USAHS Marigold in Tacoma, WA on 10 June 1944 following her commissioning ceremony as a US Army Hospital Ship. | |
History | |
---|---|
Name | Old North State |
Owner | US Shipping Board |
Operator | United States Mail Steamship Company |
Port of registry | US |
Route | New York – London |
Builder | New York Shipbuilding Corporation |
Cost | $4,084,695.58 [1] |
Yard number | 244 |
Laid down | 20 March 1919 |
Launched | 29 February 1920 |
Acquired | 21 October 1920 |
In service | 1920 |
Fate | Transferred to US Lines 1921 |
Name | |
Operator | United States Lines |
Acquired | 1921 |
Fate | Sold to Dollar Line 1924 |
Notes | Renamed upon conversion to all Cabin Class |
Name | President Van Buren |
Operator | Dollar Steamship Company |
Acquired | 1924 |
Out of service | Laid up 1936 |
Fate | Transferred to American President Lines 1938 |
Name | President Fillmore |
Operator | American President Lines |
Acquired | 1938 |
In service | 1940 |
Out of service | October 1943 |
Fate | Acquired by War Shipping Administration December 1941 operated by American President Lines as agent. |
Notes | Transferred to hospital ship service |
Name | USAHS Marigold |
Acquired | October 1943 |
In service | 19 July 1944 |
Out of service | 8 June 1946 [4] |
Fate | Sold for scrap, January 14, 1948 |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Design 1095 ship known commercially as "502" Type [5] [6] |
Tonnage | 10,533 |
Displacement | 13,100 |
Length | |
Beam | 62 ft (19m) |
Draft | 31ft 9in |
Installed power | triple expansion steam |
Propulsion | twin screw |
Speed | 14 knots |
Crew | 92 |
Armament | (as wartime transport) Two 3" 50 cal. Anti-aircraft guns, two .50 cal. Browning machine guns, and two .30 cal. Lewis machine guns [8] |
USAHS Marigold was a United States Army hospital ship during World War II. The ship was built as Old North State in 1920 for the United States Shipping Board as a civilian passenger/cargo liner. The ship changed ownership and operating companies several times with name changes to President Van Buren and President Fillmore before being acquired for military transport service in 1941. After government acquisition during World War II President Fillmore served as a War Shipping Administration troop transport before conversion to hospital ship service.
Old North State was one of seven, after a contract adjustment from an original thirteen, Emergency Fleet Corporation Design 1095 passenger/cargo ships, later more frequently known in the industry as the "502" type for the design length of 502 feet (153.0 m) between perpendiculars, ordered in 1919 by the United States Shipping Board to be constructed at New York Shipbuilding Corporation, Camden, New Jersey. [5] [note 1] The design had been for troop transports until signing of the armistice ending World War I made completion as civilian passenger and cargo ships desirable. [9] New York Shipbuilding had the contract for all seven of the "502" class and nine of the "535" class, an order requiring expansion and construction of the company's South Yard, that were to be delivered to the United States Shipping Board (USSB). [10]
Originally named Old North State, in honor of the state of North Carolina, the ship was launched 29 February 1920, sponsored by Miss. Magoun, daughter of the shipbuilder's Vice-President. [11]
The vessel accommodated 78 passengers, all first class. A contemporary report of her sea trials describes the vessel's appointments:
Old North State entered New York-London service under the operation of the United States Mail Steamship Company. Her service as an all-first class liner, was not to last one year. The shipping company suffered massive financial loss and by August 1921 the ships were returned to the US Shipping Board and a new shipping company was formed. [13]
By 10 May 1922 all the "State" ships with names based on state nicknames were being renamed as "President" ships. [1]
In August 1921 the United States Lines was formed and became the new operator. In 1922 the ship was renamed President Van Buren and she now carried 103 all-cabin class passengers. Her regular route was New York – Plymouth – Cherbourg – London. [14]
On July 4, 1923 the huge SS Leviathan took up the New York – London service. President van Buren and three other ships became excess capacity and the following year they were sold. [13]
In 1924 the Dollar Steamship Company was making a rapid expansion into the Pacific. Seven 522/502 ships, including President Van Buren were purchased and placed in Around the World Service. No renaming of the vessel was needed as all Dollar ships were named for US Presidents. The timetable for the President Liners boasted:
