 Susan B. Anthony atOran, 5 July 1943 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name |
|
| Namesake | Susan B. Anthony |
| Owner | Grace Steamship Company[1] |
| Operator |
|
| Port of registry | New York[1] |
| Builder | New York Shipbuilding Corporation,Camden, New Jersey[1] |
| Launched | March 1930,[1] as SSSanta Clara |
| Acquired | chartered 7 August 1942 |
| Commissioned | 7 September 1942, as USSSusan B. Anthony |
| Out of service | 7 June 1944 |
| Stricken | 29 July 1944 |
| Homeport | New York |
| Identification |
|
| Honors and awards | 3service stars (World War II) |
| Fate | mined 7 June 1944 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type |
|
| Tonnage | |
| Displacement | 16,000 long tons (16,257 t)[3] |
| Length | |
| Beam | 63 ft 9 in (19.4 m)[1][3] |
| Draft | 25 ft (7.6 m)[1] |
| Depth | 34.4 ft (10.5 m)[1] |
| Installed power | 2,660NHP[1] |
| Propulsion | |
| Speed | 18 kn (33 km/h) |
| Complement | 158 officers and men |
| Armament | |
USSSusan B. Anthony (AP-72) was aturbo-electricocean liner,Santa Clara, of theGrace Steamship Company that was built in 1930.Santa Clara was turned over to theWar Shipping Administration (WSA) on 28 February 1942 and operated by Grace Lines as agent for WSA as a troop ship making voyages to the South Pacific. The ship was chartered to the Navy on 7 August 1942 for operation as aUnited States Navy transport ship. The ship was sunk 7 June 1944 off Normandy by a mine while cruising through a swept channel with all 2,689 people aboard being saved.
TheNew York Shipbuilding Corporation ofCamden, New Jersey completed the ship in March 1930 and named her the SSSanta Clara.
Santa Clara had sixwater tube boilers with a combined heating surface of 28,800 square feet (2,680 m2) and a working pressure of 300lbf/in2.[1]Santa Clara was turbo-electric: her boilers supplied steam to twoturbo generators which fed current to electric motors connected to her twinpropeller shafts.[1]General Electric made her turbo generators and propulsion motors, and her power output was rated at 2,660NHP.[1]
Santa Clara gave more than a decade of civilian service. Notable passengers includedWalt Disney and his staff in 1941[4] who had been in Chile researching their filmThe Three Caballeros. They leftValparaíso on theSanta Clara on 4 October and reached New York on 20 October.[4]
On 28 February 1942Santa Clara was delivered at New York to theWar Shipping Administration (WSA) by Grace Lines with that line operating the ship as a WSA transport allocated to Army transportation requirements under a general agency agreement.[5][6] On 11 March the agreement terms were changed tobareboat charter by WSA.[5]
The ship was converted from commercial configuration byRobins Dry Dock and Repair Company in New York in late February.[7] During this periodSanta Clara is shown as being in the Pacific and in at least one large convoy, BT-201, departing New York on 4 March and arrivingBrisbane on 6 April 1942.[7][8] During that voyage the ship had stopped atBora Bora on the way to Australia andMelbourne,Townsville andWellington before returning to San Francisco on 11 May 1942.[7]Santa Clara returned to the South Pacific departing San Francisco on 26 May destined forAuckland and Bora Bora before crossing the Pacific toBuenaventura, Colombia and then transiting thePanama Canal on 9 July bound for New York.[7] On 7 August 1942Santa Clara was delivered to the Navy at New York on a subbareboat charter basis.[5]
After delivery to the NavyBethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation's New York yard convertedSanta Clara for Navy troop transport service. The Navy renamed the ship after thewomen's suffrage andwomen's rights campaignerSusan B. Anthony, making her one of thefew Naval vessels named after a woman. She wascommissioned on 7 September 1942 as USSSusan B. Anthony, with the designation AP-72, under the command ofCaptainHenry Hartley.[9]
After almost a month of drills and exercises in the lowerChesapeake Bay, the transport — carrying troops and equipment — left the bay on 23 October forOperation Torch, the Allied invasion ofNorth Africa. At the end of a 15-day crossing, she reached the transport area offMehdia,French Morocco. Early the next morning, on 8 November, the Northern Attack Group opened the assault on Mehdia andPort Lyautey. Despite the general difficulties encountered in handling landing craft, she disembarked her troops and unloaded their equipment in relatively good order. She stayed in the area for a week before sailing on the 15th forSafi, Morocco to unload the rest of her cargo. On 18 November she left Safi forNorfolk, Virginia, and arrived atHampton Roads on the last day of the month.[9]
