Sea Owl in November 1944 | |
History | |
---|---|
Name |
|
Owner |
|
Operator |
|
Port of registry |
|
Ordered | 23 April 1942 |
Builder | Ingalls Shipbuilding, Pascagoula, Mississippi |
Yard number |
|
Laid down | 22 July 1943 |
Launched | 17 December 1943 |
Completed | 27 June 1944 |
Acquired | Delivered WSA: 27 June 1944 |
In service | 1944 |
Out of service | 1971 |
Identification |
|
Fate | Scrapped 1971 |
General characteristics | |
Type | Type C3-S-A2 cargo ship |
Tonnage | |
Length |
|
Beam | 69.6 ft (21.2 m) [1] |
Draft | 28.5 ft (8.7 m) [4] |
Depth | 29.5 ft (9.0 m) [1] |
Decks | 2 decks & open shelter deck |
Propulsion | 2 Westinghouse geared turbines, 2 combustion engineering "D"-type boilers, single propeller |
Speed | 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph) |
Capacity | |
Troops | 2,156 |
Crew | 53 |
Notes |
|
SS Sea Owl was a Type C3-S-A2 ship built during World War II by Ingalls Shipbuilding, Pascagoula, Mississippi. The ship was converted by Ingalls before delivery on 27 June 1944 into a troop transport for operation by the War Shipping Administration. The ship saw service in the European Theater of Operations with a final trip in January 1946 to Japan and return. The ship was released from troop service in February 1946 and placed in the James River Reserve Fleet 12 August 1946.
Sea Owl was converted to commercial service during 1946 and early 1947 and sold in April 1947 to Isthmian Lines, renamed Steel Scientist and operated commercially until 1971.
Sea Owl was laid down 22 July 1943 for the U. S. Maritime Commission by Ingalls Shipbuilding Corporation of Pascagoula, Mississippi as a Type C3-S-A2 ship, yard hull 407, USMC hull 863 under a contract of 23 April 1942. The ship was launched on 17 December 1943 and completed on 27 June 1944 by Ingalls as a troop transport with capacity for 2,156 passengers. Sea Owl was registered with U.S. Official Number 245730, Signal WPIT and delivered to the War Shipping Administration for operation the same day for operation under a General Agency Agreement by American Export Lines. [3] [1] [2] [4] [5]
The 1945 U.S. registry information for Sea Owl gives characteristics as 7,886 GRT, 4,600 NRT, 466.5 ft (142.2 m) registry length, 69.6 ft (21.2 m) beam and depth of 29.5 ft (9.0 m), 8,500 horsepower and crew of 53. [1]
Sea Owl was allocated to Army requirements and operated by a United States Merchant Marine crew. A contingent of the US Naval Armed Guard were assigned responsible for the ship's guns. The Army allocation led to erroneous conclusions the ship was an Army Transport, designated USAT, which was a term applied to ships owned or bareboat chartered by the Army. [6] [7] All ships engaged in Army troop transport had a complement of the US Army Transportation Corps (Water Division) and a representative of the Port of Embarkation [note 2] commander assigned, a Transport Commander, in command of all Army passengers but not the ship. [8]
Sea Owl's shakedown cruise was from Pascagoula to New York City, followed by a voyage to Newport News, Virginia, to pick up her first troop complement, an Army battalion headed for Naples. [9] The ship departed Hampton Roads Port of Embarkation at Norfolk on 27 July 1944 and returned to New York on 31 August. During the remainder of 1944 the ship made two trips from the New York Port of Embarkation to Europe. The first departed on 12 September for Milford Haven and Cherbourg, France. The second was on 22 October for the Mersey, the Bristol Channel and Avonmouth with return to the Boston Port of Embarkation on 16 November. On 24 November the ship sailed for Southampton with return to New York on 22 December 1944. [4]
