APL, formerly called American President Lines Ltd., is an American container shipping company that is a subsidiary of French shipping company CMA CGM. It operates an all-container ship fleet, including nine U.S. flagged container vessels.
SS Mongolia was a 13,369-ton passenger-and-cargo liner originally built for Pacific Mail Steamship Company in 1904. She later sailed as USS Mongolia (ID-1615) for the U.S. Navy, as SS President Fillmore for the Dollar Line and as SS Panamanian for Cia Transatlantica Centroamericano.
SS President Coolidge was an American luxury ocean liner that was completed in 1931. She was operated by Dollar Steamship Lines until 1938, and then by American President Lines until 1941. She served as a troopship from December 1941 until October 1942, when she was sunk by mines in Espiritu Santo in the New Hebrides at the Espiritu Santo Naval Base, part of current-day Vanuatu. President Coolidge had a sister ship, SS President Hoover, completed in 1930 and lost when she ran aground in a typhoon in 1937.
USS Refuge (AH-11), was a hospital ship of the United States Navy during World War II. The ship was built in 1921 by the New York Shipbuilding Corp., of Camden, New Jersey, as SS Blue Hen State, but was renamed President Garfield in 1923 and then SS President Madison in 1940 for service with American President Lines. Acquired by the Navy from the War Shipping Administration on 11 April 1942 the ship was commissioned as the transport USS Kenmore until conversion to a hospital ship.
SS Independence was an American built passenger liner, which entered service in February 1951 for American Export Lines. Originally, she plied a New York-Mediterranean route, specializing in a high-end clientele, sailing one way while her sister ship, SS Constitution, plied the route the opposite. Starting in 1980 she sailed as a cruise ship. She was shortly joined by her similarly graceful counter sterned sibling, the pair sharing the Hawaiian islands together for the better part of two decades until their retirements.
SS Malolo was a passenger liner, later cruise ship, built by William Cramp & Sons, Philadelphia, in 1926 for the Matson Line. She was the first of a number of ships designed by William Francis Gibbs for the line, which did much to develop tourism in the Hawaiian Islands. In 1927, Matson commissioned its largest ship yet, the Malolo for the first-class luxury service between San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Honolulu. The Malolo and other Matson liners advertised superb public rooms, spacious cabins, swimming pools, a gymnasium, and a staff, including a hairdresser, to provide a high standard of service.
USS Admiral Hugh Rodman (AP-126) was an Admiral W. S. Benson-class transport: Laid down, on 24 April 1944, as a Maritime Commission type (P2-SE2-R1) hull, under Maritime Commission contract,, at Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation, Alameda, California; launched on 25 February 1945; commissioned as the USS Admiral Hugh Rodman (AP-126), 7 July 1945, decommissioned on 14 May 1946, at New York; transferred to the U.S. Army Transportation Service in May 1946; commissioned USAT General Maurice Rose on 1 August 1946; reacquired by the U.S. Navy and assigned to the Military Sea Transport Service (MSTS); placed in service as USNS General Maurice Rose (T-AP-126) on 1 March 1950.
SS President Cleveland was originally built as Golden State for the United States Shipping Board (USSB), one of the planned World War I troop transports converted before construction into passenger and cargo vessels launched as Emergency Fleet Corporation Design 1029 ships first known, along with the smaller Design 1095 versions, in the trade as "State" ships due to names assigned for the nicknames of states and later as "535s" for their length overall. Almost all ships of both designs were renamed for United States presidents by May 1921, with Golden State being renamed President Cleveland. As one of the USSB-owned ships operated by agents of the board, President Cleveland was allocated to and operated by the Pacific Mail Steamship Company until sold by the USSB to the Dollar Steamship Line in 1925. After the demise of that line and creation of a new, replacement line, American President Lines, the ship remained with that line until government acquisition for the Second World War.
USS President Polk (AP-103) was a President Jackson-class attack transport in the service of the United States Navy during World War II.
