displacement={{convert|10960|LT|t|0|lk=in|abbr=on}}
|Ship length={{convert|366|ft|4|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam={{convert|54|ft|m|abbr=on}}
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|Ship speed=Not self-propelled
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|Ship complement=54 officers and men
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|Ship armament=*1 × [[Bofors 40 mm Automatic Gun L/60|40 mm AA gun]]
*4 × single [[Oerlikon 20 mm cannon|20 mm AA guns]]
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'''USS ''Trefoil'' (IX-149)''', the [[lead ship]] of [[Trefoil class concrete barge|her class]] of [[concrete barge|concrete-hulled cargo barge]], was the second ship of the [[United States Navy]] to be given that name.  Her keel was laid down in 1944 under a [[Maritime Commission]] contract (MC hull 1329) by the Barrett, Hilp & Belair Shipyard in [[San Francisco, California]] (Type B7-D1). She was acquired by the Navy on 5 March 1944 as ''Midnight'' (the second ship of that name), designated [[unclassified miscellaneous vessel]] IX-149, and placed in service on 9 March 1944 with Lieutenant Neal King, USNR, in charge.

==Service history==

===World War II, 1944&ndash;1945===
''Midnight'' completed conversion for Navy use on 28 March and was assigned to the Service Force, Pacific Fleet. That same day, she was towed out of [[San Francisco, California]], on her way to the Central Pacific. After a stop at [[Pearl Harbor]], she continued her voyage and arrived in [[Majuro Lagoon]] on 4 May. For the next five months, she served at [[Majuro]] and [[Eniwetok]]. During that time, she was renamed ''Trefoil'' on 10 June 1944.

On 5 October, {{USS|Current|ARS-22|3}} towed her out of Eniwetok and on to [[Ulithi]] where she arrived on 16 October. She remained there for ten months on duty with Service Squadron 8.  In August 1945, she was towed from Ulithi to [[Leyte Island|Leyte]] in the [[Philippines]] where she arrived on 28 August. ''Trefoil'' remained there until 9 November, when she was towed out for [[Guam]] in the [[Mariana Islands]]. The barge reached [[Apra Harbor]] on 16 November.<ref>[https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/b/beans-bullets-black-oil.html US navy, Beans, Bullets, and Black Oil, Naval History and Heritage Command, p.  139]</ref>

===Post-war activities, 1945&ndash;1948===
''Trefoil'' served at [[Guam]] for the remainder of her Navy career. Early in 1946, she was chosen as one of the support ships for "[[Operation Crossroads]]", the [[atomic bomb]] tests conducted at [[Bikini Atoll]] that summer. However, soon thereafter, that decision was rescinded and another made to dispose of her. Action on that decision was also deferred, and she was used to house Stockton-Pollack employees building a drydock in Apra Harbor. Her reprieve ended in September 1947 when she was determined to be in excess of the needs of the Navy.

===Disposal===
On 28 May 1948, the barge was turned over to the '''Foreign Liquidations Commission''' of the [[United States Department of State]] for disposal, and she was sold to the '''Asia Development Corporation''' of [[Shanghai]], [[China]]. Her name was struck from the [[Naval Vessel Register]] on 22 December 1948. The barge, however, remained at Apra Harbor because she was impounded due to a dispute over ownership of the vessel between the Asia Development Corporation and [[Moellers, Limited]], of [[Hong Kong]]. Resolution of the dispute and final disposition of the barge is unknown.

== References ==
* {{DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/t/trefoil-ii.html}}
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
* {{navsource|09/46/46149|USS Midnight / Trefoil (IX-149)}}

{{Trefoil class concrete barge}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Trefoil}}
[[Category:Trefoil-class concrete barges]]
[[Category:Ships built in San Francisco]]
[[Category:1944 ships]]