Over the next seven monthsSusan B. Anthony made three voyages bringing troops and supplies across the Atlantic to North Africa; the first toCasablanca and the remainder toOran,Algeria.[9]
After a brief voyage to theGulf of Arzeu ferrying men and equipment, she returned to Oran on 25 June 1943 to prepare for theAllied invasion of Sicily. She embarked men and loaded material on 30 June-1 July, refueled on the 2nd, and left Oran three days later.[9]
Anthony approached the coast of Sicily on the 9th near the town ofScoglitti. She spent the early hours of the next day landing troops and equipment. By 0435 hrs enemy aircraft were attacking the ships of the assault force. Bombs fell close toAnthony but she emerged with only minor damage from bomb fragments. Just before 0600 hrs she started toward the inshore anchorage, but withdrew after shore batteries fired on her. About four hours later she was able to enter the anchorage and send her salvage crew to aid broached and disabled landing craft.[9]
Through that day and the next she came under repeated air attacks. Just after 2200 hrs on the 11th a twin-engine plane commenced an attack run at her, but by the time it had closed within 1,500 yd (1,400 m), heranti-aircraft guns had shot it down in flames. Less than 10 minutes later another enemy bomber met a similar fate.[9]
Late in the afternoon of 12 JulySusan B. Anthony left for Oran. There she loaded prisoners; sailed for the US; and reachedNew York on 3 August 1943.[9]
For the next 10 monthsAnthony crossed and recrossed the Atlantic moving soldiers and cargo between various ports in the US, England,Iceland,Northern Ireland and Scotland in preparation forOperation Overlord, the cross-channel invasion of Europe atNormandy. On these voyages she visited ports includingBelfast,Northern Ireland;Holy Loch,Gourock, andGlasgow in Scotland;Hvalfjörður andReykjavík, Iceland;Mumbles andMilford Haven in Wales, andNewport.[9]
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Early in the morning of 7 June 1944, while transporting soldiers of the90th Infantry Division through a swept channel off Normandy en route toUtah Beach,Susan B. Anthony struck amine that exploded under her number 4 hold. Immediately she lost all power, and her rudder went hard left and stuck. By 08:05 holds numbers 4 and 5 were shipping water badly, and the ship took on an 8°list tostarboard. In an effort to save his ship, thecommanding officer,Commander TL Gray,USNR, ordered the embarked soldiers to move to theport side. This human ballast soon broughtAnthony back to an even keel.[9]
At 08:22fleet tugUSS Pinto came alongside, prepared to tow the paralyzedAnthony to shallow water. However, fires soon erupted in her engine and fire rooms, and she began to settle more rapidly. The captain now concluded that the ship was lost and ordered her abandoned. WithPinto and two destroyers alongside, the troops were evacuated expeditiously, without resorting to lifeboats or rafts, using cargo nets bridged to the adjacent ships.Anthony's crew followed closely behind the soldiers. By 09:05 the main deck was awash at the stern and she was listing badly. The last member of the salvage crew hit the water at about 10:00 with Commander Gray soon following.
At 10:10Susan B. Anthony sank about 10 miles (16 km) from the French coast at a depth of 70 feet (21 m). No one was killed, and few of the 45 wounded were seriously hurt. All 2,689 people aboard were saved, which theGuinness Book of World Records lists as the largest rescue of people without loss of life.[9][10]Samuel Tankersley Williams, then a brigadier general serving as assistant division commander of the 90th Infantry Division, received theSoldier's Medal for non-combat heroism in recognition of his efforts to evacuate the ship.[11] Even though he didn't know how to swim, Williams personally braved smoke, heat, and flames to search the ship and ensure that no one was left behind.[12]Susan B. Anthony was struck from theNaval Vessel Register on 29 July 1944.[9]
Susan B. Anthony was awarded threeservice stars forWorld War II service.[9]
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