_at_anchor%2c_circa_in_1945_(NH_99150).jpg) Ancon in 1945 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name |
|
| Namesake | Ancón, Panama |
| Builder | Fore River Shipyard |
| Laid down | 23 October 1937 |
| Launched | 10 December 1938 |
| Acquired | (by Navy) 7 August 1942 |
| Commissioned | (by Navy) 12 August 1942 |
| Decommissioned | (by Navy) 25 February 1946 |
| In service | 1939–1973 |
| Stricken | (by Navy) 17 April 1946 |
| Honours and awards | fivebattle stars forWorld War II service |
| Fate | Scrapped in 1973 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement | 14,150 tons |
| Length | 493 ft (150 m) |
| Beam | 64 ft (20 m) |
| Draft | 26 ft 3 in (8.00 m) |
| Propulsion | two steam turbine engines, 9,166 shp |
| Speed | 18knots (33 km/h) |
| Complement | 707 |
| Armament |
|
USSAncon (AGC-4) was one of three identical ships built for thePanama Railroad Company put into operation in 1938. The ship was converted to a troop ship by the Army in January 1942, making several voyages to Australia with troops as an Army Transport. In August 1942 the ship's operation was transferred to theUnited States Navy for the duration ofWorld War II and converted to a combined headquarters and communications command ship.
Ancon was laid down 23 October 1937 as hull number 1468, second of three identical ships ordered by the Panama Railroad Company, launched on 10 December 1938 atFore River Shipyard (Bethlehem Steel Company),Quincy, Massachusetts.[1][note 1] The ship was sponsored by Mrs. Harry Woodring, wife of the Secretary of War.[2] The ship was owned and operated by the Panama Railroad Company, and on 22 June 1939 she begancargo andpassenger service betweenNew York City, New York andCristobal,Panama Canal Zone.[3]
Ancon was delivered by the Panama Railroad Company to begin war operations with theArmy Transport Service on 11 January 1942 atBalboa,Canal Zone.[note 2] The ship sailed to San Francisco for conversion, including 1,500 bunks, required to transport troops.[3][4] She made two voyages toAustralia carryingArmy Air Corps units and elements of the32nd Infantry Division to bolster that continent's defenses; the first voyage left on 31 January 1942 headed forBrisbane,Australia from San Francisco, the second left San Francisco on 23 April 1942 bound forAdelaide andSydney. According to the diary of Edgar Roy Cochrun, Chaplain, United States Army, who had boarded the ship on 20 April, theAncon departed San Francisco on its second voyage toAustralia at 5:55 p.m. on Wednesday, 22 April 1942, and not on 23 April.[citation needed] She returned to San Francisco 18 June 1942,
Ancon underwent extensive repairs and alterations in San Francisco during June and July 1942 before sailing for Boston to be turned over to the Navy.[4]
Ancon was acquired by the Navy under bareboat charter on 7 August 1942 and placed in commission at theBoston Navy Yard asAncon(AP-66) on 12 August 1942. Following her commissioning,Ancon underwent a month's work atBoston, being converted for naval service.[3][5]
On 12 September, she got underway for theVirginia Capes and, on arrival at Norfolk took on cargo and troops to transport toBaltimore, Maryland. She reached Baltimore on 6 October and disembarked her passengers. She then conducted trials and exercises in theChesapeake Bay. After pausing at Norfolk to take on more troops and equipment, she left the East Coast on 24 October, sailing for North Africa to take part inOperation Torch as the flagship of Transport Division 9, Amphibious Force, Atlantic Fleet.[3][6]
Ancon anchored offFedhala,French Morocco on 8 November and began lowering her boats at 0533. The first troops were debarked an hour later. During the course of the assault, men on the ship witnessed the sinking of four other transports, andAncon sent out boats to rescue their survivors. On 12 November the transport headed out and, three days later, put intoCasablanca harbor. She got underway on the 15th with a convoy bound for Norfolk.[3]
