USS Hugh L. Scott

Last updated
SS Hawkeye State.jpg
Hawkeye State in the 1920s,
which became USS Hugh L. Scott in 1941
History
US flag 48 stars.svg United States
Name
  • SS Hawkeye State (1921–25) [1]
  • SS President Pierce (1925–41) [1]
  • USAT Hugh L. Scott (1941–42)
  • USS Hugh L. Scott (1942) [1]
Namesake
Operator
Builder Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation [2]
Cost$6,664,521.20 [3]
Yard number4180
Launched17 April 1920 [1]
Completed1921 [2]
Acquiredfor the US Army, 31 July 1941
Commissionedinto the US Navy, 7 September 1942
Out of service12 November 1942 [1]
Stricken7 December 1942
Identification
FateSunk 12 November 1942 [1]
General characteristics
Typetype:Design 1029 ship known commercially as "535" Type
Tonnage
Length
  • 517 ft (158 m) [2] p/p
  • 532 ft (162 m) o/a
Beam72.2 ft (22.0 m) [2]
Draft30 ft 6 in (9.30 m)
Depth27.8 ft (8.5 m) [2]
Propulsion4 steam turbines, twin screws [2]
Speed18  kn (21 mph; 33 km/h) [1]
Sensors and
processing systems

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.

Contents

Construction

The vessel was designed to be a troopship, [1] ordered by the United States Shipping Board (USSB) from Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation, Sparrows Point, Maryland, and laid down in 1920 as Berrien. Renamed Hawkeye State the ship was launched on 17 April 1921 and given the United States official number 220987. [1] [4] The ship, hull number 4180 and the first of a series, was an Emergency Fleet Corporation (EFC) Design 1029 and one of eight contracted ships of the design for Bethlehem Shipbuilding of which five were built after cancellations. [4] The Design 1029 ships were first known, along with the slightly smaller Design 1095 or "502s" built only by New York Shipbuilding Corporation, as the "State" ships, as all were given state nicknames until all but four were renamed by May 1922 for United States presidents. [3] [4] In later commercial service they were frequently known as the "535s" for their length overall. [4] [5]

Hawkeye State was a turbine steamship, with four steam turbines driving twin propeller shafts by single reduction gearing giving a service speed of 17.5 knots (32.4 km/h). [1] [2] [6]

Service history

Civilian service

On 5 March 1921 Hawkeye State, the largest combined passenger and cargo vessel of the USSB ever to put into a Pacific port, arrived in San Francisco to begin Matson Line service. [5] Matson operated Hawkeye State between Baltimore and Honolulu via the Panama Canal and California. [1] In 1922, she passed to the Pacific Mail Steamship Company, [1] which was taken over by Robert Dollar in 1925. She was then transferred to Dollar Steamship Company, which renamed her President Pierce. [1] In 1938, Dollar was reorganised as American President Lines. [1]

Routes with Dollar Lines

Dollar Line put President Pierce on trans-Pacific services between San Francisco and the Far East until 1931, when she was switched to a round-the-world service. [1] Her first circumnavigation began at New York on 19 November 1931, going via the Panama Canal, California, Japan, China, Malaya, Ceylon, the Suez Canal, the Mediterranean and thence back to New York. [1] She completed a total of five such trips, beginning her final one from New York on 2 June 1933. [1]

SS President Hoover

Early on the morning of 11 December 1937, a much larger Dollar Lines ship, the ocean liner President Hoover, ran aground in a typhoon on Kasho-to, east of Formosa. [7] Hoover's 330 crew got their 503 passengers and themselves safely ashore without loss, but the 853 people now needed to be taken off the remote island. [7] The task was shared between President Pierce and American Mail Line's SS President McKinley. [7] McKinley, assisted by the Japanese cruiser Ashigara, collected about 630 people from Kasho-to on 14 December. Pierce collected the remaining 200 people on 15 December. [7]

