USS General W. H. Gordon

Last updated

USNS General W. H. Gordon (T-AP-117) underway in San Francisco Bay, California (USA), in October 1967 (NH 104712).jpg
USNS General W. H. Gordon (T-AP-117)
in San Francisco Bay, October 1967
History
US flag 48 stars.svg United States
NameUSS General W. H. Gordon
NamesakeMajor General Walter Henry Gordon, United States Army
Builder Federal Shipbuilding & Drydock
Laid down2 November 1943
Launched7 May 1944
Sponsored byMrs Leslie J. McNair
Commissioned
  • 29 Jun 1944 – 11 Mar 1946
  • Mid-1946 – Nov 1951 (US Army)
  • Nov 1951 – Oct 1955
RecommissionedMay 1961
DecommissionedApr 1970
ReclassifiedT-AP-117 (November 1951)
StrickenThree times: 1946, 1958 and March 1986
Identification
Honors and
awards
Four service stars for Korean War service and two for the Vietnam War
FateScrapped 1987, Taiwan
General characteristics
Class and type General John Pope-class transport
Displacement
  • 11,450 tons (lt)
  • 20,175 tons fully laden
Length622 feet 7 inches (189.76 m)
Beam75 feet 6 inches (23.01 m)
Draft25 feet 6 inches (7.77 m)
Installed power17,000 shp
Propulsion2 steam turbines, reduction gearing, twin screw
Speed20.6 to 21 knots (38.2 to 38.9 km/h) (sources vary)
Capacity4,244
Complement533
Armament4 x single 5"/38 caliber dual purpose guns, 4 x quad 1.1" guns, replaced by 20 x single 20mm guns

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.

Contents

General W. H. Gordon was launched under Maritime Commission contract by the Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company of Kearny, New Jersey, 7 May 1944; and commissioned, after being acquired by the Navy, 29 June 1944.

World War II

Following her shakedown cruise in Chesapeake Bay, General W. H. Gordon proceeded to Boston and sailed 5 September in convoy for France. She arrived Cherbourg with troop reinforcements 15 September and returned to New York via Plymouth 30 September 1944.

Subsequently, the transport made 12 voyages to various European and African ports in support of the accelerating Allied effort against the Axis. She carried supplies, troops, and took large numbers of German prisoners of war to the United States.

General W. H. Gordon sailed to Panama from France 5 August 1945, bringing replacement troops for the Pacific campaigns. She stopped at Ulithi and Manila to debark troops and steamed into San Francisco Bay 25 September 1945.

After hostilities

The war over, the veteran transport sailed again 13 October with over 4,000 occupation troops for Japan and Korea. After one more voyage to Japan, the ship returned to San Francisco 29 January 1946 and decommissioned at Oakland 11 March. She was then stricken from the Naval Vessel Register, and transferred to the War Shipping Administration (WSA). Subsequently, she was put to use by the Army Transport Service, as USAT General W. H. Gordon.

Army transport

General W. H. Gordon was one of two ships of her class chartered by WSA to the American President Lines (APL) in mid-1946 for postwar operation as troopships, the other being General M. C. Meigs. A design designated P2-S2-R10 was prepared, probably for the full conversion of these two ships to passenger liners, but the project was not carried out.

While in civilian service the ship appears to have been painted in APL colors but retained the name General W. H. Gordon. She made numerous calls at Shanghai, China. In September 1949 the ship evacuated 1220 people of 34 different nationalities, most of them American citizens, after protracted negotiations by the U.S. State Department with both Nationalist Chinese and Communist Chinese authorities [1] [2] after the Communists had taken over the city.

In March 1950, at Tientsin, China, she embarked hundreds of Westerners again as well as the U.S. Consul General from Shanghai, who a few days earlier had hauled down his flag, the last flying over a diplomatic post on the Chinese mainland.

Korean War

In November 1951, upon expiration of APL's charter, she was taken into the Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS), reinstated on the Naval Vessel Register and placed in service as a civilian-crewed Navy transport. USNS General W. H. Gordon (T-AP-117) departed San Francisco in December 1951 on the first of many trans-Pacific voyages in support of Korean War operations.

1950s-1960s

She was modernized at Portland, Oregon, between June and December 1953, with her World War II vintage lifeboats and davits being replaced and eight new empty positions for 3 in (76 mm)/50 twin gun mounts fitted, presumably for service as a regular Navy armed transport if required. However, the need for large troop transports declined, and General W. H. Gordon was inactive between October 1954 and March 1955. Transferred to the Atlantic in late 1956, she was laid up in the Maritime Administration's Hudson River reserve fleet in June 1957 and a year later stricken from the Naval Vessel Register.

In May 1961 the Navy reacquired General W. H. Gordon from the Maritime Administration, reinstated her on the Naval Vessel Register and returned her to MSTS service. She spent the next several years carrying troops between New York and Bremerhaven, West Germany.

