_underway_at_sea%2c_in_1952_(NH_83463).jpg) General M. L. Hersey in 1952 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | General M. L. Hersey |
| Namesake | Mark Leslie Hersey |
| Builder | |
| Laid down | Possibly before April 1944 |
| Launched | 1 April 1944 |
| Acquired | 31 May 1944 |
| Commissioned | 29 July 1944 (U.S. Navy) |
| Decommissioned | 1 June 1946 (U.S. Navy) |
| In service | 1 June 1946 (U.S. Army) |
| Out of service | 1 March 1950 (U.S. Army) |
| In service | 1 March 1950 (MSTS) |
| Out of service | 3 September 1959 (MSTS) |
| Renamed | |
| Reclassified | T-AP-148, 1 March 1950 |
| Identification |
|
| Fate | Scrapped, 1988 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | General G. O. Squier-classtransport ship later container 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 | steam turbine, 9,900 shp (7,400 kW) driving singlescrew |
| Speed | 17 knots (31 km/h) |
| Capacity | 3,823 troops |
| Complement | 356 (officers and enlisted) |
| Armament |
|
USSGeneral M. L. Hersey (AP-148) was aGeneral G. O. Squier-classtransport ship of theU.S. Navy inWorld War II. She was named in honor ofU.S. Army generalMark Leslie Hersey. She was transferred to the U.S. Army asUSATGeneral M. L. Hersey in 1946. On 1 March 1950 she was transferred to theMilitary Sea Transportation Service (MSTS) asUSNSGeneral M. L. Hersey (T-AP-148). She was later sold for commercial use, and operated under the namesSSPittsburgh andSSSt. Louis.[1]
General M. L. Hersey (AP-148) was built byKaiser Co., Inc. ofRichmond, California underMaritime Commission contract MC #665. She was launched on 1 April 1944 sponsored by Mrs. Alice Hersey Wick, General Hersey's daughter and acquired by the Navy on 31 May 1944. She was commissioned on 29 July 1944.
After shakedown offSan Pedro,General M. L. Hersey sailed fromSan Francisco in September with troops and cargo forgarrisons in the Southwest Pacific. She reachedMilne Bay,New Guinea on 21 September and subsequently carried troops and supplies to theAdmiralty Islands, theRussell Islands, and theSolomon Islands, before departingGuadalcanal on 6 October for the United States. She brought home more than 3,000 veterans of the Pacific fighting, arriving in San Francisco on 19 October. Between 7 November 1944 and 14 August 1945 the transport made four round-trip voyages from San Francisco and,Seattle to the Western Pacific, carrying troops to New Guinea, thePhilippines, thePalaus, and theMarianas during the final amphibious offensive againstJapan, AtLeyte in NovemberGeneral M. L. Hersey endured frequent air attacks.
Followingthe surrender of Japan, she left Seattle 31 August and, steaming via the Philippines, she arrived inYokohama on 24 September with occupation troops. There she embarked 3,052 troops and departed 5 days later as part ofOperation Magic Carpet the sea-lift to return hundreds of thousands of American fighting men to the United States as quickly as possible. Between 3 December and 3 March 1946 she steamed twice to the Far East where she embarked returning veterans at Yokohama andManila and transported them to San Pedro and San Francisco. Departing San Francisco on 23 March, she then steamed via Manila andSingapore toCalcutta, India, andColombo,Ceylon, where she embarked "Magic Carpet" troops. She departed Colombo 28 April, sailed via theSuez Canal, and arrived inNew York on 21 May. She decommissioned at New York 1 June and was turned over toWar Shipping Administration (WSA) on 6 June for eventual use as a transport by the Army Transportation Service.
Rebuilt by the Army to 12,545 tons, she was on duty for theInternational Refugee Organization (IRO) and initially based out ofNew Orleans (but later based out of New York).[2]
On 14 January 1947, during a return voyage fromBremerhaven, USATGeneral M. L. Hersey responded to distress calls issued bySSTecumseh Park which was thought to be in danger of foundering 840 miles (1,350 km) offHalifax, Nova Scotia.[3]General M. L. Hersey stood by for two days beforeTecumseh Park got underway on her own.[4]
On 16 November 1949 USATGeneral M. L. Hersey leftNaples with 1,283displaced persons from Europe and arrived inMelbourne, Australia on 6 December 1949.[5] This voyage was one of almost 150 "Fifth Fleet" voyages by some 40 ships bringing refugees of World War II to Australia.[6]General M. L. Hersey made two more such trips, arriving in Melbourne with 1,336 refugees on 27 April 1950, and inFremantle with 1,370 passengers on 2 November 1950.[6]
In the midst of her "Fifth Fleet" voyages to Australia, the transport was reacquired by the Navy 1 March 1950.General M. L. Hersey was placed in service and assigned toMSTS under a civilian crew. Continuing to operate out of New York, she resumed carrying European refugees to the United States in support of the IRO.
On 07:32 on 4 November 1951, while ferrying elements of the43rd Infantry Division to Bremerhaven, USNSGeneral M. L. Hersey struckArgentine cruise shipMSMaipo amidships in thick fog over a calmNorth Sea.Maipo sank some three hours after the collision offWangerooge. All 238 people aboardMaipo were rescued, and no one aboardGeneral M. L. Hersey was injured.[7]
During 1952 and 1953 she made four round-trips from San Francisco to the Far East in support of theKorean War. She was placed out of service 11 June 1954 and placed in thePacific Reserve Fleet atSan Diego. Later transferred to theMaritime Administration, on 3 September 1959 she entered theNational Defense Reserve Fleet,Suisun Bay, California.
The ship was sold under the MARAD Ship Exchange Program toSea-Land Service, Inc. on 16 August 1968 and renamed SSPittsburgh. She was renamed SSSt. Louis, USCG ON 515620, IMO 6903228, in September 1969, and converted byTodd Shipbuilding, San Pedro, CA to acontainer ship 10 January 1970. The ship was scrapped in 1988.[1][8][9]
General M. L. Hersey received onebattle star for World War II service and two battle stars for Korean War service.
This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be foundhere.
