.jpg) USSMount Vernon (AP-22) In New York City 1941. | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | USSMount Vernon (AP-22) |
| Namesake | Mount Vernon in Virginia |
| Ordered | 24 May 1930 |
| Builder | New York Shipbuilding |
| Laid down | 20 January 1931 |
| Launched | 20 August 1932 |
| Christened | SSWashington |
| Acquired | (by the Navy) 16 June 1941 |
| Commissioned | 16 June 1941 |
| Decommissioned | 18 January 1946 |
| Renamed | USSMount Vernon (AP-22) |
| Stricken | 1959 |
| Fate | Scrapped 1965 |
| General characteristics | |
| Tonnage | 24,289 gross register tons |
| Displacement | 34,600 tons (fl) |
| Length | 705 ft 3 in |
| Beam | 86 ft |
| Draft | 31 ft 6 in |
| Propulsion | Parsons steamturbines,Babcock & Wilcoxboilers, twin screw, 30,000 shafthorsepower |
| Speed | 20.5knots |
| Troops | 6,031 |
| Complement | 766 |
| Armament |
|
USSMount Vernon (AP-22) was atroop transport that served with theUnited States Navy duringWorld War II. Prior to her military service, she was a luxuryocean liner namedSSWashington.
Washington was launched in May 1933 by theNew York Shipbuilding Company ofCamden, New Jersey, and operated as apassenger liner from New York City toPlymouth, England, andHamburg, Germany. RenamedMount Vernon 6 June 1941, the liner was acquired by the Navy 16 June 1941 and commissioned at thePhiladelphia Navy Yard the same day, CaptainDonald B. Beary in command.
Converted for naval use by Philadelphia Navy Yard,Mount Vernon trained along the east coast while mounting tension in the Far East drew the United States toward participation inWorld War II.
TheAtlantic Conference was held on 9 August 1941 inPlacentia Bay, Newfoundland, between Prime Minister Winston Churchill and President Roosevelt. Besides the "official" agenda, Churchill hoped to obtain considerable assistance from the US, but the American President had his political hands tied. On 1 September 1941, Roosevelt received an urgent and most secret message asking for US Navy troopships manned by Navy crews and escorted by U.S.N. fighting ships to carry British troops for the purpose of reinforcing the Middle East. On 4 September the US destroyer,USS Greer (DD-145), came under an unsuccessful U-boat attack. Roosevelt gave authority to the US Navy to "shoot to kill". On 5 September the President assured the British leader that six vessels would be provided to carry twenty thousand troops and would be escorted by the American Navy.
The chief of Naval Operations ordered troop ships divisions seventeen and nineteen, on 26 September 1941, to prepare their vessels for approximately six months at sea. These transports were to load to capacity with food, ammunition medical supplies, fuel and water and were to arrive at Halifax, NS on or about 6 November and after the arrival of a British convoy from the UK were to load twenty thousand troops. The Prime Minister mentioned in his letter that it would be for the President to say what would be required in replacement if any of these ships were to be sunk by enemy action. Agreements were worked out for the troops to be carried as supernumeraries and rations to be paid out of Lend Lease Funds and officer laundry bills were to be paid in cash. All replenishments of provisions, general stores, fuel and water would be provided by the UK. Fuel and water would be charged for the escorts to the UK in Trinidad and Cape Town only. The troops would conform to US Navy and ships regulation. Intoxicating liquors were prohibited. It was further agreed that the troops were to rig and man their own anti-aircraft guns to augment the ships batteries.[1]
So, convoy WS-12X is most extraordinary. 30 days BEFORE the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941 and the German declaration of war on the USA on 11 December 1941; we have six American transports and American escort carrying British soldiers.
On 10 November 1941, Convoy WS12-X, departsHalifax, Nova Scotia. The convoy consists of Aircraft CarrierRanger (CV-4) and troopships, Mount Vernon (AP-22),Wakefield (AP-21),West Point (AP-23),Orizaba (AP-24),Leonard Wood (AP-25) andJoseph T. Dickman (AP-26) and is destined for Basra Iraq.
The USS Mount Vernon carries British Soldiers.[2]
On 17 November 1941, the convoy reaches Trinidad. All ships were replenished, and the convoy departs Trinidad on 19 November 1941.