After a brief pause there,Ancon traveled toBrooklyn, New York for voyage repairs. A brief period of sea trials preceded the ship's loading cargo and troops for transportation toAlgeria. She sailed on 14 January 1943 as a member of theNaval Transport Service. The ship reachedOran on the 26th and spent five days discharging her cargo before heading back toward New York City, where she arrived on 13 February. On that day, the vessel was reassigned to the Atlantic Fleet Amphibious Forces. On the 16th,Ancon entered theNorfolk Navy Yard,Portsmouth, Virginia, to undergo conversion to a combined headquarters and communications command ship. She was redesignatedAGC-4 on 26 February with the conversion completed on 20 April 1943.[3][6]
On 21 April,Ancon held trials and exercises in theChesapeake Bay through May and into early June 1943, when she was designated theflagship of Vice AdmiralHenry Kent Hewitt, Commander of the Atlantic Fleet Amphibious Forces. The ship got underway for Oran on 8 June with Task Force (TF) 85. The ship had been selected to participate in the invasion ofSicily, and her preparations continued after her arrival at Oran on 22 June.[3]
Carrying Rear AdmiralAlan G. Kirk, Commander, TF 85, and Lieutenant GeneralOmar Bradley on board,Ancon sailed on 5 July for the waters off Sicily. She reached the transport area offScoglitti on the 10th and lowered her boats early that morning. Despite enemy fire, the ship remained off Scoglitti providing communications services through the 12th and then got underway to return to North Africa. At the end of a fortnight there, she shifted toMostaganem, Algeria, on 29 July. In mid-August, the vessel moved toAlgiers. During her periods in port, she prepared for the upcoming invasion of mainlandItaly for which she had been designated flagship for the Commander of the 8th Fleet Amphibious Forces in Northwest African Waters.[3]
On 6 September,Ancon got underway forSalerno, serving as VADM Hewitt's flagship for the overall Task Force 80. During the operation, the ship carried Lieutenant GeneralMark Wayne Clark, who commanded the 5th Army. At 0330 on 9 September, the first wave of Allied troops hit the beach. Thereafter, she remained in the transport area, undergoing nearly continuous enemy air harassment, until she moved toPalermo, Sicily, to pick up ammunition to replenish her sister ships. She returned to the area off Salerno on the 15th but, the next day, arrived back in Palermo.[3]
After two weeks in that Sicilian port,Ancon shaped a course for Algiers. She reached that port on 2 October and spent almost six weeks undergoing repairs and replenishment. In mid-November, she set sail for theUnited Kingdom and, on 25 November, arrived inDevonport,England, where she was designated the flagship of the 11th Amphibious Force. An extended period of repairs and preparations for the impending invasion ofFrance keptAncon occupied through the winter and much of the spring participating in numerous training exercises with other Allied warships. On 25 May, KingGeorge VI of the United Kingdom andField Marshal Montgomery visited the ship.[3] U.S. military advisorGeorge Elsey wrote that during the trip a junior officer refused to admit the King into the ship's intelligence centre because, as he explained to a superior officer, "...nobody told me he was aBIGOT." The codeword signified personnel cleared to know the top-secret details of Overlord (known as the BIGOT list; people cleared to be on it were "Bigots").[7][8]
The preparations culminated on 5 June, whenAncon got underway forBaie de la Seine, France. She served as flagship for the assault forces that landed onOmaha Beach inNormandy. Throughout the invasion, the ship provided instructions for forces both afloat and ashore. She transferred various units of the Army command to headquarters ashore and made her small boats available to other ships to carry personnel and materials to the beachhead. On 27 June, she got underway to return to England and, the next day, arrived atPortland.