Embarking from New York the ships made calls at Havana, Colon, Balboa, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Honolulu, Kobe, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Manila, Singapore, Penang, Colombo, Suez, Port Said, Alexandria, Naples, Genoa, Marseilles, and Boston before returning to New York. [16] By 1929 President Van Buren and 16 President Liner fleet mates operated in Around the World Service. That year however also marked the beginning of a steady decline for Dollar. The great depression was affecting cargo revenue and the company's two largest ships were running at half capacity. In 1936 President van Buren was laid up in San Francisco. [17] In 1937 the company reached its nadir when its crown jewel, the luxurious SS President Hoover, ran aground near Taiwan and had to be declared a total loss. In August 1938 the company's operations were suspended and its control assumed by the United States Maritime Commission. [18]
On 1 November 1938 the company was renamed American President Lines. In 1940 President van Buren was taken out of layup and returned to service but as a freighter. She was now ‘’President Fillmore’’, a name previously held by a 1903-built ship. While the new President Fillmore resumed civilian cargo service, the older ship was sold and renamed SS Panamanian . The name switch may have been deliberate to cloud the role of the older vessel. This role was revealed by the personal recollection of a British merchant seaman whose ship, the SS Fellside, had been sunk by torpedo:
When the United States entered the war in December 1941 President Fillmore was requisitioned by the War Shipping Administration (WSA) on 9 February 1942 and operated by American President Lines as the WSA agent. [20] [21] Though some sources use the term United States Army Transport (USAT) the ship was only allocated by WSA to Army requirements and never operated by Army or under direct contract with Army. [20] [21]
On June 3–4, 1942 President Fillmore was engaged in the Battle of Dutch Harbor, the site of a US Navy and Army base. On the morning of June 3, eight hours after arriving at Dutch Harbor the crew was awakened by shore side gunfire.
This would not be the first time that President Fillmore would escape serious damage:
On the afternoon of June 4, a second attack was launched:
In the second attack President Fillmore shot down two fighter planes. Although strafed, she sustained no serious damage and there were no casualties aboard the ship.
President Fillmore would now serve the Pacific transporting troops and supplies from Oregon and Washington north to the Aleutians and south to Hawaii. (At that time Hawaii had a rapidly expanding Army base and a combat engineer training center.) She would later transport troops to the Philippines and to the Marshall Islands [22]
Captain David C. Austin was awarded the Merchant Marine Distinguished Service Medal for his cool courage and leadership of his crew has they repulsed heavy enemy attacks. [23]
By mid-1943 more new-built ships were becoming available for transport service. The Army however faced demands to evacuate patients from the Southwest Pacific and North Africa. Transports were subject to enemy attack while hospital ships plainly marked and operated under the terms of the Hague Convention were protected. The Army began to evaluate its fleet for ships for those that might be converted. Hospital ships required sufficient range and speed for transoceanic service. Patient wards should be above the waterline to allow for natural ventilation and near lifeboats for evacuation if needed. The hospital should be located slightly aft of mid-ship. Passageways needed to be wide enough for moving patients on litters. President Fillmore ticked all the required boxes. [24]
On 8 October 1943 President Fillmore was purchased by the War Department and sent to the Seattle-Tacoma Shipyard for conversion to a hospital ship. [20] [25] On 18 June 1944, with the name selected by the Office of the Surgeon General, the United States Army Hospital Ship (USAHS) Marigold departed Seattle for Charleston, South Carolina. [25]
Marigold, 212th Hospital Ship Complement embarked, had accommodation for 758 patients. [26] On July 17, 1944 she sailed from Charleston bound for Italy. Her first service area was in the Mediterranean to care for wounded soldiers from the European front. She then was transferred to the Pacific: Manila, Milne Bay, Luzon, Biak, Hollandia, and Leyte. [17] In the summer of 1945 Marigold returned from the States to the Pacific. She was the first Allied ship to arrive in Japan and was present when the Japanese Instrument of Surrender was signed on board the battleship USS Missouri (BB-63). After the Japanese surrender, she spent three weeks caring for liberated prisoners of war. Australian, British, Canadian, Dutch, Greek, Chinese and Japanese patients were cared for alongside American troops. Later, civilians would receive care in space that had previously been devoted to the military. [17] Decommissioned on June 8, 1946 [4] her name reverted to President Fillmore and she was first transferred to the reserve fleet at Suisun Bay, California. [4] But after twenty six years of invaluable peace and wartime service her work was finished. She was scrapped on January 14, 1948.