On 7 December at 2000, the convoy receives a radio communication of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.[3]
On 9 December, the convoy arrives in Cape Town
At about 0800 on 13 December 1941, the troopships depart Cape Town headed for Bombay. At 650 on 21 December, the Mount Vernon andUSS Orizaba detach from the convoy headed for Bombay, and are bound for Mombasa. The Mount Vernon and Orizaba arrive in Mombasa 25 December. At 0954 on 29 December The Mount Vernon departs Mombasa.[4][5]
At 1000 on 30 December 1941, about 370 miles east of Mombasa,[6] convoy WS12ZM (Malaya) detaches from convoys WS12ZA (Aden) and WS12ZB (Bombay) and withHMS Emerald, and USS Mt. Vernon form convoy DM.01 (Durban Malaya). DM.01 comprises the P&O'sSS Narkunda,[7]MV Aorangi,[8] P&O'sMV Sussex,[9][10] andMS Abbekerk,[11][12] USS Mt. Vernon and escort HMS Emerald.
Convoy DM.01 reaches ‘Port T’ – Addu Atoll in the Maldives – at 1000 on 4 January 1942. Water is taken aboard and mail sent ashore, but shore leave is not permitted. They leave at 0900 on the 5th.
11 January 1942, the convoy passes through theSunda Strait
12 January 1942, the convoy passes through theBangka Strait
13 January 1942, at 1315, the USS Mount Vernon moors at the Navy Yard, Singapore.[5][13][14]
The USS Mount Vernon departs Singapore on 14 January forAden, where she embarked Australian veterans of theMediterranean Theatre for transportation toCeylon andFremantle.Mount Vernon was the lead ship inOperation Stepsister, the movement of Australian troops from North Africa and the Middle East to Southeast Asia, theDutch East Indies and Australia in response to war in the Pacific, and was carrying 4,668 of those troops in waters south of the Dutch East Indies even as allied naval forces were withdrawing in the face of Japanese attacks.[15][16] On 9 MarchMount Vernon delivered the returningAustralian Imperial Force (A.I.F.) troops toAdelaide.[17]
In Australia she embarked civilian and military escapees from thePhilippines, and naval survivors from ships sunk in theBattle of Makassar Strait. After calls inAdelaide, South Australia andWellington, New Zealand,Mount Vernon sailed for San Francisco, arriving 31 March.[citation needed]
USS MOUNT VERNON - War Diary1942-12[18]
USS MOUNT VERNON - War Diary1943-01[19]
USS MOUNT VERNON - War Diary1943-02[20]
USS MOUNT VERNON - War Diary1943-03[21]
USS MOUNT VERNON - War Diary1943-04[22]
USS MOUNT VERNON - War Diary1943-05[23]
USS MOUNT VERNON - War Diary1943-06[24]
USS MOUNT VERNON - War Diary1943-07[25]
USS MOUNT VERNON - War Diary1943-09[26]
USS MOUNT VERNON - War Diary1943-10[27]
USS MOUNT VERNON - War Diary1943–12 to 1944-01[28]
For the next two years,Mount Vernon plied from San Francisco to ports in Australia, New Zealand,New Caledonia, and Hawaii, carrying the soldiers, marines, and sailors who would build the bases, then fight from them, bringing the ultimate victory over Japan.
USS MOUNT VERNON - War Diary1943–12 to 1944-01[28]
USS MOUNT VERNON - War Diary1944-02[29]
USS MOUNT VERNON - War Diary1944-03[30]
USS MOUNT VERNON - War Diary1944-05[31]
USS MOUNT VERNON - War Diary1944-07[32]
USS MOUNT VERNON - War Diary1944-09[33]
USS MOUNT VERNON - War Diary1944-12[34]
Her last such voyage began from Los Angeles on 26 February 1944. Steaming viaMelbourne, she proceeded toBombay, India, to debark Army personnel. She returned to Melbourne, and sailed forBoston by way of thePanama Canal, arriving 22 May.[29][30]
On 4 June 1944,Mount Vernon began a series of voyages toUnited Kingdom ports and the Mediterranean, carrying men for the massive buildup on the European continent which would bringGermany to her knees. Her crossings continued after the war, as she carried occupation troops over and brought veterans home.[citation needed]
USS MOUNT VERNON - War Diary1945-01[35]
USS MOUNT VERNON - War Diary1945-02[36]
USS MOUNT VERNON - War Diary1945-03[37]
USS MOUNT VERNON - War Diary1945-05[38]
USS MOUNT VERNON - War Diary1945-06[39]
USS MOUNT VERNON - War Diary1945-07[40]
USS MOUNT VERNON - War Diary1945-08[41]
USS MOUNT VERNON - War Diary1945-09[42]
Returning from the last voyage 3 January 1946,Mount Vernon decommissioned 18 January 1946, was delivered to the Maritime Commission, and again namedWashington. She was struck from theNaval Register in 1959 and sold for scrap in 1965.
This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be foundhere.