In March to April 1963, General W. H. Gordon made a one time voyage under contract to the UN. She sailed from New York, bound for Dar es Salaam, Tanganyika (now part of Tanzania). There, she embarked Indian troops to transport them back to their home country. The voyage to Bombay took six days.

Vietnam War

In 1965 the transport went to the Pacific to support the expanding Vietnam War, making numerous voyages between the U.S. West Coast and Southeast Asia. The first shipment of troops from the United States occurred on or about 3 June 1965 from the Oakland Army Terminal docks. Elements of the 1st Infantry Division (16th, 18th and 28th infantry battalions) arrived in Oakland by air or on a train from Fort Riley, Kansas. The 1st Battalion, 18th Infantry Regiment arrived at Cam Ranh Bay on 20 June 1965. Other elements of the 1st Infantry Division continued on to Vũng Tàu and disembarked on 15 July 1965. On 21 July 1966 she departed from Tacoma Washington with elements of the 4th Infantry Division from Fort Lewis, Washington arriving at Qui Nhon Harbor on 6 August 1966. There were 800 troops on board. Following disembarkation, the unit was transported to a base camp at the foot of Dragon Mountain near Pleiku, later renamed Camp Enari. She was also credited with participating in the Vietnamese Counteroffensive and the Tet Counteroffensive between December 1967 and March 1968. In September 1967 she transported troops from the 198th Infantry Brigade from Oakland to Da Nang harbor, arriving after a stop at Subic Bay in the Philippines in October 1967.

Final decommission

General W. H. Gordon was laid up in the Maritime Administration's National Defense Reserve Fleet on the James River, Virginia in April 1970, stricken from the Naval Vessel Register in March 1986 and sold for scrapping in April 1987.

Awards

Related Research Articles

USS <i>Admiral W. S. Sims</i>

USS Admiral W. S. Sims (AP-127) was a transport in the United States Navy. She was later renamed USNS General William O. Darby (T-AP-127). Later her name was struck and she was known simply by her hull number. In 1981, she was reclassified as IX-510.

USS <i>Admiral Hugh Rodman</i>

USS Admiral Hugh Rodman (AP-126) was an Admiral W. S. Benson-class transport: Laid down, 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.

USNS <i>General Hoyt S. Vandenberg</i> US Navy transport ship sunk as artificial reef at Key West

USNS General Hoyt S. Vandenberg (T-AGM-10) was a General G. O. Squier-class transport ship in the United States Navy in World War II named in honor of U.S. Army Chief of Engineers Harry Taylor. She served for a time as army transport USAT General Harry Taylor, and was reacquired by the navy in 1950 as USNS General Harry Taylor (T-AP-145).

USS <i>General D. E. Aultman</i> World War II transport ship of the US Navy

USS General D. E. Aultman (AP-156) 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 throughout the war. She was named in honor of U.S. Army general Dwight Edward Aultman. She was transferred to the U.S. Army as USAT General D. E. Aultman in 1946. On 1 March 1950 she was transferred to the Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS) as USNS General D. E. Aultman (T-AP-156). She was later sold for commercial operation under the name SS Portland, before being scrapped some time after October 1986.

USS <i>General A. W. Brewster</i>

USS General A. W. Brewster (AP-155) 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 throughout the war. She was named in honor of U.S. Army general Andre Walker Brewster. She was transferred to the U.S. Army as USAT General A. W. Brewster in 1946. On 1 March 1950 she was transferred to the Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS) as USNS General A. W. Brewster (T-AP-155). She was later sold for commercial operation under the name SS Philadelphia, before being scrapped some time after November 1987.

USS <i>General LeRoy Eltinge</i>

USS General LeRoy Eltinge (AP-154) was a General G. O. Squier-class transport ship for the US Navy in World War II. She was named in honor of US Army general LeRoy Eltinge. She was transferred to the US Army as USAT General LeRoy Eltinge in 1946. On 20 July 1950 she was transferred to the Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS) as USNS General LeRoy Eltinge (T-AP-154). She was later sold for commercial use and operated under the names SS Robert E. Lee and SS Robert Toombs, before being scrapped in 1980.

USS <i>General R. L. Howze</i>

USS General R. L. Howze (AP-134) 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 throughout the war. She was named in honor of U.S. Army general Robert Lee Howze. She was transferred to the U.S. Army as USAT General R. L. Howze in 1946. On 1 March 1950 she was transferred to the Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS) as USNS General R. L. Howze (T-AP-134). She was later sold for commercial operation under the name SS Austral Glen, before being scrapped in 1980.

USS <i>General W. M. Black</i>

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.

