Kopara, a 679-ton cargo ship, was built at Napier, New Zealand, in 1938. She was purchased by the U.S. Navy in August 1942 and placed in commission as USS Kopara (AK-62) a month later. A few days after commissioning, she was reclassified as a miscellanous auxiliary and given the new hull number AG-50. During the rest of 1942, she regularly carried supplies to the embattled U.S. forces on Guadalcanal, at times narrowly escaping damage from Japanese guns and aircraft.
For the remainder of her Navy service, Kopara continued
supply operations in the south Pacific, voyaging from New Zealand
northward into the Solomons and eastward to American Samoa and
the Ellice Islands. After two years of this important, if unexciting,
employment, Kopara was decommissioned in January 1945 and
ultimately returned to civilian ownership.
This page features our only view of the New Zealand cargo ship Kopara, which served as USS Kopara (AK-62, later AG-50) in 1942-1945.
If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions." |
Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.
If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions." |
Page made 31 December 2001