USS General W. H. Gordon (AP-117) was a troop transport that served with the United States Navy in World War II. After the war, she was transferred to the US Army and served as USAT General W. H. Gordon. In the mid to late 1940s she sailed in trans-Pacific American President Lines passenger service with sister ship SS General Meigs. With the outbreak of the Korean War, she was reacquired by the Navy as a civilian-crewed Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS) vessel, and redesignated USNS General W. H. Gordon (T-AP-117). She served again under the same designation in the Vietnam War.
USS George F. Elliott (AP-105) was a cargo liner built for the Mississippi Shipping Company as SS Delbrasil for operation between New Orleans and the east coast of South America in 1939 by its operator, Delta Line. The ship entered that service and operated until taken over by the War Shipping Administration (WSA) on 28 April 1942 for operation by Delta Line acting as WSA's agent. On 25 August 1943 WSA allocated the ship to the Navy for conversion to a troop transport commissioned and operated by the Navy for the duration of the war. Ownership of the ship was transferred from Mississippi Shipping to WSA on 4 February 1944 while under Navy operation and was retained until sale to American South African Lines on 22 December 1948. The ship was renamed African Endeavor until returned as a trade in to the Maritime Commission on 22 September 1960 for layup in the James River reserve fleet and later sold to Boston Metals for scrapping.
The P2 transport was a United States Maritime Commission design for a passenger ship which could be readily converted into a troop transport. Three variants of the design were built, the P2-SE2-R1 (Admirals), P2-S2-R2 (Generals), and P2-SE2-R3 (Presidents).
The Type C4-class ship were the largest cargo ships built by the United States Maritime Commission (MARCOM) during World War II. The design was originally developed for the American-Hawaiian Lines in 1941, but in late 1941 the plans were taken over by the MARCOM.
USS Boulder Victory (AK-227) was a Boulder Victory-class cargo ship acquired by the US Navy during World War II. She was the lead ship of 20 ships in her class. She carried ammunition into the Pacific Ocean war zone and, on 20 December 1944 at Manus Island, New Guinea, she struck a naval mine and suffered a very large hole in her side.
President Taylor was a cargo-liner, ex President Polk, ex Granite State, requisitioned for war service in December 1941 and allocated by the War Shipping Administration (WSA) to the U.S. Army and operating as a troopship in the Pacific Ocean in World War II when grounded and eventually lost on 14 February 1942.
SS Equality State (T-ACS-8) was a crane ship of the United States Navy. The ship was named for the state of Wyoming, which is also known as the Equality State. She was scrapped in June 2019.
SS Diamond State (T-ACS-7) is a crane ship in the National Defense Reserve Fleet (NRDF) for the United States Navy. The ship was named for the state of Delaware, which is also known as the "Diamond State". The ship was initially a bulk freighter named SS Japan Mail when launched in 1961 and entered service in 1962 with the American Mail Line. In 1971, the ship was lengthened and renamed SS President Truman. In 1987, the vessel was taken over by MARAD and converted to a crane ship and in 1989, renamed Diamond State.
SS President Cleveland was an American passenger ship originally ordered by the United States Maritime Commission during World War II, as one of the Admiral W. S. Benson-class Type P2-SE2-R1 transport ships, and intended to be named USS Admiral D. W. Taylor (AP-128). She became the Panamanian-flag passenger ship SS Oriental President in 1973 before being scrapped in 1974. She operated on routes in the Pacific Ocean.
SS Brazil was a US turbo-electric ocean liner. She was completed in 1928 as Virginia, and refitted and renamed Brazil in 1938. From 1942 to 1946 she was the War Shipping Administration operated troopship Brazil. She was laid up in 1958 and scrapped in 1964.
SS Panama was laid down 25 October 1937 as hull number 1467, launched on 24 September 1938 and completed 22 April 1939 at Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation in Quincy Massachusetts. The ship was given the official number 238343 and was owned and operated by the Panama Railroad Company. The ship was built for 202 single class passengers with a crew of 124. Panama was sister ship to USS Ancon and SS Cristobal.
United States