USS <i>General M. B. Stewart</i>

USS General M. B. Stewart (AP-140) 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 Merch Bradt Stewart. She was transferred to the U.S. Army as USAT General M. B. Stewart in 1946. On 1 March 1950 she was transferred to the Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS) as USNS General M. B. Stewart (T-AP-140). She was later sold for commercial operation under the name SS Albany, before being scrapped in July 1987.

USS <i>General C. H. Muir</i>

USS General C. H. Muir (AP-142) 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 Charles Henry Muir. She was transferred to the U.S. Army as USAT General C. H. Muir in 1946. On 1 March 1950 she was transferred to the Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS) as USNS General C. H. Muir (T-AP-142). She was later sold for commercial operation under the names SS Chicago and SS San Juan, and was scrapped some time after 1985.

USS <i>General H. F. Hodges</i>

USS General H. F. Hodges (AP-144) 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 Harry Foote Hodges. She was transferred to the U.S. Army as USAT General H. F. Hodges in 1946. On 1 March 1950 she was transferred to the Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS) as USNS General H. F. Hodges (T-AP-144). She was later sold for commercial operation under the name SS James, before being scrapped in 1979.

USS <i>General W. F. Hase</i>

USS General W. F. Hase (AP-146) was a General G. O. Squier-class transport ship for the US Navy in World War II. She was named in honor of US Army Major General William Frederick Hase. She was transferred to the US Army as USAT General W. F. Hase in 1946. On 1 March 1950 she was transferred to the Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS) as USNS General W. F. Hase (T-AP-146). She was later sold for commercial operation in 1968, before being scrapped in 1985.

USS <i>General W. C. Langfitt</i>

USS General W. C. Langfitt (AP-151) 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 William Campbell Langfitt. She was transferred to the U.S. Army as USAT General W. C. Langfitt in 1946. On 1 March 1950 she was transferred to the Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS) as USNS General W. C. Langfitt (T-AP-151). She was later sold for commercial operation under the name SS Transindiana, before ultimately being scrapped in 1983.

USS <i>General John Pope</i> United States Navy/Army troop transport

USS General John Pope (AP-110) was a troop transport that served with the United States Navy in World War II. After the war she was transferred to the Army and redesignated USAT General John Pope. She later served in the Korean and Vietnam Wars as a civilian-crewed Military Sea Transportation Service vessel, as USNS General John Pope (T-AP-110).

USS <i>General William Weigel</i>

USS General William Weigel (AP-119) was a troopship that served with the United States Navy in World War II. After the war, she was acquired by the US Army and became USAT General William Weigel. On the outbreak of the Korean War, she was transferred to the Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS) and designated USNS General William Weigel (T-AP-119), a designation she retained for her later service in the Vietnam War.

USS <i>General J. C. Breckinridge</i>

USS General J. C. Breckinridge (AP-176) was a troopship that served with the United States Navy in World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. In October 1949 she was redesignated T-AP-176 but retained her Navy crew. Her namesake was United States Marine Corps Lieutenant General James Carson Breckinridge (1877-1942), who was the grandson of John Cabell Breckinridge, who served as Vice President of the United States from 1857 to 1861.

USNS <i>Marine Adder</i>

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.

USS <i>Admiral H. T. Mayo</i>

USS Admiral H. T. Mayo (AP-125) was a United States Navy Admiral W. S. Benson-class transport built by the Bethlehem-Alameda Shipyard, Inc., that entered service at the end of World War II. She partook in Operation Magic Carpet before being transferred to the U.S. Army for a short period, who renamed her USAT General Nelson M. Walker, before returning to the Navy. She was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register in January 1981 before being scrapped in 2005.

USS <i>Admiral W. S. Benson</i>

USS Admiral W. S. Benson (AP-120) began as an unnamed transport, AP-120, that was laid down on 10 December 1942 at Alameda, California by the Bethlehem-Alameda Shipbuilding Corp., under a Maritime Commission contract. She was named Admiral W. S. Benson (AP-120) on 20 October 1943 and launched on 22 November 1943; sponsored by Miss Dorothy Lucille Benson, granddaughter of the late Admiral William S. Benson. She was accepted from the Maritime Commission on 23 August 1944 and commissioned the same day.

USS <i>Admiral R. E. Coontz</i>

USS Admiral R. E. Coontz (AP-122) was an Admiral W. S. Benson-class transport built for the U.S. Navy during World War II. She was laid down under a Maritime Commission contract on 15 January 1943 at Alameda, California, by the Bethlehem Steel Corp., and launched on 22 April 1944. She was sponsored by Mrs. Edwin Kokko, daughter of Admiral Coontz, and commissioned on 21 November 1944.

References

  1. Frank Diköter, The Tragedy of Liberation, 2013
  2. "Arrangements for evacuation of Americans from Shanghai on the General Gordon: evacuation warning on Formosa (July 7–December 30)". Office of the Historian, Foreign Service Institute. United States Department of State. Retrieved 17 November 2023.