USAPRS Thomas F. Farrell, Jr. underway off the East Coast of the United States, 26 August 1944. US National Archives photo # 80-G-420158 RG-80-G, a US Navy photo now in the collections of the US National Archives. | |
History | |
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United States | |
Name | Europa, ex MV William Lester |
Builder | Penn-Jersey Shipbuilding Company, Camden, New Jersey |
Laid down | 2 March 1942 |
Launched | 7 December 1942 |
Acquired | By Navy uncompleted 24 November 1943 transferred to U.S. Army 25 November 1943 |
Renamed | by Army Thomas F. Farrell, Jr. |
Stricken | 6 December 1943 |
Fate | Scrapped, 1967 |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Enceladus-class cargo ship |
Displacement |
|
Length | 269 ft 10 in (82.25 m) |
Beam | 42 ft 6 in (12.95 m) |
Draft | 20 ft 9 in (6.32 m) |
Propulsion | Diesel, single shaft, 1,300 shp (969 kW) |
Speed | 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) |
Complement | 83 officers and enlisted |
Armament | 1 × 3"/50 caliber gun |
Europa (AK-81) [Note 1] was never commissioned and thus never bore the USS designation. [1]
The ship was laid down 2 March 1942 as MV William Lester, a Maritime Commission type (N3-M-A1) hull, under Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 464), [2] at the Penn-Jersey Shipbuilding Company of Camden, New Jersey and launched 7 December 1942. [3] Assigned to the Navy as Europa (AK-81), named for Europa, [4] the smallest of the Galilean moons of planet Jupiter, scheduled to become an Enceladus-class cargo ship. She was delivered to the Navy uncompleted 24 November 1943; transferred the next day, 25 November 1943, to the United States Army; [4] stricken from Navy lists 6 December 1943. [3]
The ship, renamed Thomas F. Farrell Jr., after an engineering officer killed 25 February 1944 at Anzio, began conversion in December, 1943 to an Engineer Port Repair ship manned by a military crew under the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. [Note 2] The ship did not complete conversion until 30 April 1944 and did not sail for Europe until late summer. [5] The ship was one of the port repair ships making it to Europe in time to assist in the restoration of ports. [6]
Thomas F. Farrell Jr. was laid up in the reserve fleet at Suisun Bay on 12 June 1947 and sold to Zidell Explorations, Inc. by Maritime Administration sale 14 April 1965 for non-transportation use. [7] The ship was scrapped in 1967. [2]
USS Arthur Middleton (AP-55/APA-25) was the lead ship of the Arthur Middleton-class attack transports and was in service with the United States Navy from 1942 to 1946. She was named for Founding Father Arthur Middleton and was scrapped in 1973.
USS Adhara (AK-71) was a Crater-class cargo ship in the service of the US Navy in the Pacific theater in World War II. Named after the star Adhara in the constellation Canis Major, it was the only ship of the Navy to bear this name.
Nashira (AK-85) was planned as a civilian cargo ship for the United States Maritime Commission, transferred to the Navy for construction then transferred to the U.S. Army and renamed two days after launching. The ship was never commissioned, thus never bore the USS designation, and had no significant naval service. The ship was converted to the U.S. Army Engineer Port Repair ship Richard R. Arnold and served in the Pacific during 1945.
USS Thomas Jefferson (APA-30), serving from 1 May 1942 until 18 July 1955, was a transport and then reclassified on 1 February 1943 as a President Jackson-class attack transport. She was laid down under Maritime Commission contract as President Garfield on 5 February 1940 at Newport News, Virginia, by the Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Company for the American President Lines. The ship was launched on 20 November 1940, sponsored by Miss Eugenia Merrill. President Garfield was completed 26 March 1941 and acquired by the War Shipping Administration (WSA) 29 November 1941 with American President Lines, the WSA agent, operating the ship as a troop transport. On 1 May 1942 the United States Navy purchased the ship and commissioned her USS Thomas Jefferson, named for Founding Father Thomas Jefferson, on 31 August 1942.
USS Saturn (AK-49) was a German cargo ship, built in 1939 as ES Arauca. In 1941 before the US entered World War II, US authorities seized her and started converting her into a United States Navy stores ship. She was the sole ship of the US Navy's Saturn class. She was laid up in 1946 and scrapped in 1972.
USS Enceladus (AK-80) was an Enceladus-class cargo ship commissioned by the U.S. Navy for service in World War II. She was responsible for delivering goods and equipment to locations in the war zone.