War service

On 31 July 1941, President Pierce was delivered by American President Lines to the War Department at San Francisco for operation by the US Army, which renamed her USAT Hugh L. Scott after General Hugh L. Scott, who was Army Chief of Staff 1914–17 and interim Secretary of War February—March 1916. [8] The ship made one round trip to Honolulu before voyaging to Manila and redelivered to American President Lines for a special State Department mission to Hong Kong and Shanghai. [8] In late October she returned to San Francisco by way of Manila to make one more round trip to Manila returning to San Francisco 25 December 1941. [8] The ship made two trips to Australia in early 1942 and was then ordered to the US East Coast arriving at New York in July 1942. [8]

On 30 April 1942, the 32nd Infantry Division boarded a convoy of seven Matson Line ships, including USS Hugh L. Scott and the S.S. Lurline at Pier 42 in San Francisco. The convoy (SF 43) was escorted by the cruiser USS Indianapolis and two corvettes. [9] [10] Taking a southerly route to avoid the Japanese Navy, they arrived in southern Australia at Port Adelaide on 14 May 1942, having traveled 9,000 miles (14,000 km) in 23 days. [11]

On 14 August 1942, she was transferred to the US Navy and converted into an attack transport by Tietjen and Long of Hoboken, New Jersey. On 7 September 1942, she was commissioned as USS Hugh L. Scott, under the command of Captain Harold J. Wright.

Hugh L. Scott took part in Operation Torch, the Allied invasion of French North Africa. As part of Transport Division 3 (TransDiv 3), she sailed on 24 October after intensive amphibious training. She approached the beaches at Fedhala, French Morocco, early on the morning of 8 November and landed her troops. She then cleared the immediate invasion area and did not return until 11 November, when she entered the refueling area and then anchored in the exposed Fedhala roadstead to unload her supplies.

Sunk by U-boat

The Naval Battle of Casablanca delayed the off-loading of Hugh L. Scott's cargo and her departure from the Moroccan coast. On the evening of 11 November, U-173 slipped inside the protective screen and torpedoed transport Joseph Hewes, tanker Winooski and destroyer Hambleton. Hugh L. Scott and the other transports were at battle stations all night and resumed unloading the next day. That afternoon, 12 November, another submarine, U-130, commanded by Ernst Kals, torpedoed Hugh L. Scott, [1] Edward Rutledge, and Tasker H. Bliss.

Hugh L. Scott, hit on the starboard side, burst into flames and foundered, but owing to the availability of landing craft for rescue, casualties were limited to eight officers and 51 men. U-173 was later sunk by destroyers, but U-130 escaped.

Related Research Articles

USS <i>Refuge</i> Hospital ship of the United States Navy

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 <i>President Cleveland</i> (1920) American passenger vessel

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 <i>American Legion</i>

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 <i>Harris</i>

USS Harris (APA-2) was an Emergency Fleet Corporation Design 1029 ship launched for the United States Shipping Board (USSB) on 19 March 1921 by Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation, at Sparrows Point, Maryland as Pine Tree State. After operation by commercial lines for the USSB, during which the ship was renamed President Grant and operated commercially until laid up in the late 1930s.

USS <i>Zeilin</i> (APA-3)

USS Zeilin (APA-3) was an Emergency Fleet Corporation Design 1029 ship launched for the United States Shipping Board (USSB) on 19 March 1921 by Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company in Newport News, Virginia as Silver State. After operation by commercial lines for the USSB, during which the ship was renamed President Jackson, the ship was purchased and operated commercially until laid up in the late 1930s.

USS <i>Leonard Wood</i> American steamship and WWII troop transport

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 <i>Hunter Liggett</i> Early-to-mid 20th century ship

USS Hunter Liggett (APA-14) was built as an Emergency Fleet Corporation (EFC) Design 1029 ship. It was launched as Palmetto State, and shortly after, renamed Pan America for operation as the United States Shipping Board (USSB) owned liner operated by the Munson Steamship Line on New York to South American service. The ship was acquired by the War Department in February 1939, where it was once more renamed. The new Hunter Liggett was then ready for operation, as a United States Army transport vehicle mainly running between New York and San Francisco.