SS Manhattan was a 24,189 GRT luxury ocean liner of the United States Lines, named after the Manhattan borough of New York City. On 15 June 1941 she was commissioned as USS Wakefield and became the largest ship ever operated by the US Coast Guard. In 1942 she caught fire and was rebuilt as a troop ship. Manhattan never saw commercial service again.
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.
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.
USS Hugh L. Scott (AP-43) was a Hugh L. Scott-class transport ship. She was built in 1921 and spent 20 years in merchant service as a passenger and cargo liner. In July 1941 the ship was delivered to the United States Department of War for Army service as the United States Army Transport Hugh L. Scott operating in the Pacific. In August 1942 the ship was transferred to the United States Navy for conversion to an attack transport, served as a troopship in Operation Torch in November 1942, and was sunk by a U-boat four days later. 59 crewmen and soldiers died during the sinking.
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.
SS Munargo was a commercial cargo and passenger ship built for the Munson Steamship Line by New York Shipbuilding Corp., Camden, New Jersey launched 17 September 1921. Munargo operated for the line in the New York-Bahamas-Cuba-Miami service passenger cargo trade. In June 1930 the United States and Mexican soccer teams took passage aboard Munargo from New York to Uruguay for the 1930 FIFA World Cup. The ship was acquired by the War Shipping Administration and immediately purchased by the War Department for service as a troop carrier during World War II. Shortly after acquisition the War Department transferred the ship to the U.S. Navy which commissioned the ship USS Munargo (AP-20). She operated in the Atlantic Ocean for the Navy until returned to the War Department in 1943 for conversion into the Hospital ship USAHS Thistle.
USS Mizar (AF-12) was the United Fruit Company fruit, mail and passenger liner Quirigua that served as a United States Navy Mizar-class stores ship in World War II.
American Legion was built for the United States Shipping Board (USSB), one of the planned World War I troop transports converted before construction into passenger and cargo vessels, the Emergency Fleet Corporation Design 1029 ships. The ship was laid down as Koda and perhaps assigned the name Badger State at one point, but renamed American Legion before launch and one of only a few of the design not taking a state nickname. Originally operated by the USSB's agents and the Munson Steamship Line the ship saw commercial service until laid up 13 March 1939.
USS Leonard Wood (APA-12) was built by Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation and launched 17 September 1921 at Sparrows Point, Maryland as Nutmeg State, an Emergency Fleet Corporation Design 1029 ship intended as a World War I troop transport, but redesigned upon the armistice as a passenger and cargo ship and completed as Western World for delivery to the United States Shipping Board. The ship's acceptance on 5 May 1922 and delivery on 9 May 1922 marked the completion of the wartime shipbuilding program of the Emergency Fleet Corporation and the Shipping Board.
USS Henry T. Allen was a Harris class attack transport in service with the United States Army from 1940 to 1941. She was then transferred to the United States Navy where she served until 1946. She was scrapped in 1948. The ship was originally built as a Emergency Fleet Corporation Design 1029 ship in 1919 and operated in commercial service as Wenatchee and President Jefferson until being laid up in 1938.