USS Hydra (AK-82), ex MV Eben H. Linnell, was an Enceladus-class cargo ship commissioned by the U.S. Navy for cargo service in World War II. Hydra was in naval service from 1 January through 19 November 1943 before she was transferred to the U.S. Army for conversion to the Engineer Port Repair ship Madison Jordan Manchester.
Media (AK-83) was a World War II US navy ship that was never commissioned and thus never bore the USS designation.
Mira (AK-84) was never commissioned and thus never bore the USS designation. The ship was transferred to become the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Port Repair ship Robert M. Emery the day after acquisition by Navy.
Norma (AK-86) was never commissioned and thus never bore the USS designation. Norma is the name of constellation.
Sagitta (AK-87) was never commissioned and thus never bore the USS designation.
Tucana (AK-88) was never commissioned and thus never bore the USS designation. She was transferred upon launching on 13 September 1944 to the U.S. Army as the U.S. Army Engineer Port Repair ship Arthur C. Ely.
Vela (AK-89) was never commissioned and thus never bore the USS designation. The ship was transferred to the Army to become the Engineer Port Repair Ship Joe C. Specker shortly after launching. She was one of two such repair ships transferred to Navy in 1952 and served as the civilian crewed, unarmed USNS Vela (T-AK-89).
USS Hennepin (AK-187) was an Alamosa-class cargo ship that served the US Navy during the final months of World War II. Post-war she served briefly with the US Army as USAT Hennepin, and then as USNS Hennepin (T-AK-187) with the Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS) where she was awarded a battle star. She was declared excess-to-needs on 27 March 1959.
USNS Private Leonard C. Brostrom (T-AK–255) was a cargo ship for the United States Navy that was converted into a heavy lift cargo ship in the early 1950s. She was built in 1943 for the United States Maritime Commission as SS Marine Eagle, a Type C4-S-B1 tank carrier, by Sun Shipbuilding during World War II. In 1948, she was transferred to the United States Army as USAT Private Leonard C. Brostrom after Leonard C. Brostrom, a recipient of the Medal of Honor. In 1950, the ship was transferred to the Military Sea Transport Service of the U.S. Navy as a United States Naval Ship staffed by a civilian crew. After ending her naval service, she entered the National Defense Reserve Fleet in October 1980 and was sold for scrapping in June 1982.
USNS Marine Adder (T-AP–193) was a troop ship for the United States Navy in the 1950s. She was built in 1945 for the United States Maritime Commission as SS Marine Adder, a Type C4-S-A3 troop ship, by the Kaiser Company during World War II. In 1950, the ship was transferred to the Military Sea Transport Service of the U.S. Navy as a United States Naval Ship staffed by a civilian crew. After ending her naval service in 1957, she entered the National Defense Reserve Fleet, but was sold for commercial use in 1967. She was used in part to carry supplies to support the Vietnam War efforts. During the Summer of 1972 while in Da Nang Port, South Vietnam, a limpet mine was attached to the vessel by a swimmer, blowing a hole in the hull upon detonation. In order to save the ship, the Skipper ran it aground in the Da Nang harbor. The US Navy standby salvage ship USS Grasp with its crew of divers installed a box patch over the hole and pumped the water from the bilges, before moving the ship to a pier. US Army tanks hung from ship booms to heel the ship so that a metal patch could be welded in place to return the ship to duty. SS Transcolorado, she was chartered by the Military Sealift Command as a civilian cargo ship designated T-AK-2005.
USAT J. W. McAndrew was a Type C3-P&C troop ship for the United States Army during World War II.
The U.S. Army acquired ten ships during World War II as Engineer Port Repair Ships, also sometimes known as Port Rehabilitation ships, for use by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to clear war damaged harbors. The need was anticipated by 1942 for the post invasion recovery of ports in Europe and the Transportation Corps was assigned the responsibility to acquire and modify the ships that would be military crewed under the Corps of Engineers.
Type N3-S ships were a Maritime Commission small coastal cargo ship design to meet urgent World War II shipping needs, with the first of the 109 N3, both steam and diesel, type hulls delivered in December 1942.
MS Sea Witch was a United States Maritime Commission type C2 cargo ship, the first of four pre-war hulls, built by Tampa Shipbuilding & Engineering Company, Tampa, Florida and delivered in July 1940. The ship was of the basic C2 design, rather than the more numerous C2-S, C2-S-A1, C2-S-B1 types and four C2-T hulls delivered December 1941 through March 1942. Sea Witch was one of the relatively few C2 types built with diesel engines.