The first four voyages of 1945 were from New York. On 10 January 1945 Sea Owl departed New York for The Solent, Le Havre, Plymouth and Southampton. The ship then departed again for Le Havre and The Solent on 27 February. Southampton was again the destination of a voyage on 4 April. On 10 May the ship again departed New York for Le Havre and Southampton with a return to Boston from which the ship departed on 8 June for Le Havre returning to New York. On 22 July 1945 a change was made as war in Europe ended with a mission to redeploy troops to the Pacific. The ship departed New York for Gibraltar, Leghorn and Naples but instead Sea Owl was diverted to Boston. The ship then operated out of Boston to Europe with a voyage on 24 August for Le Havre. On 15 September the destination was Marseilles with a return to Hampton Roads. From there the ship sailed on 13 October again for Marseilles and again on 10 November for Naples and Marseilles with return to Hampton Roads on 5 December 1945. [4]
On 15 December 1945 Sea Owl departed Hampton Roads to transit the Panama Canal for the Pacific arriving 14 January 1946 at Nagoya. With a stop at Incheon, Korea (named Jinsen during Japanese occupation) the ship returned to the Seattle Port of Embarkation 14 February 1946 to complete troop transport service. [4]
Units transported included:
Sea Owl was also used to transport German POWs to the United States. [18]
Sea Owl was transferred to the Maritime Commission in 1946. A$282,00 contract for conversion into a cargo ship was awarded to J.K. Welding Co., of Yonkers, NY, to be completed in 70 calendar days. In 1947 she was sold to Isthmian Lines of New York. [3]
Beginning in 1947 it operated in Isthmian service as SS Steel Scientist hauling cargoes from Asia principally to U.S. Gulf ports carrying jute, gunnie sacks, shellac, and other materials. She was sold to Taiwan Shipbreakers, arrived at Kaohsiung 9 July 1971 and scrapped during that month. [3]
USS Lyon (AP-71) was a type C3 ship of the United States Navy which played an extensive role in naval transportation during World War II. The Lyon was built as Mormactide under a Maritime Commission (MC) contract by the Ingalls Shipbuilding Company of Pascagoula, Mississippi. She was laid down 21 August 1939, and was launched on 12 October 1940; sponsored by Gloria McGehee.
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SS Conte Grande was a Lloyd Sabaudo ocean liner built in 1927 by Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino in Trieste, Italy, to service the transatlantic passenger line between Genoa, Italy, and New York City. Launched on 29 June 1927, her maiden voyage was from Genoa to Naples to New York City, which occurred on 13 April 1928. In 1932, after acquisition by the Italian Line, she was transferred to the South America service but was laid up in Santos, Brazil in 1940.
USS General O. H. Ernst (AP-133) was a General G. O. Squier-class transport ship for the U.S. Navy in World War II. She was named in honor of U.S. Army general Oswald Herbert Ernst. She was decommissioned in 1946 and transferred to the Army Transport Service as USAT General O. H. Ernst. She was sold privately in 1964 and renamed SS Calmar, and was scrapped in 1980.
USS General W. M. Black (AP-135) was a General G. O. Squier-class transport ship for the U.S. Navy in World War II. The ship was crewed by the U.S. Coast Guard until decommissioning. She was named in honor of U.S. Army general William Murray Black. She was transferred to the U.S. Army as USAT General W. M. Black in 1946. On 1 March 1950 she was transferred to the Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS) as USNS General W. M. Black (T-AP-135). She was later sold for commercial operation under the name SS Green Forest, before being scrapped in 1980.
USAHS Blanche F. Sigman was a United States Army hospital ship during World War II. The ship was completed in April 1943 as Liberty ship SS Stanford White. When selected for conversion to a hospital ship, she was originally assigned the name USAHS Poppy, but never operated under that name. After being decommissioned as a hospital ship, she became U.S. Army transport USAT Blanche F. Sigman.
USS General W. P. Richardson (AP-118) was a troopship that served with the United States Navy in World War II. She was later transferred to the United States Army and served briefly during the Korean War as USAT General W. P. Richardson before entering commercial service.
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