USS Aeolus (ID-3005), sometimes also spelled Æolus, was a United States Navy transport ship during World War I. She was formerly the North German Lloyd liner SS Grosser Kurfürst, also spelled Großer Kurfürst, launched in 1899 that sailed regularly between Bremen and New York. At the outset of World War I the ship was interned by the United States and, when the U.S. entered the conflict in 1917, was seized and converted to a troop transport.
John L. Clem was built as the cargo and passenger liner Santa Ana for W. R. Grace and Company for service in Grace Line's South American service but was requisitioned before completion by the United States Shipping Board (USSB) in 1918 due to World War I. The ship was chartered back to Grace after completion until turned over to the United States Navy to be briefly commissioned as the troop transport USS Santa Ana (ID-2869) from 11 February 1919 to 21 July 1919.
SS Manchuria was a passenger and cargo liner launched 1903 for the San Francisco-trans Pacific service of the Pacific Mail Steamship Company. During World War I the ship was commissioned 25 April 1918–11 September 1919 for United States Navy service as USS Manchuria (ID-1633). After return to civilian service the ship was acquired by the Dollar Steamship Line in 1928 until that line suffered financial difficulties in 1938 and ownership of Manchuria was taken over by the United States Maritime Commission which chartered the ship to American President Lines which operated her as President Johnson. During World War II she operated as a War Shipping Administration transport with American President Lines its agent allocated to United States Army requirements. After World War II, she was returned to American President Lines, sold and renamed Santa Cruz. The liner was scrapped in Italy in 1952.
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.
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SS Santa Paula was a passenger and cargo ocean liner built for the Grace Line. She was the second of four sister ships ordered in 1930 from the Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company of Kearny, NJ. Her regular service route included inter-coastal service between the east coast and the west coast of the US via the Caribbean and the Panama Canal. She later sailed on cruises from New York to the Caribbean and South America. She was the second of three vessels to bear the name Santa Paula for Grace Line service.
SS Haiti was a passenger and freight ship built for the Colombian Mail Steamship Company built at Newport News Shipbuilding, Newport News, Virginia and delivered 15 December 1932. The ship was renamed briefly Puerto Rico in 1938 and Monterey in 1939 to operate for the New York and Cuba Mail Steamship Company until requisitioned with transfer of title to the War Shipping Administration (WSA) on 25 September 1942. The ship was then allocated to the U.S. Army for operation under a bareboat agreement as USAT Monterey. In 1943 the ship was assigned to the command at Trinidad to supply bases in Brazil and Ascension Island. After layup in the reserve fleet the ship was sold to Turkey.
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Wolverine State was a steam passenger-cargo ship built in 1919–1920 by New York Shipbuilding Company of Camden for the United States Shipping Board (USSB) as part of the wartime shipbuilding program of the Emergency Fleet Corporation (EFC) to restore the nation's Merchant Marine. The ship was initially employed on the United States to India route until its cancellation in Spring 1922. After remodeling the vessel was briefly used by the Los Angeles Steamship Company on a run between Los Angeles and Honolulu as an emergency replacement for one of their burned out steamers. In April 1922 the steamer was renamed President Harrison. In 1923 she conducted several trips between California and the east coast of South America, before being sold together with several other ships of her class to the Dollar Steamship Company. The vessel was captured in 1941 by the Japanese after she was deliberately run aground to avoid the capture. After repairs, the ship was renamed Kachidoki Maru (勝鬨丸), put under control of NYK Line and entered the Japan to Taiwan route, but soon after was requisitioned by the Imperial Japanese Army. Under IJA control the ship sailed between Japan, Singapore and the Philippines carrying troops and military supplies. She was torpedoed and sunk on 12 September 1944 on one of her regular trips, while carrying 950 Allied prisoners of war of which 431 were killed.
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