_at_Hampton_Roads_Pier%2c_Virginia_(USA)%2c_10_October_1951_(80-G-433593).jpg) General M. B. Stewart in 1951 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | General M. B. Stewart |
| Namesake | Merch Bradt Stewart |
| Builder | |
| Laid down | date unknown |
| Launched | 15 October 1944 |
| Acquired | 3 March 1945 |
| Commissioned | 3 March 1945 |
| Decommissioned | 24 May 1946 |
| In service |
|
| Out of service |
|
| Renamed | |
| Reclassified | T-AP-140, 1 March 1950 |
| Identification | IMO number: 6810677 |
| Fate | Scrapped July 1987[1] |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | General G. O. Squier-classtransport ship |
| Displacement | 9,950 tons (light), 17,250 tons (full) |
| Length | 522 ft 10 in (159.36 m) |
| Beam | 71 ft 6 in (21.79 m) |
| Draft | 24 ft (7.32 m) |
| Propulsion | single-screwsteam turbine with 9,900 shp (7,400 kW) |
| Speed | 17 knots (31 km/h) |
| Capacity | 3595 troops |
| Complement | 356 (officers and enlisted) |
| Armament |
|
USSGeneral M. B. Stewart (AP-140) was aGeneral G. O. Squier-classtransport ship for theU.S. Navy inWorld War II. She was named in honor ofU.S. Army generalMerch Bradt Stewart. She was transferred to the U.S. Army asUSATGeneral M. B. Stewart in 1946. On 1 March 1950 she was transferred to theMilitary Sea Transportation Service (MSTS) asUSNSGeneral M. B. Stewart (T-AP-140). She was later sold for commercial operation under the nameSSAlbany, before being scrapped in July 1987.[1]
General M. B. Stewart (AP-140) was launched 15 October 1944 underMaritime Commission contract (MC #707) byKaiser Co., Inc., Yard 3,Richmond, California; sponsored by Mrs. M. B. Stewart; acquired by the Navy and simultaneously commissioned atSan Francisco 3 March 1945.
Following shakedown out ofSan Diego,General M. B. Stewart sailed from San Francisco 2 April 1945 with more than 3,000 troops forPearl Harbor. After returning to San Francisco 18 April with 1,500 veterans embarked, she made a round-trip voyage out of San Francisco from 26 April to 19 June to transport troops to Pearl Harbor; theAdmiralty Islands; andLeyte,Philippine Islands. She then departed San Francisco 26 June for Atlantic operations. ReachingNorfolk 11 July, she sailed the 22d toLeghorn, Italy, where she arrived 5 August to embark troops for redeployment in the Pacific. Underway 7 August for thePanama Canal,General M. B. Stewart steamed for the East Coast after theJapanese capitulation and arrived 19 August to debark her passengers.
Between late August and early November,General M. B. Stewart made two round-trip "Magic-Carpet" voyages toFrance and a third voyage toIndia andCeylon. DepartingNew York 7 December, she sailed via theSuez Canal to India where she arrivedKarachi 28 December to embark 3,300 returning veterans. She sailed 30 December for the United States and arrivedSeattle 25 January 1946. From 5 March to 4 April she sailed to Japan with occupation troops and returned to Seattle with military passengers. Sailing for New York 22 April,General M. B. Stewart arrived 11 May and decommissioned 24 May.
The ship was turned over toWSA for duty inArmy Transport Service, who rebuilt her to 12,521 gross tons.[2]
On 12 February 1948 USATGeneral M. B. Stewart arrived inFremantle,Western Australia with 857displaced persons from Europe.[3] This voyage was the second of almost 150 "Fifth Fleet" voyages by some 40 ships bringing refugees of World War II to Australia.[4]General M. B. Stewart made four more such trips herself: arriving inMelbourne (fromNaples[3]) on 13 April 1949 with 816 refugees; inAdelaide on 20 July 1949 with 816; in Melbourne 30 January 1950 with 1,262; and finally arriving inSydney on 17 April 1950 with 1,292 displaced persons.[4]
The transport was reacquired by the Navy 1 March 1950 for use byMSTS. During the rest of 1950 she made two voyages to the Far East, carrying U.S. troops to Japan andKorea. Between 1950 and 1955General M. B. Stewart also sailed fromBremerhaven, Germany, to New York andHalifax,Nova Scotia, transporting thousands of European refugees to the United States and Canada under theInternational Refugee Organization. In 1953 she made another voyage to Korea and transported home veteran troops before returning to her regular Bremerhaven-New York schedule. She maintained this pattern until being placed in Reduced Operational Status at New York 29 April 1955. She was finally transferred back to theMaritime Administration 21 May 1958 and was placed in theNational Defense Reserve Fleet,Hudson River,New York where she remained until 1967.[2]
At that time, she was sold to Albany River Transport Inc. ofNew York and rebuilt as a cargo ship byTodd Shipyard inBrooklyn. Renamed SSAlbany when she entered commercial service in December 1968, the 10,530 gross ton cargo ship was sold toAvondale Shipyards, Inc. who converted her into Drill ShipMission Viking for Mission Drilling & Exploration Corporation (later Mission Viking, Inc.) ofNew Orleans.[2]
In 1978,Mission Viking was central to a dispute between Mission Viking, Inc. and theOccupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). OSHA inspectors cited two workers aboard the vessel while it was docked atBender Shipbuilding and Repair Co., Inc. inMobile, Alabama. Because of the nature of the work involved on the vessel, OSHA believed it had the authority to enforce its regulations aboard the barge. The owners, however, insisted that because the vessel was licensed with theCoast Guard and the work performed was done by crew members, that the Coast Guard, and not OSHA, had authority over the vessel's operations. In an appeal heard in 1981, OSHA's view prevailed.[5]
In 1981Mission Viking was transferred toManufacturers Hanover Leasing Corp. ofPanama.[2] The ship was scrapped in July 1987.[1]
General M. B. Stewart received onebattle star forKorean War service.
This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be foundhere.