USS <i>Henry T. Allen</i>

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 an 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 <i>J. Franklin Bell</i>

USS J. Franklin Bell (APA-16) was a Harris-class attack transport ship. She was built in 1921 and spent 20 years in merchant service as a passenger and cargo liner. She was acquired for the United States Army in 1940 and transferred to the United States Navy shortly after the USA entered the Second World War. She served throughout and after the Pacific War, was decommissioned in 1946 and scrapped in 1948.

SS <i>Point Bonita</i> Ship

SS Point Bonita was constructed in 1918 and launched 27 March 1918 after a hull being built for foreign owners at Albina Engine and Machine Works was requisitioned during World War I by the United States Shipping Board (USSB). The ship saw service as the Navy transport USS Point Bonita, assigned Identification Number 3496, from 7 October 1918 to 7 April 1919, was returned to the USSB and saw civilian service with several commercial companies as San Pedro and Oliver Olson before again seeing service in World War II as USS Camanga (AG-42). After return to commercial service as Oliver Olson the ship was wrecked at the entrance to Bandon harbor in Oregon.

USS <i>Tuluran</i> Cargo ship of the United States Navy

USS Tuluran (AG-46) was under construction for the British at the Toledo Shipbuilding Company as the cargo ship War Bayonet in 1917 when requisitioned by the United States Shipping Board (USSB) for World War I service. The ship was launched and completed as Lake Superior. The Navy acquired the ship from the USSB with assignment to the Naval Overseas Transport Service (NOTS) with the identification number ID-2995. The ship was returned to the USSB which sold the vessel in 1926. The ship was renamed C. D. Johnston III and that vessel operated out of Oregon until again sold and based in San Francisco. Another sale resulted in the vessel being renamed Anna Shafer which was acquired by the War Shipping Administration (WSA) in 1942 and allocated to the Navy for World War II service.

USS <i>Besboro</i> Cargo ship of the United States Navy

USS Besboro (AG-66) was built as Caddopeak, a United States Shipping Board (USSB) Emergency Fleet Corporation Design 1049 cargo ship built by Albina Engine & Machine Works, launched 18 October 1918. From 1922 Caddopeak served several commercial shipping companies until sold in 1937 to Burns Steamship Company and renamed Lurline Burns. On 2 February 1942 the ship was delivered to the War Shipping Administration, allocated to the United States Army and operated by Burns and Alaska Steamship Company under an Army charter agreement.

SS <i>Mauna Loa</i> American cargo ship

SS Mauna Loa was a steam-powered cargo ship of the Matson Navigation Company that was sunk in the bombing of Darwin in February 1942. She was christened SS West Conob in 1919 and renamed SS Golden Eagle in 1928. At the time of her completion in 1919, the ship was inspected by the United States Navy for possible use as USS West Conob (ID-4033) but was neither taken into the Navy nor commissioned.

SS <i>President Taylor</i>

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.

USAHS <i>Marigold</i> U.S. Army hospital ship

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.

SS <i>President Taft</i> American ship

SS President Taft was launched as one of the "state" ships, Buckeye State, completed by the United States Shipping Board as cargo passenger ships after originally being laid down as troop transports. Buckeye State had been laid down as Bertrice but was converted and renamed before launching. Originally assigned to the Matson Navigation Company as the Shipping Board's agent, the ship was later renamed President Taft and assigned to Pacific Mail Steamship Company for operation. In 1925 the Shipping Board sold the ship to Dollar Steamship Company. President Taft was operated by Dollar and then its successor American President Lines until requisitioned by the War Department on 17 June 1941.

Portmar was a United States-flagged merchant vessel that was constructed in response to World War I, operated by a succession of companies in the interwar period, then taken up for wartime shipping in World War II.

The Design 1095 ship was an Emergency Fleet Corporation (EFC) design for a troop transport to be built at New York Shipbuilding Corporation and delivered to the United States Shipping Board (USSB) that, at the end of World War I hostilities, was modified to a combined passenger and cargo vessel. The contract was for thirteen ships, EFC hulls 2579 though 2591, but later adjusted to seven ships with the remainder being changed during construction to the slightly larger ships of EFC Design 1029 built from the start as passenger and cargo ships rather than being modified from the troop ship plan.