George Hicks, a radio journalist, broadcast the invasion live. TheNew York World-Telegram called his broadcast "The greatest recording yet to come out of the war."[9]
Ancon remained in British waters through late September, when she sailed in a convoy bound for the East Coast of the United States. She reachedCharleston, South Carolina on 9 October and was then assigned to the Amphibious Training Command. At the completion of repairs at theCharleston Navy Yard on 21 December, the ship got underway for sea trials. Five days later, she shaped a course for the Pacific. On the last day of 1944, the ship transited thePanama Canal and joined the Pacific Fleet. She continued on toSan Diego, California, where she arrived on 9 January 1945.[3]
Upon reaching San Diego,Ancon entered Amphibious Group 5. She then proceeded to Pearl Harbor and, during the first two weeks of February, carried out training exercises in Hawaiian waters. On 15 February 1945, she set out forEniwetok where she paused to refuel before pushing on toSaipan. Ancon reachedSaipan late in February 1945 and began holding rehearsals off that island andTinian for the upcoming assault onOkinawa. The ship sailed for theRyūkyūs with Transport Squadron 15 on 27 March.[3]
Ancon arrived with TG 51.2 off the southeast coast of Okinawa on 1 April. Due to heavy enemy air activity, the ship stood out to sea on the 3rd and set out for Saipan on the 11th. She disembarked Marines at Saipan on the 15th. After replenishment,Ancon left Saipan to return to Okinawa. For three weeks, she was anchored off the western beaches of Okinawa and supported forces ashore. During this time, the ship was almost continuously atgeneral quarters due to Japanese air raids.[3]
Ancon left Okinawa on 3 June and proceeded toSubic Bay andManila,Philippines. There, she served as flagship of Commander, 7th Amphibious Force. For the next two months, the ship was involved in preparations for invasion of the Japanese home islands. However, this operation never materialized becauseJapan capitulated on 15 August. Shortly thereafter,Ancon got underway forTokyo Bay with an intermediate stop atIwo Jima. On 22 August, the ship rendezvoused with units of the 3d Fleet and sailed on toward Japan.[3]
On the morning of the 29th,Ancon sailed into Tokyo Bay and assumed duties as a press release ship in coordination with battleshipUSS Iowa (BB-61). From the ship's anchorage betweenUSS Missouri (BB-63) andUSS South Dakota (BB-57), her crew witnessed the officialJapanese surrender on 2 September.Anconleft Japanese waters on 20 September and set a course forGuam. She briefly stopped atApra Harbor on the 27th, pushing on that same day for Saipan. There, the ship embarked occupation troops and supplies before reversing her course on 29 September and heading back to Japan.[3]
On 2 October,Ancon was assigned to the 5th Fleet as the headquarters ship for a strategic bombing survey. She touched atYokohama, Japan on 3 October and remained in that area through November. Then, her survey duties being completed, the ship got underway on 1 December to return to the United States.Ancon reachedSan Francisco Bay on 14 December. She remained atSan Francisco in availability until 4 January 1946 when she sailed for the East Coast. The vessel again passed through the Panama Canal on 14 January and rejoined the Atlantic Fleet. She continued on to the New York Naval Shipyard, where she arrived on the 23rd and began deactivation preparations.[3]
European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, 8 Nov 41 – 11 Nov 42,Algeria-Morocco Occupation,Operation Torch, the Allied Invasion ofFrench North Africa.
European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, 9 Jul 43 – 15 Jul 43,Sicily Occupation,Operation Husky, theAllied Invasion of Sicily.
European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, 9 Sep 43 – 21 Sep 43, Salerno Landings,Operation Avalanche, theAllied Invasion of Italy.
European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, 6 Jun 44 – 25 Jun 44,Normandy Landings,Operation Overlord,D-Day.
Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, 1 Apr 45 – 3 Jun 45,Ryuku Islands Landings,Operation Iceberg,The Battle of Okinawa.
Philippine Liberation Medal, 5 Jun 45 – 20 August 1945,Subic BayPhilippines,Philippines Campaign of 1944-45.
World War II Victory Medal, 7 Dec 41 – 31 Dec 46
Navy Occupation Service Medal with Pacific Clasp, 2 Sep 45 – 20 Sep 45 or from 2 Oct 45 – 30 Nov 45,Tokyo, and laterYokohama,Occupation of Japan.
Ancon was decommissioned on 25 February 1946 and struck from theNavy List on 17 April 1946.[3] The ship was returned to the Panama Canal Company 25 February 1946 with commercial service discontinued 20 April 1961.[3][4][6][note 3] On 29 June 1962 title was transferred to theMaritime Administration at New Orleans and loaned to theMaine Maritime Academy.Ancon was renamedState of Maine on 14 July 1962. The academy operated the ship as a training ship until returning her to the Maritime Administration 25 May 1973 when the ship was delivered to North American Smelting Company for scrapping.[5]