SS <i>Admiral Halstead</i>

SS Admiral Halstead was a merchant ship built in 1920 by the Submarine Boat Corporation, Newark, New Jersey, and operating originally as Suwordenco. The ship's history illustrates the state of the industry as the massive World War I shipbuilding program transitioned to an effort to sell and operate hulls in a market glutted by wartime shipbuilding. By the outbreak of World War II Suwordenco was one of the few ships operating as its owners went bankrupt. The ship was bought for operation from the Puget Sound to California ports until it was caught up in the prelude to the United States' entry into the war.

USAT <i>Arcata</i> Ship built in Portland, Oregon, United States

USAT Arcata, was built in 1919 as the SS Glymont for the United States Shipping Board as a merchant ship by the Albina Engine & Machine Works in Portland, Oregon. The 2,722-ton cargo ship Glymont was operated by the Matson Navigation till 1923 in post World War I work. In 1923 she was sold to Cook C. W. of San Francisco. In 1925 she was sold to Nelson Charles Company of San Francisco. In 1937 she was sold to Hammond Lumber Company of Fairhaven, California. For World War II, in 1941, she was converted to a US Army Troopship, USAT Arcata. She took supplies and troops to Guam. On July 14, 1942, she was attacked by Japanese submarine I-7 and sank. She was operating as a coastal resupply in the Gulf of Alaska, south of the Aleutian Islands at, approximately 165 nautical miles southeast of Sand Point, when she sank. She was returning after taking supplies to Army troops fighting in the Aleutian Islands campaign.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 Swiggum, S; Kohli, M (28 February 2010). "Ship Descriptions – P–Q". The Ships List. Retrieved 8 May 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Lloyd's Register, Steamships and Motor Ships (PDF). London: Lloyd's Register. 1934. Retrieved 7 May 2013.
  3. 1 2 Pacific American Steamship Association; Shipowners Association of the Pacific Coast (1922). "Cost of U.S.S.B. Vessels". Pacific Marine Review. San Francisco: J.S. Hines. 19 (July): 434. Retrieved 5 August 2015.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 McKellar, Norman L. "Steel Shipbuilding under the U. S. Shipping Board, 1917-1921, Part V, Contract Steel Ships". Steel Shipbuilding under the U. S. Shipping Board, 1917-1921. ShipScribe. p. 140a. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
  5. 1 2 Nautical Gazette (1921). "First 535's to Reach Pacific Get Warm Welcome". The Nautical Gazette. New York: The Nautical Gazette, Inc. 100 (March 12, 1921): 339. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
  6. ↑ Marine Engineering (1920). "New American Passenger Steamers". Marine Engineering. New York: Aldrich Publishing Company. 25 (April): 260–264. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Tully, Anthony; Hackett, Bob; Kingsepp, Sander (2012). "Stranding of S.S. PRESIDENT HOOVER - December 1937". Rising Storm – The Imperial Japanese Navy and China 1931–1941. Imperial Japanese Navy Page. Retrieved 7 May 2013.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Charles, Roland W. (1947). Troopships of World War II (PDF). Washington: The Army Transportation Association. p. 35. LCCN   47004779. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 October 2020. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
  9. ↑ "Suburban histories: Yarrabilba". Logan City Council. 1 October 2008. Archived from the original on 30 April 2009. Retrieved 28 April 2009.
  10. ↑ "Vicksburg (mascot) B: Vicksburg, Mississippi Aug 1940 D: Southport, QLD, 8 Oct 1944 Camp Cable (memorial) Park, Beaudesert". Archived from the original on 23 December 2008. Retrieved 26 December 2009.
  11. ↑ Bagley, Joseph. "My father's wartime experiences: Francis G. Bagley, Company B, 114th Combat Engineers, 32nd US Infantry Division". Remembering the war in New Guinea. Archived from the original on 19 August 2008. Retrieved 8 February 2009.

33°40′N7°35′W / 33.667°N 7.583°W / 33.667; -7.583

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.